Educational Objectives

To contribute to the education, experience, and professional development of team members and increase the educational value of an Auburn University engineering degree. Specifically, this project will:

• Attract more students to Auburn University's technical majors due to the exposure the project attracts from the media and key automotive, fiber, marine, industrial, and composites companies
• Enhance the education of each team member through practical, hands-on experience
• Raise public awareness of the quality of education at Auburn University
• Inform students of valuable opportunities for student involvement, self-improvement, and professional development while attending AU
• Develop productive relationships between corporate sponsors and student engineers, with the goal of creating career opportunities and life-long relationships
• Provide visibility and publicity for our sponsors

Project Objectives

To provide students with a cross-disciplinary experience that provides an opportunity to work in a team environment that allows them to apply their knowledge in different fields to produce a working vehicle.

The main engineering disciplines involved in this project will be:

• Design and manufacturing of textile composites
• Fluid Flow
• Finite element analysis
• Solid Modeling
• Imbedded Control Systems

In this project the students will be exposed to:

• Physics behind the hovercraft operation (lift, thrust, control)
• Design of the craft components for a specific size and payload (theoretical calculations)
• Modeling the hovercraft geometrically using CAD system (SolidWorks)
• Analysis of the aerodynamics and stresses using finite element package (Cosmos)
• Generation of workshop detailed drawings
• Design and manufacture of hull and console using fiber composites
• Design and manufacture of the hovercraft skirt using non-permeable fabrics
• Selections of lift and thrust engines with their blades
• Design and analysis of steering mechanisms of the hovercraft
• Design, analysis, and implementation of an imbedded controller
• Assembly and testing