What is the easiest way to power something using air? have a limited materials need answer asap plz?

Question

ok its to power a vehicle type thing for an opening ceremony it has to roll across a stage im not sure how far tho

Answer 1

I suppose that would depend on what you're powering.  Modern windmills generally are used to produce electricity, however they can also be used for direct mechanical energy.

In other words, if you needed to grind coffee (just as an example), you could either set up a windmill with a grinding stone on it, or you could hook it to a turbine and power an electric grinder...

Answer 2

You have to create pneumatic pressure , thats all.

Answer 3

If the vehicle can be small enough you could probably just fill up a ballon, attach it to the vehicle/hold it in a basket and when the time comes, let the end of the ballon go.  The air coming ouf of the ballon will send it forward, hopefully in a somewhat straight line for a sufficent distance.  Small CO2 cartridges or similar small air tanks could work in a similar manner of just letting out a "stream" of air from the tank.

A larger "cart" sized vehicle could be put together using a compressed air tank and some sort of small pneumatic motors.  The tanks should be relatively easy to find as they make a number of small ones (5 gallon or so) for filling car tires.  For a motor, a shop die grinder could be used and maybe rigged up with a hobby airplane propeller (they spin too fast for hooking it up to a wheel without gear reduction).  Hook the die grinder up to the tank with some sort of valve, find someone with an air compressor to charge up the tank and when the time comes open the valve.  Again, it will hopefully go in a somewhat straight line for a suffienct distance.

If the vehicle gets much bigger than a small cart or actually has to carry a load (a person) then the solution is not really easy or cheap.  Most air powered items that you can easily find are not very efficent in thier use of air and therefore require a lot of air from high volume/pressure storage or some sort of air compressor that runs on gas or electricity, which defeats the point of an air powered vehicle.

Answer 4

It would help if you listed the bits you do have. You could make a hovercraft with a balloon, cotton reel or similar, and a piece of thick card...

Answer 5

Could use a balloon or a foot pump...  depends on how much air and for how long.

Answer 6

Use a fan. The moving air or wind should power the fan, then transfer that through a belt or gearset to move the vehicle