Part 2: Fifth Grade 1st Place Science Project Air Car

We have gears on it tried the various gears. Actually wanted to use the highest gear for efficiency and range but power was too low to move the car. Lowest gear is the best we can use or it won't pull itself. A 2nd actuator would be great for power but for this setup you would loose some of the already limited range. You would be using twice the air volume per stroke. If we do another it will have higher pressure tank, single seat,and will loose a 100 lbs or so.

haven`t you thought about putting a second piston onto the other side of the wheel and put the pistons work one by one - so there would be twice the power and acceleration .. ( 2 air boosts during one wheel rotation... )..

oh .. and you were using a bike chain... it wouldn`t be hard to put some more gears and a bike gear changer to get more speed and acceleration to it :P

think about it and good luck :D

great project :P

Take a look at vacuum forming on you tube looks pretty easy, maybe you can make body parts for your car.

that kid is smarter than me and im in 12th grad

Great video, if you want high power try using a high pressure oxygen tank 1500 psi. and regulate it to your 120 psi. It's not that hard to find a compressor able to pump 1500 psi.

tsss tssss tsss :D good job!

great fun!....I found your video from the aircar

the kid should be wearing a helmet :P

Cool! Ever thought of using a Tesla Turbine? (I'm always suggesting using a Tesla Turbine) Would a transmission be helpful in this type of car? Looks like a really fun farther and son project.

who helped you

What are you hoping to achieve? Give us some info like distance and litres to work on, so we all know how far you are towards your next step? And let us know what ideas you have in mind so we can all help think tank, in the end you are the one making it, so any ideas may help boost you closer to your goal.
All we ask is a good discount on the final car when you reach the end,lol!!

Well, we just used power from the grid but ideally, you could use solar, wind, or hydro power to run the compressor. We haven't made it that far yet.

Now that is an interesting idea. Of course it takes energy to heat the air. Need an efficient way to do that.

I bet you could greatly extend the range by adding a couple paintball Co2 tanks and a regulator to refill the air tanks.

That is on the idea list already. I actually have an electric motor suitable for this but we ran out of time to integrate it before the science fair. Another useful purpose for the elec. motor is that it could be used to charge a battery while not providing propulsion. Possibly activate it on downhills and have regenerative braking...