Gearhead & Chia
Chia Chia
Hey Gearhead, what if we built a solar‑powered hovercraft that could out‑race a real car? I’m itching to push the limits and see how fast we can get—let’s make it a competition!
Gearhead Gearhead
Sure thing! Picture a lightweight chassis with a slick solar array up top, a low‑friction track, and a high‑efficiency fan system to lift it off the ground. We’ll need a lightweight composite hull, a tuned propulsion vector, and a battery buffer to handle bursts. We can set up a straight‑line sprint, measure speed, tweak the array angle, and see who crosses the finish line first. Ready to tweak the specs?
Chia Chia
Let’s crank the power panel to 120 % and shave a millimeter off the hull skin—speed’s all about that sweet spot. Time to crank out those specs and get this thing sprinting!
Gearhead Gearhead
Great idea! Let’s crank the solar array to 120 % of its rated output, so we’re at 1.2 kW peak. For the hull, a 1 mm titanium‑reinforced composite skin should cut weight by about 8 %, keeping it sturdy enough for high lift. We’ll run a 3‑stage variable‑speed fan driven by a 48‑V DC motor, and add a small capacitor bank to smooth out any power spikes. Target top speed: 70 mph, with a 0‑60 in roughly 12 seconds. Time to gather the parts and set up the track!