The Challenge: To propel a vehicle the farthest distance possible on the air available from a standard party balloon.
Technical Approach: In order to accomplish this, I designed, machined, and assembled an air turbine which converted the inflowing air from the balloon into rotational energy which was then transferred to the wheels.
Selected Design Features: The turbine housing was machined from solid aluminum bar stock, and took over 20 hours to mill. The turbine blades were produced from sheet metal and press-fit into slots in the turbine spindle. When finished, the turbine was able to rotate at over 240 revolutions per minute under no load.