Drink Floater

thingiverse

I conceptualized this project for the MakeItFloat Challenge with the goal of creating something useful beyond just meeting the challenge's requirements. One thing I wanted was a way to transport drinks in my pool, so to stay true to the spirit of the challenge, my main focus was on carrying as many coins as possible since if I can carry a heavy load of metal, carrying liquids afterwards would be relatively easy. I conducted research on how things float and various concepts like boats, barges, and pontoons. The biggest factor I learned was that center of gravity plays a crucial role in floating objects, and weight needs to be distributed evenly. Then I discovered how ballast tanks are used to help balance boats on water. The picture on the Wikipedia page about ballast tanks sparked the idea of creating a cup holder that floats in my pool. Having the cup mostly submerged filled with cargo (coins, drinks, etc) will lower the center of gravity which should improve stability. From there I thought about adding floaties to help keep it above water and add more balance. In short, I came up with a design using a honeycomb layout. The cup ring can have up to 6 pontoons connected to it. Initially, I tried creating the pontoons with 15% infill, so that I can trap a lot of air inside, but it didn't help much since it added weight to it. The second version of the pontoons were hollow and had a cap to trap more air while leaving out some of the weight. The pontoons are the key piece of the design. They can connect to the ring and other pontoons, thus creating a modular system in which to create a floating structure. Stacking pontoons together add extra trapped air that can help add upward force while the cargo is applying a downward force since it's heavier than water. In the final design, I added holes to the ring that allows me to add pegs that can hold a net. So instead of just holding solo cups, I can carry other things like cans of beer or bottles of water. By keeping with the rules of the challenge and using the ballast design and pontoons, I created something that floats. By making it modular, I am able to print extra parts to allow the structure to expand and in doing so, carry more coins as many coins you need. For me with 6 pontoons and one cup, I was able to handle a maximum load of 1.2lbs of coins. In the end, you have a pretty versatile set of pieces that can be used to create a custom floating structure. It can be extended by using the peg holes or slide rails. One such idea is to create a pontoon part with a motor that can allow the structure to move. You could probably use the peg holes to add some rods to add a sail to the structure instead. Hell, you might have some other ideas I haven't even thought of by using these.