EARLIER this year, The Witness spoke to home-grown
vehicle designer Sibaya Lunga about his visions for transport in the
future.
The kwaPata local said his favourite concept vehicle was a hover
car and proceeded to show us his technical designs for large and small hover
vehicles.
It seems the zeitgeist that inspired Lunga also
inspired the California-based tech research company Aerofex, which recently
released a video that appears to show successful test flights of a prototype
hover bike.
Aerofex says its bike gains lift from two large ducted rotors and
says the pilot has intuitive control over pitch, roll and yaw without the need
of artificial intelligence, flight software or electronics of any kind.
According to a report in InnovationNewsDaily,
Aerofex has resurrected sixties’ research technology which was abandoned due
to stability problems. The company has apparently rectified the issue with the
addition of knee-level “control bars” on either side of the vehicle that make
the vehicle more responsive to the pilot’s movements.
“It essentially captures the translations between the two in three
axis (pitch, roll and yaw), and activates the aerodynamic controls required to
counter the movement — which lines the vehicle back up with the pilot,” Aerofex
founder Mark de Roche told InnovationNewsDaily.
“Since [the pilot’s] balancing movements are instinctive and
constant, it plays out quite effortlessly to him or her.”
InnovationNewsDaily reports that although the hover
bike is capable of greater altitudes and speeds, test flights have been limited
to 48 km/h and 4,6 metres, for safety reasons.
In recent weeks, Aerofex has released a number of videos on its
YouTube channel and “flightlog” Tumblr page. A video uploaded to the latter in
March appears to show the prototype losing control during a test flight on
February 13, 2010.
“It would take 16 months, two inventions, and 41 field tests before
we are back in the air,” the caption reads. The result of that effort on control
would be dramatic. Our take-away: Fail sooner and never again test on Friday the
13th.”
My calendar indicates that Friday 13, 2010, was a Saturday.
Subsequent videos appear to show more success.
According to InnovationNewsDaily, Aerofex has no
immediate plans to commercially launch a manned hover bike, but instead sees the
technology as a test platform for new unmanned drones.
A
kwaPata designer says...
‘What Aeroflex has done is quite amazing. I do think in the nearby
future we all have to get used to the idea of hovering cars, bikes and even
levitating trains.
The research has been
done and all it needs is improvement. I would like to see more safety features
for the pilot, who seems to be exposed to excessive winds and dust.
I would have used four
fans underneath with a gyroscope to improve balance and stability so it can be
easily manoeuvred, as well as a proper seat for the pilot under a roof of safety
glass.
As for the looks, as an
amateur transport designer I can tell them “looks are everything” and their
hover bike can look a lot sexier.
But all in all, the
technology is just great and a step forward for us all.’
Aerofex recently released a video (clips left and below) that
appears to show successful test flights of a prototype hover bike. While the
application still needs to be tested, the concept is sound, said a local kwaPata
designer who is passionate about getting vehicles off the ground.
