For some time now, people have been trying to create a Bit Char-G hovercraft, to my knowledge all have failed. But my new theories may solve some of the problems they have been having. In this document I will discuss my plans for a completely possible Bit Char-G hovercraft, and furthermore, future plans for a Bit Char-G Helicopter.
The first problem to be encountered in this endeavor is a suitable motor for the bottom fan. It needs to be strong enough to lift at least 8 ounces, most likely more. The bottom fan does not lift the hovercraft it self though, the air is actually forced out the sides through a fan (Figure-1). An air bag catches this air and the air is then forced out a grated plate in the bottom. Instead of having the air forced out in every direction, the bag is initially forcing the air straight down. Not only that, it focuses the air to a smaller area creating more lift.
When my brother's and my CD Players broke, we were going to get them fixed, but instead invested in MP3 Players. I looked inside them and discovered I could fix them myself with my somewhat limited but still capable knowledge of electronics, but, I did not have the right parts, so, I left them open for later when I expected to get the parts, bad idea. I came back to them eventually. I had them in a box of electronics pieces in my room. That was a bad idea, they were destroyed. One had a scratched laser, and the other had a broken LCD screen. Fixing them was out of the question now so I salvaged the 4 motors. I took the two motors that spin the CD (Figure-2) and the two that move the laser up and down the track (Figure-3).
Well, the motors were cool on their own but I had to test them, the 2 that spin CD's are apparently grossly underpowered, their capabilities were awesome! I attached a AA Battery to each and discovered that that was about the power they were getting to spin the CD. Then I tried a 9v battery, they spun up immediately, like 0 to 60 in under a second! I then tried them with a CD on them, well, that was 0 to 60 in about 1.5 seconds, not only that, it was giving air off like a fan... IT'S A CD! There's nothing on a CD that could possibly give off air, it was pure speed! well, with a 9 volt battery, that could lift the Bit Car-G with the right rotor blade like a helicopter, we'll get into that later... >
Anyway, I ran it for about 5 minutes straight and it never over heated like I'd expected it to do, by the way, I cut my thumb on the CD when it was moving (Figure-4). So, obviously 9v is too much power for a hovercraft, but about 6 is perfect, and with some of the battery mods out there, that can be achieved! To recap, the CD spinning motor will make an excellent bottom fan for the hovercraft in theory.
I have heard of people talking about having their hovercraft have one motor and be steered by rudders, that's all fine and dandy if you want a fan boat but this is a hovercraft. The way to steer this is by twin micro motors (Figure-3), I'll explain. If you have two motors in the rear, then pressing forward should turn both on, pressing reverse should turn both the opposite direction, and pressing to the left should turn the right motor off, and pressing right should turn the left motor off. That's where the second set of motors I retrieved comes in. These two motors are too heavy, but, 3.8 micro motors are not! You ask anyone who has a 3.8 in their car, "What are the three biggest problems with it?" and they'll tell you acceleration, handling and torque. Well, if you're not spinning wheels on the ground, friction is dramatically reduced, so torque and acceleration are somewhat solved, and turning isn't being done with magnets anymore so there's nothing to hold you from turning because you're just shutting one of the motors off.
So, if you get a good material for the air bag, mount several micro batteries to a lightweight hull above the bag, (make sure you leave space for air to go in above and below the hovercraft to the bottom fan), mount the CD spinning motor in the hull with a fan, then mount 2 micro motors to the rear, rewire the steering so instead of powering small electromagnets, they power rear fans, rewire forward and reverse to those fans as well, then mount a micro switch to your hull that when turned on activates your bottom fan, and there it is, a hovercraft, the only thing you have left to do is get your weight right, try not to add weight, instead shave off extra plastic, use shorter thinner wires, and no heavy metal materials for the hull or bag. try to find a lightweight CD spinning motor, one of my CD spinning motors is lighter and has less torque but better acceleration, and the other is heavier and has more torque and speed but less acceleration, so try new things, if you want style too, try to keep it free to add a body as well, and the antenna must by clear of the fans.
Some of you may have a few questions like these:
Q: "How old are you and why do you think you're so smart!?"
A: "I'm 16; I took apart an RC Hovercraft to learn more about its physics."
Q: "If you know all that, why don't you just build one now...?"
A: "Essentially I could but I don't have the micro RC parts, as soon as I get those I will."
Q: "You make this sound easier than it is, how do you explain that?"
A: "This is in no way easy, remember, many people have failed at this already, if there is anyone who has succeeded, I'd like to see it!
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Q: "Why is this so long!?"
A: "If it was easy it wouldn't need to be this long, so that emphasizes the question above now doesn't it."
If anyone else has questions, comments or concerns just post below.
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