Design, Fabrication and Industrial Application of a Miniature Hovercraft

The difficult lives of workers in a manufacturing industry can be improved by the use of a simple ‘Hovercraft’. This vehicle runs on air from the pressure lines in any industry. Since there is zero resistance between the smooth surface and the craft, the effort to move very heavy bodies is reduced significantly. The craft with a specially designed skirting shape will allow it to lift the load placed on it with ease. There would be eddy formation and stability would need to be taken into account. Hovercraft has been designed before but its application in industries is of the level of innovation (atleast in India for the moment). Many shapes of the hovercraft can be used and experimented with, but we have mainly stuck to the rectangular one. This technology will be very cheap and will sort out a lot of problems in industries. It will save a chunk of the transportation money. Braking is a big problem in the design, but can be overcome by new types of brakes. As the load taken by the hovercraft is proportional to the size, space limitations also imply. So in all it will, as stated earlier, save time, money and energy of the workers.Copyright © 2009 by ASME