SPECTRE Mechanical Design
Our SPECTRE was modeled after a 1970 Dodge Challenger, the same car that Archer drives throughout season 2. Since the car has a low profile, all mechanical aspects needed to be contained within a small area in order to not restrict airflow to the lift fan.
The first step in our mechanical design process was to test various skirt concepts and prove that we would be able to float on a platform the size/weight we expected to have in our final design.
Prototype 0 - "The Helium!": Proof of concept only. The lift fan was mounted vertically and toggled on/off through keystrokes. No propulsion was mounted in this model. Yes, that is a ripped up garbage bag duct taped to foam core. Prototype 1 - "Thats how you get ants": The base for this prototype was much smaller than any of our other prototypes, thanks to SW auto-scale (and Alex... mostly Alex). Propulsion was added in the form of a single brushless motor with a 9" propeller, and we actually spent more than 5 minutes on skirt design. We found a heavy nylon poncho in the scrap bin in Room 36 and implemented a rigid skirt bottom that hovered very well. Prototype 3 - "It could go off for like... no reason": In this prototype we 3D printed a duct to transfer air from the lift fan to the bottom of the hovercraft. This allowed us to mount the lift fan flat to the bottom of the hovercraft to give us a much lower profile. A second motor was added to implement differential turning and a drawstring skirt design was used instead of a |
Prototype 4 - "Danger Zone":
This was our first design in which the base was shaped like the car. We purchased smaller 6" propellers that allowed for our propeller assembly to be contained within the perimeter of the car and featured our 3D printed motor mounts . A second level "box" was added above our lift fan and duct to allow for the mounting of our electronics on top, and power distribution beneath to give a clean look and modular capability. Additionally, this was the first design to feature our balloon popper, which was a strip of nichrome wire attached to a steel rod and actuated by a 2-bar linkage attached to a servo.
This was our first design in which the base was shaped like the car. We purchased smaller 6" propellers that allowed for our propeller assembly to be contained within the perimeter of the car and featured our 3D printed motor mounts . A second level "box" was added above our lift fan and duct to allow for the mounting of our electronics on top, and power distribution beneath to give a clean look and modular capability. Additionally, this was the first design to feature our balloon popper, which was a strip of nichrome wire attached to a steel rod and actuated by a 2-bar linkage attached to a servo.
The 1970 Dodge Challenger:
Made from 111 cross sections of 0.2" plywood. This took a cumulative 3 days of 3 people working around the clock to laser cut, glue, shape, sand, and vacuum form before the PRL closed for the long weekend prior to the project being due.
Made from 111 cross sections of 0.2" plywood. This took a cumulative 3 days of 3 people working around the clock to laser cut, glue, shape, sand, and vacuum form before the PRL closed for the long weekend prior to the project being due.
Final Assembly - "RAMPAGE!!!":
Our final design was simply our 4th prototype designed for aesthetics. The 2nd level was made wider to give us more space for activities. The balloon popper was redesigned to fit underneath this box and a 3rd battery was added to supply power to the balloon popper wire as well as the headlights/taillights since we ran into issues with everything running on only two batteries. The propellers were ducted with heat shrunk vinyl, out power on/off switch was positioned as the gas tank. The largest change was the addition of out music module "turbocharger", which was mounted to the hood of the car and played quotes from Archer depending on what signals were sent from the MI6 to the SPECTRE.
Our final design was simply our 4th prototype designed for aesthetics. The 2nd level was made wider to give us more space for activities. The balloon popper was redesigned to fit underneath this box and a 3rd battery was added to supply power to the balloon popper wire as well as the headlights/taillights since we ran into issues with everything running on only two batteries. The propellers were ducted with heat shrunk vinyl, out power on/off switch was positioned as the gas tank. The largest change was the addition of out music module "turbocharger", which was mounted to the hood of the car and played quotes from Archer depending on what signals were sent from the MI6 to the SPECTRE.