River Roller! Pontoon Boat that Rolls Across the Water!

Ok. The basis for my idea is that a solar fueled pleasure boat is a great idea by itself. Think about it. Saturday morning the boat is fueled and ready to go. If you need more fuel a generator should do the trick. Worst case scenario you putt home on solar only. Which for the majority of users will not be an issue. If all of you get nothing else from this, electric propulsion is the future. Align yourselves accordingly and you will do well.

 

That would just be boring! Not to mention the lack of potential. This way I'm putting effort into parts that can be used a many different levels of testing. Not to mention it has been a fun, albeit frustrating journey.

 

Hello All,
I thought I would layout a few design scenarios for getting on plane.
1. Full power in undisturbed water with minimal trantoon submersion will result in a "Quick to plane" craft. Someone out there has to see this. Even if the weight is such that it would not work in reality. Please reinforce my faith in humanity and let me know that someone out there gets this.
2. Getting to plane with a heavier load will be more challenging. This will require differing RPMs among the fore and aft trantoons. The fore trantoons providing the majority of traction while the aft provide buoyancy until it gets on plane.

The first test will be full power to all trantoons with minimal weight to see what happens. My hope, and guess, is it will take off like no other water craft. Inefficient or not.

 

A question for all of you forum experts. Where do all of these views come from? I see roughly 4k views for the last month. Is that from the general web or just members? I'm encouraged by the interest. Is it the witty banter or the design? I'm sure most of you think it's your witty banter. But maybe.............

Doubting Alan just doesn't have a ring to it. Are you sure your name isn't Thomas?

Yes me to. To help me out implies hope. Your own words betray you!

 

You touched on a very important point here. It WILL roll through the water to some extent. Dragging or pushing would imply some other method of propulsion other than the trantoons themselves. The trantoons propelling themselves through the water changes all of your equations. None of the design models presented here accurately represent this design.

 

This should be the easy part, have you looked into what size panel it will take to actually charge the large battery pack needed for powering your design once it has been drained?

To run on "solar only" you need large panels and a very efficient design, you do have a bit more room for panels than the average craft this size, but at displacement speeds I don't think the design could be called efficient.

 

Well, since only 1 out of 20 think your idea will work, (did you vote?) and witty banter being skimpy, I'd go for people looking for a spectacle, like the crowds watching a fire, or maybe they're fans of schadenfreude.

BTW, the USPTO says there are no patent applications under your name...? ....?

It occurs to me if you rigged up just one trantoon on a light frame with a wire guidance system and supplied power to that one trantoon, wouldn't that prove your theory? Or maybe just the first and last trantoons? Are they all needed to prove the theory?

 

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/three-wheeled-paddle-petal-boat-rent-24479286.jpg


MMM something like this??? Irrespective of the shape of the buoyancy supported, paddle equipped wheels, these do work but not very well
A patent breaker

 

The phrase I've been using is "Solar charged". The Idea being that roughly 10 hours of charge time would give you one hour of full speed or many hours of slower speeds. The solar bimini would allow for minimal speeds if running on solar only. In addition a generator could be added for extended ranges.

 

I don't even get credit for some witty banter!!!??? Now I know this forum is negative.

Schadenfreude? Thanx for teaching me a new word. I prefer the word intrigued. I believe people find this Idea interested. Thats why there are so many views.

One trantoon will only prove the efficiency of one Trantoon. Which would be interesting but not conclusive. If the transition to plane (if that is even an accurate term for what the River Roller will do) is difficult, I believe that multiple trantoons will be necessary for proof of concept. Not to mention it is the core concept of my craft.

I don't know whats wrong with the USPTO. I actually have two applications.

Well I think they are all needed to prove the theory

 

There are many differences. That is one of the first things I looked at. It only narrows the scope of my patent. It doesn't eliminate it.

 

You didn't even try to answer my question, I'm fully aware of what you plan on trying to do. But what size battery pack do you need and what size panel is required to get it charged in 10 hours? You keep making claims and statements with nothing to back them up.

This is sounding more like troll again than a real project.

 

I answered your question. I didn't provide the calculations to back it up. If you are going to ask for accuracy, please practice it yourself. I could provide calculations at this point, and I'm sure you would all be very happy to correct them. I am only providing approximations at this point. This project is in a schematic phase. To provide exact numbers at this point will be pointless. Nonetheless I expect this vessel to be approximately 10'x24' with the majority of the bimini area being solar panels. That being said I think 10 hours of solar exposure should provide a significant amount of charged power. Regardless of which hemisphere you reside. Feel free to do the calculations to prove me wrong. If you consider that trolling, then what is the purpose of this forum?

 

Hello All,
I thought it would be prudent to post a current state of affairs.
1st, Can anyone suggest a way to make this work better? I know all of you have your doubts, but assuming this could serve some purpose, can any of you suggest the best way to make it happen? Keep in mind this will only further your leadership in the field. God forbid anyone here does that!
2nd Can anyone provide an accurate equation of what will happen when the entire hull is propelling the craft forward? You've already showed me what will happen when this vessel is pushed through the water. What about when it pulls itself through the water? None of you have an equation for that and you don't like it. Acknowledge it, accept it, and move on.
3rd Making this craft efficient will be a challenge. I thank all of your for your contributions in this respect. While it has yet to be proven, I suspect the River Roller may not be as efficient as a prop an hull. Of course that depends on your definition of efficiency. Keep in mind that a Tesla is the most powerfull and efficient car on the road. Would it really be such a stretch to extend that technology to the water?
4th I am currently building a proof of concept. A multitude of 3d printing problems, and everyday life have slowed me down. I will soon turning to professionaly 3d printers who can ge the job done.
5th None of you can acknowledge any counter point. I have yet to hear that ANY of my points are valid.

 

One more comment on yours. Everyone seems more than willing to say that it won't work. Noone seems interested is defining the meaning of works. Let me help as it appears you all need it. Will it move through the water? Yes. No question as to this. So would moving through the water constitute it working? Well I might be stretching here, but yes I believe that would constitute it working. So why have so many people voted it wont work? Why? Because this isn't about the River Roller. It's about all of you. The people who make up this forum. God forbid anyone takes a stand and says the truth or even takes a chance. I didn't even have an idea of what fake news is until I participated here. None of you KNOW how this will work. Like myself, you are only guessing. From what I've seen here, my guess is, that my guess is better than yours.