THE ULTIMATE ADVANCED ACV (HOVERCRAFT)
This machine encompasses advanced technology in all aspects of Hovercraft Technology.
1...The Lift System utilizes a Skirt Finger Design which reduces surface contact and provides for surface following attributes which simultaneously reduces the power required to sustain the air cushion and lowers frictional resistance.
1.1...The fingers are integrated into the bag skirt in such a way that a peripheral jet flow maintains a higher surface clearance and at the same time helps contain the air cushion.
2...The Propulsion System uses advanced Cross Flow Blowers with an internal control mechanism. This maintains the Blower's internal Vortex location at the optimum operational position by way of sensors which adjusts the mechanism via motorized elements by reading the rate of change of pressure and volumetric flow versus power input.
2.1...The internal vortex is the controlling element where the blower characteristics are concerned. If the vortex shifts its position the characteristics change. Modern day sensors are adapted to sense and predict these changes and adjust the internal conditions accordingly.
3...The Power Plant is a Micro Gas Turbine (with multi-fuel use FADEC etc) driving a Generator which maintains Battery condition in a proprietary Aluminum Battery System.
3.1...Major parts of the novel Gas Turbine will be 3D additive manufactured in order to provide the most efficient construction and thermodynamic results from as small and lightweight a unit as possible.
3.2...The advanced proprietary Aluminum based Battery system is a Work in Progress on electrolyte complexes towards reducing gassing and corrosion of the Aluminum anodes
4...Advanced BLDC Motors (85%-93% efficiency) power both the Lift Fans and Cross Flow Blowers drawing power from the hybrid system as in 3 above. This arrangement in contrast to a purely mechanical transmission layout is simpler, a continuously variable power transmission and competitive in weight to an equivalent mechanical set up.
4.1...Torque input to BLDC motors will be conditioned via dedicated controllers which provide control of the individual blower configurations further improving the efficiency of their respective systems by way of sensor systems which cause the controllers to respond to system variations.
5...The monocoque structure of the hovercraft is all Carbon Fibre construction.
6...Navigational and Electronic devices are updated state-of-the-art components.
As a Search and Rescue machine the proposed vehicle is a much faster reacting machine than anything else.
The machine is immediately available on battery power alone at start up and as it proceeds to the site the gas turbine has warmed up and starts recharging the batteries.
Since everything is individually powered by BLDC motors the system can be fine tuned making for higher operational efficiency. The placement of components can be arranged for the most efficient installation with greater ease than the design of an equivalent complex mechanical transmission.
In Hovercraft design, the power delivery to Lift and Propulsion is fixed early in Design since this conditions the design of the transmissions. With this arrangement there is (electronically) a variable ratio equivalent which can be adjusted to suit virtually any loading condition encountered.
Voting
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ABOUT THE ENTRANT
- Name:John Mitchell
- Type of entry:teamTeam members:Jim Grimwood of JRG TECHNOLOGIES
John Mitchell of MITCHELL RESEARCH - Software used for this entry:Rhino + Scan 'n Solve
- Patent status:pending