This Prototype Hoverbike Could Land In A Year!

by Don Hatfield
from http://geek-news.mtv.com/

It was bound to happen sooner or later and we’re so happy it finally has. An Australian man by the name of Chris Malloy has built a functioning prototype of what can only be called a Hoverbike. It may not be the Speeder or Swoop bike Star Wars had us fantasizing about all these years, but there’s no denying the cool factor.

According to a recent article over at Gizmag, the Hoverbike sports an 1170cc 4-stroke engine. Its 10-feet long, weighs 231 lbs and will supposedly travel 92 miles on a single tank of gas. The frame is made of kevlar-reinforced carbon fiber and while it hasn’t taken to the sky yet, its creator plans on running the first true test flight in a couple of months. Just like a certain "jetpack" we’ve seen recently, lift comes from two ducted fans. The rotor blades spin in opposite directions, eliminating the need for a tail-rotor while providing some slick visual appeal.

Malloy still has a lot of work ahead of him and he is currently looking for investors to help get his Hoverbike off the ground. He wants it to go into limited production within a year and full scale production about 2 years after that. If all goes well, the first batch could cost about $40,000. However, Malloy claims full-scale production could lower the cost into the high-end sport bike range.

Another interesting thing the Hoverbike has going for it is the ultralight rating. With that, anyone (at least in the U.S.) interested in picking up one of these futuristic toys wouldn’t be required to have a full-fledged pilot’s license -- making it much more accessible.

by Don Hatfield
from http://geek-news.mtv.com/



Lets be honest, hovercrafts are frikin awesome. Sure, they don’t brake very well and the turning radius clearly leaves a little to beg for, but they float on air and travel by land or sea. How could you not think hovercrafts are the coolest?

This concept was designed by 21-year old industrial design graduate Yuhan Zhang from China and I have to admit it’s probably the most badass looking hovercraft I’ve ever seen. She wanted to design a vehicle that could handle all of China’s terrain: ice, snow, dirt, water, hills, etc. To make it even better, it’s got official Volkswagen badges on it and has been appropriately named the Volkswagen Aqua. Head past the break for a bunch of pretty photos and more info.




The Volkswagen Aqua, like other hovercrafts, uses multiple motors. The primary engine, which just happens to be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell (AWESOME!), inflates the skirt and lifts the hovercraft just slightly off the ground. At the rear, the forward thrust and directional fans are each powered by individual electric motors making it a completely gasoline-free vehicle.





We just like how it looks. It reminds us of some futuristic spacecraft or even a landspeeder from Star Wars -- and you know how much we love Star Wars.


There is one little detail we’re not too sure about. You see the round hatch at the rear? Well, that’s the only door this thing has and it seems like it would be pretty impossible to look good crawling out of it.

Artist creates Back to the Future hoverboard -- that actually hovers

By Denise Ngo
From: http://www.popsci.com/

Replica of Marty McFly's Hoverboard Actually Hovers Nils Guadagnin

The closer we get to the year 2015, the louder people lament that our world hardly resembles the one depicted in Back to the Future II. Although it will be awhile before any of us coast around in a flying Delorean, we've piped down our complaints, as a young French artist named Nils Guadagnin has built an exact, actually-hovering replica of Marty McFly's pink hoverboard.

Guadagnin began the project in 2008 for an exhibition titled -- drum roll -- "Back to the Future." Electromagnets allow the board to levitate, while a laser system stabilizes it mid-hover. Although you can't actually ride the board, it does hold up remarkably well when poked and prodded. Check out the video below to see Guadagnin demonstrate:

HOVERBOARD - NILS GUADAGNIN from nils guadagnin on Vimeo.

On his website, Guadagnin says that he built the hoverboard as a study in sculpture and as an experiment in spatial automony, but what we really want to know is if he's putting it up for sale. (Dibs.)

[Nis Guadagnin via Fubiz]

Homemade Flying Hovercraft. Actually Works...Awesome

Are you ready to meet Jesus? Do you have an extra $13,000 burning a hole in your hovercraft-less pockets? If so, then this totally real, totally functional hovercraft might be just the thing for you.

Designed by New Zealand inventor and mechanic Rudy Heema, the fiberglass WIG is all hover, all the time, until it hits 70kph at which point it starts to fly. Who wants to fly when you can hover? Not the J-Man, that's for sure. The auction runs through next Saturday, so act quickly if you want to be ready for church.

• link:// Buy a hovercraft at auction
• via:// Arbroath

Hover-Chair Brings Senior Citizen Air Hockey One Step Closer To Reality

By Clay Dillow
From http://www.popsci.com/

A Real Way to Hover 'Round The hoverchair can float up to 330 pounds around a room on a cushion of air.

Never at a loss for creative ways to make aging look like more fun than it is, the Japanese are developing an approach to senior mobility that's far more like a hovercraft than the mis-named Hoveround. Researchers there have engineered a chair that floats on a cushion of air, gently cruising above the floor like a puck on an air hockey table.

The prototype, designed by Tsunesuke Furuta and colleagues at Japan's Kobe Gakuin University, can be fitted with a performance-style car seat as well as a zabuton -- that's a Japanese-style floor cushion -- and reportedly can corner with ease while transporting a 330-pound payload.

The research team at Kobe Gakuin is looking for a commercial partner to help develop their hover-chair. In the meantime, you can see it in action below.

[CNET]

How To DIY Hoverboard ala "Back to the Future"

The Gadget Show shows us how to build a simple hoverboard from scratch. Now can anybody make it as cool as Marty McFly's?



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