FIRST LEGO League students visit Hovertechnics for Hoverhouses project

Hovercraft technology can often play an important role in education – exemplified by a recent student visit to Hovertechnics. The four 5^th grade students, part of the robotics team at Ann Arbor Christian School in Michigan, are participating in FIRST LEGO League, a program dedicated to helping 4^th-8^th graders strive to become leaders and innovators in science, technology, engineering and math.

The students entered the FIRST LEGO League “City Shaper Challenge”, which inspires students by asking, “What if you could build a better world? Where would you begin?” Student teams are tasked to choose and solve a real-world problem, involving building and programming an autonomous robot.

Their mentor, Peter Chen, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Michigan, describes the students’ idea: “Their project involves hovercraft and earthquakes. Their idea is to protect buildings by making them "hover" above the ground during an earthquake, similar to how a hovercraft hovers above the ground / ice / water as it travels. They’ve built a small prototype that demonstrates their idea with a computer fan and LEGOs.”

The students named their team the Hoverheads, and titled their project “Hoverhouses”.

Hovertechnics staff welcomes the Hoverheads with their prototype Hoverhouse ...
Left to right: Robbie Sliter and Justin Peters, hovercraft builders; Duane Bourlier, Hovertechnics President; Jim Martin, assistant to the president and Hoverheads Jared, Nolan, Pascal, and Joey ...

The Hoverheads learned from their impressive research that a technique called “base isolation” has been used since the 1970s to minimize earthquake damage to buildings. This involves constructing buildings to rest on flexible bearings or pads known as base isolators, which work in a manner similar to car suspension or shock absorbers. As their presentation explains, “Current base isolation reduces acceleration by only 50%.” and “An earthquake of magnitude >7.0 occurs every 24 days.”

Their conclusion? Inspired by hovercraft, Hoverhouses are a better base isolation technique: “During an earthquake, the building rises and sits on a cushion of air. This provides better isolation between the building and the ground and almost completely eliminates building acceleration during an earthquake. Earthquake early warning systems provide several seconds of advance warning to turn on the fans. Propellers keep the building from moving around while hovering.”

Hoverhouse prototypes

In their excitement about hovercraft technology, the students wanted to see how their theory translated into practice. Professor Chen says, “We were interested in visiting a hovercraft manufacturer and were glad to find that there was a prominent manufacturer right here in Michigan.” Hovertechnics was pleased to welcome the kids and help them learn about hovercraft technology …

The Hoverheads demonstrate their Hoverhouse prototype
to Hovertechnics’ personnel ...

President Duane Bourlier and his assistant Jim Martin
explain hovercraft skirts to the Hoverheads ...

President Duane Bourlier introduces the Hoverheads
to Hovertechnics hovercraft construction ...
Left to right: Jared, Nolan, Pascal, Joey and President Duane Bourlier ...

Hovertechnics’ Jim Martin lets Nolan experience hovercraft safety gear …

It’s Hoverhead Pascal’s turn to try on safety gear …

Headsets donned, (left to right) Pascal, Nolan, Jared and Joey are ready
for their first hovercraft flight …

All set to go! Jared takes flight with Hovertechnics’ Justin Peters …

Professor Peter Chen says the students thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Hovertechnics. “The kids are excited about the technology used in hovercraft, so it was a treat for them to see some real hovercraft and learn more about them,” he reports. “The highlight of our time was getting to ride in one of the hovercraft, and they learned a lot about how hovercraft are designed and manufactured. Thank you for letting us visit Hovertechnics.”

Do you think the students’ idea of using hovercraft technology to support buildings during earthquakes is unrealistic? We think you’ll change your mind when you click the link below and see how this technology has been used in a similar way …

Hovercraft technology floats 7,000+ lb. building ...