Design Brief

Team Design Brief:
        The NOAA lab needs to catch plankton in the inaccessible parts of Sandy Hook; however they do not want to disturb the ecosystem. The situation is to design and construct a remote controlled miniature hovercraft that can deploy and retrieve a plankton net. The hovercraft will be suspended above water level by air propulsion so as to not disturb the environment.

Specific Design Brief:
       To design and construct a sturdy structure of the hovercraft that will house the necessary equipment that will make the hovercraft systems work.

Specifications

• Must be remote controlled
• Must be battery powered
• Must be suspended above ground or water level by air 

• Must have a system for deploying and retrieving a plankton net
•  Should be positively buoyant in case of propulsion failure or miscellaneous malfunction
• Needs high stability  
• Must properly protect the mechanical systems from water. 
• Design must be conceivable
  

Limitations

• Materials: Wood, metal, sheet plastic, rubber tubing, gears, fiber glass and its adhesive
• Time: Research, design, development, production, quality control
• Capital: Lab, Materials available, Equipment, Supplies, Parts
• Tools and Equipment: Band saw, belt sander, scroll saw, drill press, drill gun, airbrush pen, compressor, hack saw, utility knife, scissors, nails
• Information: Instructions, research, working drawings, specifications
• People: Instructors, mentors, hobby shop owners/enthusiast