River Roller! Solar Charged Concept That Rolls Across the Water!

Discussion in 'Electric Propulsion' started by Matthew Lee Towne, May 14, 2017.

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  1. Matthew Lee Towne
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    Matthew Lee Towne Senior Member


    THE RIVER ROLLER


    PATENT PENDING

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]




    The River Roller rocks and it rolls! The goal of this concept is to create a boat propulsion system that will effectively regenerate energy. The potential is much more.


    The River Roller is a solar charged, electrically driven, transversely mounted pontoon/paddlewheel boat. The River Roller replaces a hull with transversely mounted paddlewheel pontoons. Lets call them trantoons for short. The trantoons are the hull, steering and water traction for the boat. The trantoons roll through the water allowing the boat to be quick, efficient and versatile.


    The River Roller will be:

    1. Quick AND Fast. Electric power is instantaneous. The trantoons will deliver all this power like no other water traction system. Quick. The high RPM potential of electric motors will allow high speeds. Fast.

    2. Stabile. The addition of an active suspension will add stability at high speeds and minimize wave effects. Ok, so technically, the River Roller won’t rock.

    3. Versatile. The ability to traverse any depth of water, snow, ice and rapids?

    4. Maneuverable. With skid steer traction it will turn in place.

    5. Quiet. Luxury, military, law enforcement and hunting applications are possible.

    6. Safer. Rolling across the water means less risk to life. The River Roller will harmlessly roll over whatever (or whoever) it encounters.

    7. Environmentally friendly. We all know electric vehicles are good for the environment. The River Roller may never need to be fueled. Solar and water current charging may be enough for many boaters.

    8. Easy on your electric bills. The solar bimini could provide power for your home. Lets face it, boats spend most of their time just sitting there. How about a hole in the water that money pours out of?

    9. A battery backup. The River Roller could be battery backup for your home.

    10. Unsinkable? No, but better than most. Just a few intact trantoons will keep it afloat.

    Ok, let's talk about the River Roller’s lack of potential:

    1. No boat cover. A retractable solar panel bimini would charge the batteries and cover the boat when not in use.

    2. No trailer. The addition of road tires and a tow bar will eliminate the need for a trailer.
    3. No ramp rage. You could drive it to and from your truck.

    4. No fueling necessary. Solar and water current charging capable. A river's current or ocean waves will charge the battery. A generator could be added to reduce range anxiety. The batteries could also be charged while towing.

    5. No dock, boatlift or boathouse necessary. You could simply drive it on shore and park it there.

    Hopefully, by this point, you see the potential. Even if all the River Rollers potential, or lack of potential, is not realized, the River Roller represents a step forward in boating.
     
  2. Matthew Lee Towne
    Joined: May 2017
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    Matthew Lee Towne Senior Member

    Hello All,
    This is my concept for an solar charged, electrically driven boat. I have also posted this on the general boat design forum.

    I'm hoping for a warmer response here. Please let me know your thoughts.

    Matthew Lee Towne
     
  3. jorgepease
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    jorgepease Senior Member

    Here is a non expert view - That looks like around 16 foot in length, say it's 10' wide you might get 14 solar panels on it, not much power for driving motors, that means you will need plenty of heavy batteries. In such a small craft with all that weight I think it might be a problem. Also don't think paddle wheel drive is that efficient, might be easier to just use a prop. It might have very specific applications but I don't see it being something with a big market.
     
  4. Matthew Lee Towne
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    Matthew Lee Towne Senior Member

    Yep the solar panels are to charge the batteries. The idea is that you would get up on a Saturday morning and your boat would be fueled and ready to go!

    Yes it will be heavy. The batteries will add at least 600lbs. I have 10 3.5'x4' trantoons providing 5000lbs of buyant force at 25% immersion. Considering pontoon boats commonly run around 2000lbs with motor, that leaves me 3000lbs for batteries plus payload. I think that works.

    Yes a paddlewheel and hull system is less efficient than a prop and hull. This is 10 paddlewheels WITH NO HULL VS a propeller and hull. We can't really say how efficient it will be as our system hasn't been done before.


     
  5. Caroute Motor
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    Caroute Motor Junior Member

  6. Matthew Lee Towne
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    Matthew Lee Towne Senior Member

    Thanx I so!

     
  7. Dave T
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    Dave T Senior Member

    Mathew changing your thread to another location will not help. It's been explained to you why it won't work by a lot of people with much more knowledge of boats and propulsion systems than you or me. I could go through your list of claims for this thing and tell you why most of them could never work but I can see it would be a waste of time. It's time to put up or shut up. You are wasting your time talking about this thing. Build something and prove it. I will not be responding to your thread again unless asked to. Good luck
     
  8. kerosene
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    kerosene Senior Member

    This thread was created about the same time - just never toook off.

    I agree with all the criticism. Hopes and wishes don't make a reliable hypothesis.
     
  9. Matthew Lee Towne
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    Matthew Lee Towne Senior Member

    Dave, Dave, Dave, I was hoping for a more optimistic group here. Your explanations are lacking. EVERY explanation so far has been to propose how this design will be pushed through water. This design will PULL itself through the water! Please explain to me how that will work. As far as I can tell, neither you, nor I, know the answer to that. BTW I tell my kids to never say never. Surely you must know better.
     
  10. Matthew Lee Towne
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    Matthew Lee Towne Senior Member

    Never took off? Really? As far as I can tell, it is the most views per time period of any recent threads in the boat design forums. Please don't listen to this guy and let me know your thoughts!
     

  11. Boat Design Net Moderator
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    Boat Design Net Moderator Moderator

    Closing this thread as a duplicate of River Roller! Pontoon Boat that Rolls Across the Water! https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/river-roller-pontoon-boat-that-rolls-across-the-water.57918/ -- since that thread is already going with the same first post, it would be better to keep the same discussion together instead of duplicating. When your project gets to the point of calculating power requirements, comparing and selecting components, a more focused thread could be started in this Electric Propulsion forum to discuss the electric propulsion aspects in particular.
     
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