B.Tech. Mechanical Engineering final year students of KSRM College of Engineering in Kadapa developed a working model of remote-controlled hovercraft that can be operated by remote control from a distance of about one km as part of their project work.
The students S. Mohammed Rafi, T. Yogeswar, U. Yashwant Kumar Achari, B. Ravichandra and Lokesh developed the hovercraft under the guidance of Head of Mechanical Engineering K. Rajagopal and assistant professor A. Harikrishna. They worked for nearly a month in designing and procuring necessary materials from various places and spent about Rs. 25,000 to develop it.
The hovercraft can traverse on earth, water and on surfaces filled with mud or snow and can be used by defence and security forces during times of natural calamities. It is designed to transport a weight of 3.80 kg. with the help of a transmitter-receiver.
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Newton’s Third Law was adopted in the process. When air enters with pressure into a nylon cloth chamber at the bottom with the help of two propeller fans and two brushless motors, the hovercraft moves upwards at a pace of 1.80 metres per second, the students explained. One fan was used to fill air into the nylon cloth chamber and the second fan to move the hovercraft forward, they said.
A transmitter would send radio signals of frequency up to 2.40 Ghz to the receiver and the latter would regulate the two motors and a servo-mechanism. The servo-mechanism would be useful in turning the hovercraft’s direction to the left or right, they said.
College correspondent K. Sivananda Reddy, Director K.S.N. Reddy and principal V.S.S. Murthy congratulated the students.
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The hovercraft can traverse on earth, water and on surfaces filled with mud or snow and can be used by defence and security forces during times of natural calamities