On Thin Ice

One of the Arctic’s major problems is transport of goods and services. Trucks, planes, boats, snow vehicles and four wheelers all need a certain kind of infrastructure or environmental condition to be met like roads, runways or different seasons. Roads and runways are costly and boats can't pass through thick arctic ice during the winter seasons. These options are the three main options for transporting goods meaning the availability of such goods is inconsistent. When they are available, because of the lack of convenient transport routes, the cost of basic needs, like food and building materials is often significantly higher. This is a very pressing issue for those who live up north. However, there is a solution. My father who works in innovation and engineering in the Canadian Navy, informed me of a different and novel vehicle, the thrust cushion vehicle (TCV). The TCV is a type of hovercraft that can traverse many Arctic terrains all year round. The TCV is a faster, more fuel-efficient option compared to other transport vehicles. Additionally, a TCV doesn’t require any infrastructure and is not limited by the weather. This project will demonstrate how a TCV works, how I made my own model TCV and how this vehicle is what I believe to be the best option to increases the reliability of transportation in the Arctic.

To start this project, I gathered some information on thrust cushion vehicles. Luckily for me one of the original creators Graham Cocksege had a master’s paper, specifically on this vehicle. The masters paper gave me information for the shape of the model, how a TCV works and valuable information on fan dimension. From this paper I learned that there are two main elements that form the system behind a TCV. The front facing fans push out air through the bottom and back of the hull creating thrust and lift. The flaps control this air either by closing off the airflow or opening it up.

After learning the inner workings of a TCV, it was time to build the model. To start, I used a box cutter to cut all the pieces for the model and glued and taped them together to form the hull. For the remote I learned all about how to program a controller to give the correct outputs with different switches and I learned how the switches correspond to the receiver. The mechanical systems for the model required me to cut out and tape together cardboard flaps, attach hinges, and connect the parts to the servomotor. Next, I attached all the electronics. I created the front shield for the fans with a 3D printer and placed the fans and motors in. I attached all the fans and the servo to a power distribution board and finally I attached it all up to the battery.

After building, I used the master’s paper’s baseline of how the fans and flaps function as my testing baseline for my model. This meant having a full range of motion with the flaps and a consistent amount of lift and thrust.

To test the vehicle I had to understand how a Thrust Cushion Vehicle works. The TCV is a unique vehicle that uses an air cushion and three main components to allow for fast, efficient movement. The first component is the pontoons. The pontoons are similar to the ones found on boats because they are lightweight and provide the buoyant force in water. They are the parts that make contact with the ground when the vehicle is stagnant. The space between the pontoons is called the plenum and is where the air flows. The fans mounted at the front of the vehicle funnel in air and push the air through the plenums and out the bottom and back of the vehicle. This creates the movement and the lifting force. The final component is the back flaps. The back flaps controls how much air is directed through the plenums to the bottom or back of the vehicle. More air out the bottom creates lift allowing the vehicle to hover and the more air out the back creates more thrust.

I finished the building process and since I understood how the model worked, it was time to test and see if my model worked properly. The tests were designed to see how well the vehicle performed compared to how the masters paper described. I made many observations when testing the TCV model. All the mechanical components functioned properly including the fans and the back flaps. The back flaps worked as intended with full range of motion (fully opened/closed) within the plenums. However, one of the flaps was slightly misaligned from the other. this misalignment did not appear to have had any major effects on the vehicle's performance. The fans produced a strong air flow, enough so that it could be noticed when sitting behind the TCV. The fans could go from low to high speed without mechanical or electrical issues. This was amazing since the fan blades were created from scratch. However, due to the weight of the fans, it didn't lift of the ground or move forward. The back of the vehicle lifted slightly but it there was minimal movement. All the components functioned properly but the vehicle could not lift off the ground or push itself forwards.

This sub-optimal performance was due to two main factors, the weight of the motors and the pressure of the air. The fans pushed out a sufficient amount of air, but the weight hindered the overall performance of the model. When the fans were pushed to full throttle, they pushed the back of the vehicle upwards while the front stayed planted on the ground. This lead to air escaping out the bottom and back. This air leakage meant there was less pressure and therefore less lift. To combat this issue, I would mount the electronics further back, remove some materials from around the fans and purchase more powerful fan motors. This will remove some weight and distribute the rest of the weight more optimally.

Even though my model didn’t work as intended, the process of researching lead me to find valuable reasons why the TCV is the best transportation option for the Canadian Arctic. Many communities up North face challenges with importing goods, providing healthcare transportation and search and rescue due to limited infrastructure and financial resources. The TCV is a great design for these issues since it can float above any arctic surface (ice, water, snow and marshy tundra) minimizing drag and increasing speed. It uses only one set of fans making it more efficient than normal hovercraft and since it needs less power there is potential that it could be solar powered. Due to technological improvements, there are also options of them being controlled remotely or by AI. Since the TCV is capable of operating across multiple environments it can be useful in a wide range of uses and can significantly impact transportation in the Arctic. The TCV can operate on ice snow and water, meaning it is potentially an all-year-round solution for getting goods such as food, clothes and construction material to remote communities. Because the vehicle's design is fast and versatile, it could serve to transport people with life threatening injuries to the nearest care facility. In addition, its speed and all-terrain capability means it’s well adapted to search and rescue operations. The combination of speed and multi-surface transport means that the TCV is a reliable vehicle for a wide range of essential tasks potentially saving many lives.

There are several ways I would edit my model and address the weight distribution issue. The fans were the heaviest components because I custom built the fan blades and motor casing along with the pre-bought heavy motors. The additional screws and 3D printed elements increased the overall weight. Buying lightweight, premade fans could reduce the weight. I could have increased the size or altered the fan shape. By increasing the size or altering the design of the fans I could increase the pressure and amount of airflow. This could generate enough lift to float and create thrust for the vehicle.

This project took many hours of challenging work and I would like to give thanks to those people who helped me bring my project to life. I want to thank my father. He helped with getting me started with the idea and helped through every stage. He explained confusing information, taught me about electronics, and helped me create various pieces of the finished model. I would like to thank the people who helped me at school including my teacher and my friends. They both helped to keep me motivated and level-headed. Lastly, I would like to give a huge credit to the original creators of the TCV, Bill, Graham and George Cocksedge. This project is not possible without their amazing creation. Thank you so much to all these people!

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