Welcome to Gaia! ::

I have a pretty good idea for making a hoverboard run on steam. It could be made with newer parts, and should work in theory. But theory only gets you so far, and I have neither the funds nor the mechanical abilities to make it myself.

The basic idea is that you take the small compressed air motors from a Die Grinder and attach them to a small steam generator. Then, you connect a variable speed switch to the grinder motors, and replace the cutting disks with small turbine blades. Put each one in it's own chamber, and they should essentially become small Air Jet Turbines. You would probably need at least eight of the motors to get any decent propulsion and lift. I have an idea for the casing for the entire thing that should be good for airflow. Four of the engines would be used for forward movement, four would be used for lift. It should be able to get an average size person off the ground and moving around fairly easily. But again, this is nothing more than a theory. I hope someone who has the ability will try to make this and see if the theory works in practice.

Personally, my idea for a hovercraft was using rechargable batteries, turbines, a control system, and using five pipes to control direction (the middle being the largest pipe, forward and backward being about two thirds that size, and the left and right being the smallest). The general control would, in theory, be a programmed set of pads in a glove that would wirelessly transmit information to the hoverboard's control based on pressing (very simplified) the buttons and sending a signal of which pipes to send the air through. However, part of the problem in my idea was exactly where to put the receiver/"motor," how to position dents to place my feet comfortably, and whether or not it would be better to have straps or not.

In drafting, I liked the idea, but the idea of the pipes had me question whether or not the pipes would be able to support even 100lbs without being damaged by the ground when stepping on with the machine off.

Actually, it brings me to wonder, if it could be composed that way, what could its top speed be? (I'm not thinking anything like 90mph, but maybe even 10 would be awesome.)

@fire - link, I think you're right. However, the hovercraft I keep seeing is just a very bland, giant circle that people sit on. And most people just use a leaf-blower... I guess it's much cheaper and all that, but a hovercraft in my eyes is another mode of transportation.


Solution for all of this: Save up some dough just for a hovercraft fund. I'd say around $1,000, but that's also to include in case of any mess-ups and learning. The budget can always be expanded, but this isn't something to give up easily.