(original post by jcline on 24-JAN-2007)

Hi,

I am currently a gradtuate student in the process of designing my thesis project. After a conversation with my professor, I have decided to employ hover techniques in my design. To give you a little background on my project; I was recently given the opportunity to design and build a functional, mobile artifice for our local museum. The hope is to explore the poetics of organization and the ritual of use. When complete, it will provide an efficient service platform from which to serve food and drinks during museum exhibitions and social functions. Once completed and I (hopefully) graduate, I will give the cart to the museum.

Basically I am going to create a bar from which to serve patrons drinks and food. The bar will be able to move from storage to the designated service area when needed. Think of it as a big rectangular box, approximately 3' wide x 3' high x 7' long. I haven't exactly decided on materials yet but I'm hoping to keep the cart less than 500 lbs (between 400-500 lbs).

So this is where I need your help. I have decided instead of using standard caster wheels to move the cart, I want to make the cart hover just above the ground so when it is needed an employee can simply start her up and push her to the designate area. The design and interface has to be completely user friendly. I will of course instruct the higher ups who will be supervising the cart, but otherwise I will be long gone (graduated if you will).

Since my experience in in this sort of thing is well nonexistant, I am wondering if anyone has any advice for me. One of my first concerns is how much power or horsepower will I need to lift approximately 500 lbs. Once I can establish some sort of minimum requirement for an engine(s) size, I would like to figure out what the best design scenario for the cart will be. Already I have some sort of plan in my head as to what this thing will look like. And this of course is just some preliminary thoughts but I was thinking that if I needed to small engines (maybe 5-8 horsepower) mounted on the width or short ends of the cart just inside the perimeter. They would be connected to the fans that would occupy two square shafts located in the center of the cart, approximately a few inches shorter than the over-all width. The top and bottom areas directly over the shafts would be some sort of perforated material allowing for air to flow easily into the shaft and out through the bottom. I have a few more preconcieved ideas but fear that if I divulge too much I'll end up with a lot of 'no you can't do that' answers. Instead, I'd like to create some sort of dialogue between the experienced users here that might take some sort of curiosity or interest in my project. I very much appreciate your time. You will be doing my education a great service!

Thank you!

John

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(original post by jcline on 25-JAN-2007)

Just a quick adendum to my previous post. I followed up on some issues that were looming today. First, I will need to use some other alternative means of power to a combustible engine. The motor will either have to be electric, diesel (with a bio-diesel conversion) or propane.

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(original post by jcline on 07-MAR-2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GGlgD3qs3I

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