Paddle Steamer Tugboat

thingiverse

Work in Progress! Files Will ChangeCheck out my cool collection of cups, mugs, & more here at WeCanDrinkTogether.comI have been working on a little Paddle Steamer Tugboat. My goal is to have one that when tethered in a river, or towed behind a child, that the paddle wheels will turn and (ideally) charge an LED to shine. There is lots of space on this one for things to be added/installed.I spent more time than I should have trying to quickly build the generator & circuit before realizing I needed better materials for winding, and more space. Instead I've left some rails for mounting components in the well later.There's also fore & aft 5.5 mm Ø holes for "accessories"--though I've not notion as to what those might be yet.The axle is supposed to be a steel rod, 1/8"Ø (sorry for the unit-crossing, but I live in Canada).Hull DesignIt uses the concept I've been using lately of splitting the hull below the waterline and having the lower portion a flooded shell rather than buoyant. This allows for enough buoyancy above the waterline while ensuring the centre of gravity and centre of pressure are correctly located.... Or so the thinking goes. I've used it on a couple boats now, to good effect. The water also dampens the motion slightly while giving the object good momentum.Generator DesignI put waaaay too much work into trying to get some magnetic bearings to scale up the RPM before I realized that I was putting everything too close together and was getting the magnetic fields directly interacting, rather than using the stator. As a result, I could only ever get it to work as a reducer :'( :'( I've been looking at gear reduction motors as a quick, less painful solution..... Or maybe I could build a genny that just //works// at a convenient speed......?