Day 1

  • I spent the first block finalizing my plan and drawing out my design.
  • I started making the boat’s outline in the second block and had to improvise by making it a little bigger as it felt too small to carry batteries.
  • I finished the basic outline of the boat, and I am ready to start gluing next class.

Day 2

  • I glued my boat with hot glue and taped duct tape for extra safety.
  • I tested to see if the boat was waterproof and floatable. The test went flawlessly, and my boat was perfect.

Day 3

  • I poked a hole through my boat for a stick to run through it.
  • I connected the motor and propeller with a stick in the hole I poked earlier.
  • There was too much friction, and it caused the boat to shake when the motor started spinning.
  • I added a piece of foam under the boat to relieve some of the shaking.
  • The boat was still shaking too much, so I switched out my batteries for a weaker one. The boat worked smoothly after that.

Day 4

  • Most of the work is done by now; I only needed to add the propeller.
  • I added a barrier around the stick with the hole so if water leaks, it will stay within the radius and away from the battery/motor.
  • I spent the rest of the time working on my blog post.

Day 5

  • I taped the wires to the side of the boat and stabled the battery box.
  • I did a final check of the boat to ensure it was ready to be tested.
  • I tested the boat in a sink, and it worked perfectly.
  • I added a windshield by cutting a round top from a Sodexo yogurt cup and molding it onto the front of my boat.

Video Player
Video Player

Final Product

Feedbacks

  • Add a small barrier where the stick pokes through the boat to ensure water doesn’t touch the batteries or motor.
  • Use a stick to connect the motor and propeller, so the motor is not directly in touch with water. This does kill a lot of the power the motor produces, however, I improvised by adding a stronger battery, and the motor worked fine.
  • Have the propellers under the boat and have the stick poke through diagonally.
  • Instead of having a triangle-shaped boat bottom, have a flat bottom as the boat must be heavy enough for the triangle-shaped design to work, so having a flat bottom is a safer option.