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Hoverpod Tutorial

The document provides information about the National Students' Space Challenge 2019 hoverpod competition to be held at IIT Kharagpur from November 1st to 3rd. Participants are tasked with building a manually controlled wireless hovercraft capable of moving through a predefined terrain-varied path. The hovercraft design should include a power source, motors, propellers, electronic speed controllers, and a transmitter and receiver for manual control. The hovercraft's hovering mechanism relies on directing air into a skirt to generate lift via pressure force exceeding gravity. Locomotion is achieved by thrust from a rear propeller, and orientation is controlled using rudder surfaces. Guidelines are provided on materials, mechanisms, and design tips to balance weight, thrust,

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460 views3 pages

Hoverpod Tutorial

The document provides information about the National Students' Space Challenge 2019 hoverpod competition to be held at IIT Kharagpur from November 1st to 3rd. Participants are tasked with building a manually controlled wireless hovercraft capable of moving through a predefined terrain-varied path. The hovercraft design should include a power source, motors, propellers, electronic speed controllers, and a transmitter and receiver for manual control. The hovercraft's hovering mechanism relies on directing air into a skirt to generate lift via pressure force exceeding gravity. Locomotion is achieved by thrust from a rear propeller, and orientation is controlled using rudder surfaces. Guidelines are provided on materials, mechanisms, and design tips to balance weight, thrust,

Uploaded by

siddharth mohanty
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Na�onal Students’ Space Challenge 2019

November 1 st – 3rd | IIT Kharagpur

HOVERPOD
Problem Statement:
The team has to build a manually controlled, wireless, hovercra� that has the capacity to
move through a predefined path. The path will have varied terrain, having potholes, water
and other kinds of terrains as specified in the sample arena below. The aim of the par�cipant
is to rake up the maximum points to win the task.

How to approach
 Build the basic framework of a hovercra�.
 Setup the hovercra� controlling mechanism

Materials required
 Power source (LiPo ba�ery)
 2 Brush-less DC motors
 2 Propellers (One for blowing air into the skirt and the other for orienta�on of the bot)
 Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) module
 Transmi�er and Receiver
 Chassis (bot-base made of thermocol or any other light material easy to li�)
 Tarp or plas�c curtain (for skirt)
 Perforated plas�c (for rudder)

Mechanisms
 Hover mechanism
o Locomo�on
o Orienta�on
 Manually controlled robot
o Speed controller

Space Technology Students’ Society h�p://nssc.in/home/


Kalpana Chawla Space Technology Cell, IIT Kharagpur h�ps://www.facebook.com/nssc.iit
Na�onal Students’ Space Challenge 2019
November 1 st – 3rd | IIT Kharagpur

Hover Mechanism
Locomo�on and orienta�on, the hovering mechanism of the hoverpod is based on the
concept of air pressure. The BLDC motor and propeller combined would tend to constantly
direct air into the skirt and fill more and more space inside it. At a certain point, the pressure
force exerted by air molecules on the base of the hoverpod exceeds the force of gravity and
as a result the hoverpod hovers above ground. So as to prevent the skirt from burs�ng due
to high pressure, sufficient number of holes are made beneath the skirt to direct the air
molecules outside the skirt. For locomo�on of the hoverpod a BLDC motor and propeller are
connected in such a way that the propeller pushes air back and sufficient thrust is developed
so as to move forward. And for providing orienta�on to the bot perforated/ corrugated
plas�c sheets are used to make rudders and direct the air flow. Since we are using 2 BLDC
motors torque has an important role to play. To prevent the hoverpod from rota�ng we need
to design the hoverpod in such a manner that the total angular momentum of the bot is zero,
hence no rota�on. As hoverpod is a light weight robot there is negligible fric�on between the
skirt and the ground which makes it unstable and uneasy to handle. Hence, we need a li�le
fric�on amongst the contact surfaces.

Manually Controlled Robot


As power source, Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) Ba�eries can be used which are lighter, smaller,
can deliver huge currents, and have a very large capacity for their size. Electronic Speed
Controllers or ESCs switch power between the three combina�ons of two of the three poles
of a brushless motor. It sends Pulse Posi�on Modulated(PPM) signals to modulate the speed
of the motors according to the PPM signal. The ESCs are in turn controlled by Rx-Tx (Receiver
Transmi�er) (Controller) which takes your commands and sends your receiver the
commands for the servos and the motors.

Space Technology Students’ Society h�p://nssc.in/home/


Kalpana Chawla Space Technology Cell, IIT Kharagpur h�ps://www.facebook.com/nssc.iit
Na�onal Students’ Space Challenge 2019
November 1 st – 3rd | IIT Kharagpur

Tips:

 Heavy materials should be avoided because they add to extra


payload.
 Propeller for upward thrust should be at center of gravity to provide upward thrust
equally in all direc�ons.
 Weight on the hull of the robot should be balanced.
 Skirt should not be affected by water.
 Torque should be balanced at upward and forward thrust state to avoid unnecessary
rotation.
 Unequal pressure force on the base invites the state of unequal fric�onal force with
the ground which in turn rotates the hoverpod at forward movement command.

Useful link: h�ps://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-RC-Hovercra�/

Space Technology Students’ Society h�p://nssc.in/home/


Kalpana Chawla Space Technology Cell, IIT Kharagpur h�ps://www.facebook.com/nssc.iit

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