Ideas for next Auto Group Project

Automotive
#1

Here are a couple ideas I had for a group project (probably starting after holidays), would anyone be interested in participating with either of these ideas, and if so which and why?

Electric mini bike - would be very similar to the electric kart drivetrain we already built, would probably start from an existing frame but would likely include some welding / fabrication.

Leafblower Hovercraft - would find 3 or 4 gas leaf blowers and rebuild / fix them up, then have some kind of hackathon competition where teams would make very basic hovercraft over a weekend.

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#2

I am interested in either. I like the hovercraft because it has multiple people being able to use the finished project. Things like hovercraft polo come to mind.

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#3

The down side to the hovercraft is that I expect that a collision with a parked car is a near certainty in my estimation.

#4

I’m not certain these hovercraft could even operate on anything other than the smooth polished floor inside the workshop (think of a circle of plywood with a leaf blower and a shower curtain duct taped to it)

#5

How about a road-going hover craft, using a turbocharger jet engine for
pressurization. We could use a Raspberry Pi with GPS to control vectored
thrust for precise cornering and orientation. Maybe enter it in the Lemons
race next year…

Or the leaf blower thing. Either one would be cool.

#6

Maybe then consider a hovercraft forklift…two birds, one stone.

What the hell, make it three birds (I hate birds).

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#7

I just came across the existence of walk behind leaf blowers, I wonder if you could buy just the fan assembly for cheap, then stick a harbor freight predator on it, 6.5hp and 1,000+ cfm should be enough…


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=walk+behind+blower+fan&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.Xwalk+behind+leaf+blower.TRS0&_nkw=walk+behind+leaf+blower&_sacat=0

#8

No to anything harbor freight that has a motor (or anything really). I would like more than one person to get a turn on the thing. :wink:

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#9

i was going to say the hovercraft sounded like a better idea because four wheels(go kart) is safer than two(mini bike) but realized that the hovercraft has a whopping zero wheels.

but still. my votes for hovercraft

#10
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#11

A Delorean complete with Flux Capacitor

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#12

Both would be fun. The electric mini bike idea made me think of an electric bike conversion as being a somewhat similar item. Something like this.

#13

Shifter kart?
http://blog.kartbuilding.net/2007/07/12/free-technical-kart-drawings-fia/

#14

If someone wants to hoon a cheap truck to death, I will shamelessly mention that I have a 96 F150 that I’d like to dispose of (5L V8, 4WD, long bed, dual fuel tanks) for $1500 ish.

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#15

Happen to run across this a few days ago. http://m.hammacher.com/Product/10963?promo=search

#16

A bargain at triple the price.

#17

Ok, I have a serious suggestion. How about an electric boat; a small hydroplane? I do not find anything on the web where anyone has done this before.

An 18 HP motor in a hydroplane can go 30-40MPH. Have you ever been in a small boat going 30MPH? Lots of fun. Very impressive on video.

Plans for hydroplanes using small outboards are available on line (one is the Mini-Max here). We could start with one of these, and modify it for inboard electric power. The flat pieces with curved cuts makes it a perfect thing to build with the CNC router. The router is 5’ x 10’, so the whole deck can be cut in one pass.

Later we could do a flat pack kit for sale, and open source the plans. We can use what we learned building the go cart to design the power system.

What do you think? Want to meet next week to discuss?

#18

Hm. A high voltage application executed at high speed on a large body of water? Sounds electrifying!

#19

An electric boat sounds interesting, but then you have the problem of having to go to a body of water to use it.

I’m still liking the idea of building a hovercraft, naturally after thinking of a quick weekend type build with backpack or handhelf leaf blowers, I’ve been researching how to do something bigger. It could be based around a ~$500 1000cfm walk behind leaf blower, seems unique and possible to test in multiple locations. If we could find / build the blower from something else we could start with a HF predator engine for cheaper.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Troy-Bilt-24A-672J766-205cc-4-Cycle-Gas-Jet-Sweep-Leaf-Blower/37467422

#20

I and a friend built the Mini-max as a high school shop project in 1971. I think we ordered our plans from Mechanix Illustrated. Using a 1957 Sears 12hp outboard it’d go about 35 mph (165lb rider* + motor + 6 gal gas tank) on smooth water pretty much riding on the cavitation plate of the motor just skipping over the water. Until it started to plane it digs in and is at about a 45 degree with a heck of a wake, then it levels out and takes off like a rocket. Trick is to lean out over the front deck to push the nose down.

The bottom is a single sheet of 8’ x 4’ x 1/4" fully radiused at one end and a small wedge shape piece cut out at the center of the curve so when attached to the keel (such as it is) it forms a small “V”. When didn’t put any of lightening holes in it because we used glass tape on all the joints to make it watertight then painted bright yellow with a black stripe down the center. The rest is cut from another sheet except for the hand grip which was a small solid piece of wood. It isn’t more than about 10"

Batteries and motor batteries could mounted in the front chamber with a water tight access cover. How to drive the prop I’m now sure unless you also put the motor up front with a straight drive shaft and a small rudder on it to aim it. Or a small blown motor with a good lower leg and hack it. Building the hull, glassing the seams would just be a single day project here. Paint another couple of days (multiple coats).

Would be a fun project.

  • we were on swim team and water polo and much leaner then
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