Our initial designs were centered around a dog-shark costume, which we eventually used on our final DOG. Our initial sketches turned out to be a surprisingly accurate prediction of the final state of our project.
Our final DOG included two thrust fans, a lift fan, a servo-controlled mouth and tail, LED strips, and various sensors/electronic components used for communications. Electronic components were housed inside of the shark costume for maximal aesthetic appeal. A foam bumper was mounted about the perimeter of our DOG so that it could safely bump into neighboring objects, and a phone mount was placed inside of the shark mouth so that video conferencing software could be used for a "DOGs-eye view" during operation.
Chassis and Skirt
Our electronics were centrally located for proximity to batteries, which were placed dead center for weight distribution. We made a "Tiva deck", so that the reset button on our Tiva was accessible and so that code could easily be flashed onto it. We used a frame of foam core board to support our shark costume ("Elevated Shark Framework" - ES Framework), with Velcro to keep the costume on snug. The skirt design used a "sandwich" method to create an airtight seal between rip stop nylon and foam core with just tape and hot glue. After the skirt was made, the hovercraft was inverted and a soldering iron was used to poke holes in the skirt while it was inflated by the lift fan.
Fans
Our thrust fans were the EPS-100C B model from Grand Wing Servo-tech. We purchased them from AeroMicro RC hobby shop, and mounted them in an enclosure for our final DOG. Our lift fan was a Delta Electronics BFB1212GH, supplied by ME218, which we mounted vertically for our final DOG.
Electromechanical Displays
While our DOG was waiting to pair with a FARMER, it had its mouth closed and its tail was stationary. When the DOG paired, it opened its mouth and its tail began to wag. The mouth and tail were both controlled by servos. The mouth also included a "peripheral chomp" that allowed a FARMER to trigger the DOG to close its mouth and reopen it. The tail was mounted to a foam core board frame, and the mouth was made out of a lasercut duron frame.
Aesthetics
Our electronics components were housed inside of our shark costume for a clean look, and thrust fan/mouth hardware was painted white for aesthetic appeal. During its final state, many of the DOG components were hidden except for the tail, mouth, and shark body. LED strips gave the shark a flashy look, and timers were used to light the LEDs in alternating sequences.