Would it be wrong to call this the ‘Hover' Age?
It seems that the bi-copter, tri-copter, and quad-copter designs are getting bigger and badder these days. The Flike is one of the most recent additions to the hoverbike family following a Canadian man that set a world record for the longest flight on a hoverboard over a body of water.
What started as a small electronic device that could be controlled by your smartphone to record video has evolved into hoverboards and hoverbikes, and now the U.S. Military wants in on this awesome hovering technology for use domestically, as well as overseas.
The U.S. Military sees the potential in hoverbike technology and wishes to harness it. Not only are they cheap to manufacture compared to helicopters and other flight technology, but they're personal, super easy to transport, and super easy to maneuver around tight spaces thanks to how small they are.
"The Department of Defense is interested in Hoverbike technology because it can support multiple roles," said Mark Butkiewicz, who works for the firm developing the technology. "It can transport troops over difficult terrain and when it's not used in that purpose it can also be used to transport logistics, supplies, and it can operate in both a manned and unmanned asset."
What's more is that the hoverbikes have protective guards around the rotating propellers, which means that these hoverbikes can bump into people or things without harming them like a helicopter would.
In testing, it has been shown that this kind of hovering technology is incredibly stable and that it can carry a significant weight load in the air. The only major breakthrough that needs to be made right now is a sustainable power source that lasts more than about twenty minutes.
Either the batteries are going to have to become much denser without adding too much more weight, or we're going to have to use a different power source, such as small gasoline engines perhaps.
No matter how they're designed, there's no denying that these things look just like the hoverbikes in the popular science fiction movie series Star Wars. Luke Skywalker and Leah Skywalker both used hoverbikes on the planet of Endor to take out the Scout Troopers they found.
This is awesome technology right here and it will be awesome to see how it gets harnessed and how it evolves. Some day, it might even be available in stores so you can go for a hoverbike ride through the park.
Source: BBC
Technology
JUN 24, 2015