DailyDirt: Hoverboards Are Real!

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mon, Oct 27th 2014 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The "magic" of magnets have been observed for quite some time, but it's not actually an easily explained phenomenon that magnets can repel and attract in various configurations. Still, we can take advantage of this property of magnets, and create some amazing tricks of levitation that seemingly defy gravity. We could have a commercial hoverboard for kids to play with (as an actual toy) pretty soon, and we could potentially have some other even cooler devices based on "hover" technology. If only we could get a Mr. Fusion device together....

The Hendo hoverboard is a product available for pre-order (just $10,000!) -- and it can hover on non-ferrous metal surfaces. There have been pranks about Back To The Future hoverboards before, but this device is patent pending and appears to work in demonstrations. According to the patent application, it appears to rely on motors for spinning a Halbach array of magnets to maintain controlled magnetic levitation (similar to the Inductrack concept) -- and could be useful for isolating buildings from earthquakes. [url]
If you want to build your own levitating bed (and float like a frozen-in-carbonite Han Solo), just follow a few easy steps. And be VERY careful handling those super strong magnets. [url]
The Northeast Maglev company wants to connect NYC and DC with a high speed train that could be built by 2024. A floating train project crossing that corridor would costs tens of billions, and it needs to overcome plenty of bureaucratic/political hurdles as well. But wouldn't it be nice to get from NYC to Washington in about an hour? [url]

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Filed Under: halbach array, high speed rail, hover technology, hoverboard, maglev, magnetic levitation, magnets, transportation
Companies: arx pax, hendo, northeast maglev

9 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2014 @ 6:12pm

what the...?
Hmm. The hoverboard patent looks like it should work, but how is it that no one has done it before (or since the Inductrack was invented)? off to go find some rare earth magnets and some motors now....
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David, 27 Oct 2014 @ 9:37pm

NYC to Washington in an hour
You can already get from NYC to Washington in an hour by plane. All the rest is check-in and security theatre, and I see no reason why those should be different with a high-profile transport system like a maglev train.

There is the commute from the airport one might save, yes, but putting maglev tracks in central NYC is not really a convincing option either even though the actual port will eat up less area. So the commute will be necessary with maglev as well.
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Ninja (profile), 28 Oct 2014 @ 2:01am

Re: NYC to Washington in an hour
If you make it underground it could be awesome i think. And much less polluting.
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Ninja (profile), 28 Oct 2014 @ 2:02am

Yeah, you can use a hoverboard in a very controlled environment. Meh. Still, it's awesome that it's being developed. I wish to be alive when this shit gets real. HOVER WHEELCHAIR!
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2014 @ 9:55am

When I first saw the headline I thought it said hoover - can I have a vacuum board that floats above my floors? lol
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JoeCool (profile), 28 Oct 2014 @ 11:33am

Real, but REALLY impractical
They yammer incessantly about how their hoverboard is real, that it actually hovers over an "inactive non-ferrous" surface. They're like the sleight-of-hand con-artist trying to divert your attention from the REAL trick - the fact that you have to coat EVERY bit of area you wish to "hover" over with a conductive, non-ferrous, metal (the patent uses copper as an example in one place that's never mentioned again). Yeah, I'm going to spend hundreds of thousands covering my yard in copper so the kids can hover one inch over the yard on their $10,000 board that they'll be sick of in two days since it will ONLY work in the yard due to the needed metal coverage.

Save yourself a lot of money and a headache - buy a regular damn skate board and report these morons to whoever is supposed to keep rip-offs like this off kickstarter.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2014 @ 5:44pm

Re: Real, but REALLY impractical
Well said. It's nothing but an outrageously expensive toy.

Indeed, this so-called "inventor" talks more like a late-night infomercial huckster, big on imagery and fanciful dreams but scarce on actual details of what he's selling. The promotional videos never discuss what's actually "under the hood" and the only way donors/buyers can learn anything about how it's constructed is to read the patent.

The Hoverboard, as presented, is something that most any handyman with a typical garage workshop could make for a tiny fraction of the $10,000 price charged. Like many of these "crowd-funded" projects, it comes off as just another sucker-bait designed to part fools from their money.
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Michael Ho (profile), 29 Oct 2014 @ 6:22pm

Re: Re: Real, but REALLY impractical
This particular hoverboard may be a hoax of some kind, but it may be possible to someday have hovercrafts that don't require blowing air systems... and Toyota might be looking into it:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/9/5793494/toyota-has-been-investigating-cars-that-hover-above-the- road
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2014 @ 9:37pm

Re: Re: Re: Real, but REALLY impractical
Whatever Toyota might be researching, there is simply no advantage to making cars "lighter" -- in fact car designers try hard to do the opposite. Sports cars typically use aerodynamic add-ons such as air dams and spoilers to push the car harder against the road for improved tire grip and cornering ability.

Otherwise, most cars, including the famously airplane-wing shaped Volkswagen Beetle, get increasing lighter the faster their speed, making high-speed travel even more dangerous.

The singlemost practical use of magnetic levitation yet conceived is high-speed trains, though with the efficiency of modern wheel bearings continuing to improve, even that's debatable, especially when cost is factored in.
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