Collaborate Disseminate
Although Hawaii used to have a ferry service to access the various islands in the archipelago, due to environmental and political issues, air travel is now the only way to …read more Continue reading Ground-Effect Vehicle to Carry Passengers Around Hawaii
Who said paddle wheels were just for leisurely riverboat cruises? [rctestflight] is smashing that image with a high-speed twist on the concept, using paddle wheels to propel a ground effect …read more Continue reading A Paddle Wheel Ground Effect Vehicle
What is it that’s not quite either a plane or a boat, but has characteristics of both? There are probably a lot of things that fit that description, but the …read more Continue reading This Machine-Vision Ekranoplan Might Just Follow You Home
Ground effect aerodynamics will return to Formula 1 in a big way in the 2022 season, hopefully washing away the bad taste left in fan’s mouths after the recent controversial …read more Continue reading Ground Effect Aerodynamics On An RC Car
Ground effect vehicles, or ekranoplans, have the advantage of being more efficient than normal aircraft and faster than boats, but so far haven’t been developed beyond experimental prototypes. Fortunately, this …read more Continue reading Autonomous Ground Effect Vehicle Demonstrator Aims To Speed Up Maritime Shipping
There are a number of famous (yet fictional) sea monsters in the lakes and oceans around the world, but in the Caspian Sea one turned out to be real. This …read more Continue reading Ground Effect Drone Flies Autonomously
In the 1960s the Soviet Union began experimenting with what they called ekranoplans, ground effect vehicles (GEVs) that were something of a hybrid between a ship and a large airplane. Their stubby wings didn’t provide enough lift for the vehicle to fly in the traditional sense, the craft essentially rode …read more
Continue reading RC Ground Effect Vehicle Skims Over the Water
Few would question the health benefits of ditching the car in favor of a bicycle ride to work — it’s good for the body, and it can be a refreshing relief from rat race commuting. But it’s not without its perils, especially when one works late and returns after dark. Most car versus bicycle accidents occur in the early evening, and most are attributed to drivers just not seeing cyclists in the waning light of day.
To decrease his odds of becoming a statistics and increase his time on two wheels, [Dave Schneider] decided to build a better bike light. …read more
Continue reading Pavement Projection Provides Better Bicycle Visibility at Night
If you’ve ever disturbed your partner by getting up during the night and flicking on the bathroom light — or tripping over something and startling them awake completely in the ensuing catastrophe — [Kristjan Berce]’s idea to install motion-activated ground-effect lighting on his girlfriend’s bed might hold your attention.
[Berce] is using an Arduino Nano for the project’s brain, a PIR sensor from Adafruit, and an L7805 voltage regulator to handle load spikes. He doesn’t specify the type of LED strip he’s using, but Neopixels might be a safe bet here. Soldering issues over with, he …read more
[amazingdiyprojects] has been making lots of test flights in his crazy eight propeller gasoline powered danger bucket.
We last covered the project when he had, unfortunately, wrecked the thing in a remote-controlled test flight. He later discovered that the motor’s crankshaft bearings had, well, exploded. The resulting shrapnel destroyed the motor and crashed the drone. He described this failure mode as “concerning”.
Also concerning is the act of stepping into the seat once all the propellers are started up. He tags this as “watch your step or die”. Regardless, he also describes flying in the thing as so incredibly fun …read more
Continue reading Repaired Manned Multicopter Flies without Horrifying Crash