Retro_Link Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Aerofex develops a potentially groundbreaking hover vehicle. They may not be as slick as the Endor speeder bikes from Return of the Jedi, but Aerofex's hover vehicles could someday be zipping over our city streets. These life-size aerial transport models were based on a two-duct rotor design that was abandoned in the 1960s due to stability and rollover problems. Recently, however, an engineering corporation called Aerofex was able to correct the stability issue by incorporating two knee-level control bars that allowed the user to rely on their natural sense of balance to steer them; such advances could eventually enable even untrained pilots to fly them. Unfortunately, Aerofex has no intention of immediately distributing a manned version of the vehicle, at least not yet. While the company has currently limited human flight testing to 15 feet high at 30 miles per hour, the hover bikes are actually capable of speeds comparable to that of a helicopter -- although, they're not as efficient. As Aerofex founder Mark De Roche explains, "They do have unique performance advantages as they have demonstrated flight within trees, close to walls and under bridges." Yahoo News reports that the company will develop a second version of the vehicle this October, with unmanned drone testing slated for the end of 2013. *no sound* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 We've had the technology for the likes of hover-bikes, flying cars, jet packs and whatnot for a few years now. The issue is not whether we can build them, it's whether we can generate enough power to utilise them efficiently. And that is what we're far off of doing. And judging from the comment, "he hover bikes are actually capable of speeds comparable to that of a helicopter -- although, they're not as efficient", I'm guessing that's also the issue here. Although it should be noted that this innovation is not the hovering capabilities (it says that we had this technology since the 60s, maybe before), it's the method of control. This is a further step to incorporating natural human responses to control vehicles and the like (think Jinba ittai). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokong Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 3 years... they have 3 years to get Hoverboards into shops or HELL WILL BE PAID Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbob Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Not that it matters, we'll be dead by December 21st so we'll miss out on the hoverboard. Damn mayans!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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