Snowglide

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  Final model of Snowglide

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  Heating component within the top of the hull

Inspiration

With kilometres of 5 feet of snow in between your home and your exam location, is a shovel really going to help?

Taking inspiration from the Russian ZIL-2906, a screw-driven amphibious craft, we repurposed the Subnautica Seaglide for snow. Instead of digging your way through thousands of cubic metres of snow, you can take advantage of the soft snow to propel yourself through, without the reliability on gravity.

What it does

First and foremost, the Snowglide is a handheld transportation device designed to let you glide over deep snow at higher speeds than walking, digging, or using snowshoes. This allows you to travel efficiently and reach campus in time for your exam without worrying about delays caused by extreme winter conditions.

As the sun sets early during the winter months, the Snowglide is equipped with a front-mounted flashlight to illuminate your path, guiding you forward like Rudolph leading Santa’s sleigh through the night.

To combat freezing temperatures, the Snowglide also features a built-in heating system along the top hull and handle. This provides warmth to the user’s hands, improving comfort, grip, and safety while traveling in harsh weather.

Additionally, the device includes a secure storage compartment for carrying essential personal items such as your phone, wallet, keys, student ID, or pencil case, keeping them protected and easily accessible throughout your journey.

How we built it

For our PCB design, we used Altium Designer, as it is an industry-standard tool widely adopted in professional engineering workflows. For the 3D modeling of our device, we used Onshape, taking advantage of its powerful real-time collaboration features to streamline teamwork and design iteration.

What we learned

We learned how to balance multiple functions within a compact multitool design. Integrating transportation, heating, lighting, and storage required careful planning to maintain usability, portability, and performance without overcrowding the device.

What's next for Ice Cubes

Moving forward, we plan to add advanced features such as GPS tracking and emergency signaling to improve safety and navigation. We also aim to prototype and test the Snowglide in real winter conditions to evaluate its performance. Finally, we will continue to optimize the design for weight and durability to ensure it remains portable, reliable, and suitable for extreme weather.

Built With

• altium
• onshape