RC Life On Builds Amphibious Car That Rolls on Roads and Glides Across Lakes

On the first full test run, success was the order of the day as that amphibious car rolled down the bank, splashed into the water, and simply continued trucking. The foam blocks kept it afloat, and the back motor gradually slipped into place, propelling it across the lake. Minutes passed, and before you knew it, the animal had reached the far shore and climbed back out by itself. The project’s inventor, RCLifeOn, has a reputation for transforming common parts into some interesting creations.

This time, he began with a simple metal car frame stripped of its roof and any excess dead weight. The goal from the beginning was to build a single machine that could handle both pavement and open water without the need for a trailer or separate boat. The foam blocks supplied lift. Stacked and molded around the frame, they provided enough buoyancy to hold a good three hundred kilograms. Plywood plates fastened the foam to the metal, and some glass fiber cloth offered some more strength at the joints; nevertheless, the first time he attempted it, the fabric split some of the foam; a quick coat of paint sealed the surface against water and filth.

Four hub motors nestled inside the tires provided the land some power. They provided him four-wheel drive that was reversible and controlled by electronic speed controllers, as well as a decent amount of torque for grass and dirt. A twist throttle on the handlebar controlled acceleration, while the rider sat comfortably in the center for balance on both surfaces. In contrast, water mode required a slightly different technique. He cobbled together an old e-foil motor with the propeller installed at the back, giving it some thrust when lowered into the water. Some aluminum extrusions made a sliding gantry that carried the entire motor assembly up and down on rollers with a little help from a Ryobi drill, whose clutch allowed him to lift or drop the motor smoothly without getting all those gears mixed up. One direction spun it down, while the other quickly lifted it off the ground. A few pieces of wood and 3D printed brackets held everything together, and the base plate was made of 8mm plywood.

Steering on the water was just a matter of catching the flow with a couple of pieces of plywood near the prop and nudging the nose one way or another. The body would lean slightly in the tighter turns. The same throttle grip functioned in both modes, and he fueled the land and water motors with their own battery packs and controllers.

When it came to routing, electronics required a lot of careful preparation because you had to make sure your LiPo batteries, heavy-duty speed controllers, and a servo tester all worked together without any cables getting pinched and no water damage seeping in. Then there’s the puzzle of keeping all your cables tidy, as your moving gantry is always changing about, causing a mess, so some strong cable management skills are required. Finally, the testing verified that everything worked. On land, the vehicle handled similarly to a solid four-wheel drive cart. In the water, it floated perfectly on the surface and glided along at a reasonable speed, enough to span a substantial amount of lake in a matter of minutes. Transitioning from road to water was seamless: simply drive in, turn off the engine, and go. Even when floating, the low ground clearance protects the hub motors, while the foam on the tires keeps them mostly out of the water.

Range estimates place it at roughly fifty kilometers (thirty-one miles) on roads and three on water, but only with the current battery configuration. The good news is that the entire system is made up of parts that can be easily found at any old hardware shop, from the frame to the drill mechanism and everything in between. The constructor ensured that every connection is easily serviced with only a simple set of equipment.