I chose to design and build a drone powered hovercraft. I inspired the design based on the common 'Tiny Whoover' hovercraft. Tiny Whoover hovercrafts are propelled using a 'Tiny Whoop' drone, which is a small drone that is easily maneuverable.
I set out to create a hovercraft with a modified design of the 'Tiny Whoover'. Tiny Whoovers require for the drone to be permanently modified, so the two back propellers can be used to directly create thrust. However, I only had one Tiny Whoop, and wanted to still be intact so it could be used for other purposes.
To avoid disassembling the Tiny Whoop, I created a design which captured the downward thrust of the drone and converted horizontal thrust. This was accomplished by creating exhaust like tubes that pointed out of the back. The first prototype was successful at converting the thrust, but was too heavy and not aerodynamic enough.
With my next two prototypes, I was able to successfully propel the drone forward. However, I needed to calibrate the differential thrust in the drone to be able to turn the hovercraft. The differential thrust comes from slight shifting of the back propellers.
