Industrial Systems Project Blog - Auburn High School » General

Step 6 – Install the Controller,Charger,Contactor

ahshover — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:17:20 +0000

Now we have started to install the controller,chager, and contactor, but unfortunately the charger was a different model than the one in the original instructions. Therefore, we have had to modify how to attach the charger to the frame. When we get the charger fitted and strapped on to the BugE we can put on the controller and the contactor. Once we get that we should have a working motor by then.

Step 5 – Install the motor

ahshover — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:52:35 +0000

We put on the motor and noticed that the BugE frame was missing a tab. So we had to cut a L-bracket to weld onto the frame in the place of the tab so we could put the hoseclamp on around the motor and tighten it to the tab to reduce the vibrations of the motor. Then we removed the motor again to figure out how to put the contactor, the controller, and the charger on the BugE. We cut the plastic down to size so it would fit everything on it. The charger was changed from the 2 slim chargers to a bigger more effective charger. So the way the manual said to place the charger on would not work because it was made for two seperate smaller chargers. So we searched the web for instructions of putting on the new charger. We could not find anything for the new charger on the web so Mr. Williams e-mailed the owner of Blue Sky, who suggested placing the charger in several different places. We determined that we would place the motor on one of the original intended sides only lower.

step 4 – Intstall the Wheels and tires

ahshover — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:28:46 +0000

We had a small set back with step 4. In order to install the tires and wheels, we had to order and recieve them first. Mr. Williams ordered the wheels and tires. In the mean time we did part of step 5 to be productive and not fall behind. The wheels and tires came in on Monday. We had to take two of the tires to Skinners Motorcycle Shop, where they reverse the tire tread. We took the motor off again in order to install the tires. We placed the drum brakes in their correct place. It came with cam for the back tire but we did not use it.

Step 3 – Assemble the steering system

ahshover — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:06:46 +0000

when we installed the steering spindles we had a problem with the steering column. After we installed the spindles to the steering column, we noticed that when we turned the steering column the spindles scraped the column. We had to put extra nuts inorder to have enough space for the spindles not to scrub.

Step 2-install shock absorber and rear swing arm

ahshover — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:27:13 +0000

We adjusted the front shock to the stiff setting because it is suitable for most riders. Then we had to drill into the bolt holes in order to make them bigger. Then we debured the holes. The manual asks for nylock nuts but the kit doesn’t come with them so we had to go and buy some 12mm x 50mm nylock nuts (x 2). Then we put on the rear swing arm, but had to make sure that we didn’t tighten the nut too tight to avoid collapsing the bracket to allow free travel.

Step 1-Paint

ahshover — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:16:33 +0000

It took us about 3 days to apply primer on the frame. It took about the same for the red paint. In all it was about a week. We applied two coats of primer and applied about six coats of red paint.

The BugE

ahshover — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:37:15 +0000

When the BugE was delivered it arrived in about a 500 pound box. After we opened the box the BugE was in, it looked like the alien from Alien vs. Predator. Once we unpacked the BugE, it was seperated into the chasis, frame, and electrical equipment.

UH-13P Back from Paint

ahshover — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:48:45 +0000

The craft has come back from United Auto Collision where they did great job as always. We decided on a blue craft with a spray-on bed liner material for the horizontal surfaces to prevent someone from slipping when boarding or disembarking. I’ll publish pictures when the craft is fully reassembled.

UH-13P Update

ahshover — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:40:30 +0000

You can see we didn’t keep up the site like we should have. Things got incredibly hectic near the end of the project and it fell between the cracks. We have learned a lot and are looking forward to documenting the build better the next time through. We had successful test on lake Ogletree. What a great thing to see a craft built from scratch by High School students work properly. It was great. A few days later we brought he craft to the school and demonstrated it all day for students. It was during this time we discovered the magnetic attraction between hovercraft and trees. Things still ran well until the last few minutes of the day when a landing skid was partially knocked off. We have repaired the craft and sent it to the body shop for paint.

Spring Break Progress

ahshover — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:37:05 +0000

With the help of some very dedicated students we made some progress this week. Monday Morning we had 4 students working on the craft by 8:15 AM during their spring break. It was great to see us have more than 1 hour at a time to give to the craft. We got a lot done. By about 1:00 PM every part of the craft had something wet on it so we broke it off for the day.

Thursday we met again at 8:00 AM and did a good bit. Including taking a break for a hardware store run. This was to let the epoxy we had applied to several parts of the craft to set up some before continuing. My goal for spring break was to have the two ducts mounted to the craft. We didn’t quite get there, but we did get the lift duct mounted with expandable foam before we left for the day about 3:00 PM.

Over all it was a very productive spring break thanks to some willing students and the added time afforded by not trekking back and forth to the school.