Overview & Design MethodologyOur controller was designed as a wearable inner tube which turned tilting into direction commands for the hovercraft. The goal was to have all electronics be fully integrated within the tube. Towards that goal, a removable module was designed that housed all core electronics. Embedded circuits such as buttons and the hovercraft-selection cup connected to the module via Molex. The main components of this design are:
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To accommodate the electronics, the inner tube was sliced and stuffed with (many, many bags of) fiber fill. A rectangular opening was cut for the electronics module at the front of the tube. To prevent tearing of the inner tube material, two pieces of laser cut acrylic were used to sandwich the torn edge and fixed with adhesive.
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For further support and to prevent excess fiber fill from obstructing the electronics module, an internal frame made of foam core was fixed to the frame. This held back the fiber fill and made it much easier to insert and remove the module. Support straps were added to make the controller easy to use and carry. These straps were custom cut using nylon and attached to supports placed within the inner tube. The supports were made of 6" trimmed PVC with foam caps added to each end.
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