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Ever wish you could have a hoverboard like in Back to the Future II? Now you can... kind of.
The story I ran across this morning was short on technical details, but the hoverboard will only work above a conductive surface and its battery only lasts seven minutes, apparently using magnetism.
"Our engineering team has been amazing, rapidly iterating on design after design. In fact, this our 18th prototype, and we continue to make advances week after week," says the company’s Kickstarter campaign.
"The magic behind the hoverboard lies in its four disc-shaped hover engines. These create a special magnetic field which literally pushes against itself, generating the lift which levitates our board off the ground."
A pledge of $10,000 will get you one of the first production boards. Expected delivery is October 2015.
(Score: 1) by jamesbond on Wednesday October 22 2014, @07:42AM
Kickstarted said he filed a patent. Where is the patent citation? Quoting Lenz law doesn't make it real. Even with allowing for the whitebox to be real, there is a *scale* factor one has to consider.
(Score: 1) by pmontra on Wednesday October 22 2014, @09:06AM
I quickly searched for hoverboard in the USPTO db and found only one patent from years ago, not their one. I searched for Hendo and found nothing. This is non conclusive and I'd really love to see their patent, if it's real.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Kell on Wednesday October 22 2014, @11:13AM
Available here: https://www.google.com/patents/US20140265690?dq=ininventor:%22D.+Gregory+Henderson%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0WVGVNPWN8PlsASi_4LYCg&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA [google.com]
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 1) by jamesbond on Wednesday October 22 2014, @01:07PM
Thank you for the link, that makes it more plausible. Off my head I'd say that they still have to solve two big problems though for the hoverboard to work, dynamic stability (e.g. when the magnetic disc is no longer parallel to the opposing conducting sheet) and scale. The patent claims that the technology will work even for loads more than 200 pounds; I reserve my doubt for that.
(Score: 2) by MrGuy on Wednesday October 22 2014, @01:52PM
Let's be clear that there's an ocean of difference between the statements "I filed for a patent" and "I was granted a patent."
Anyone can file for a patent as long as they pay the appropriate fee. Actually getting one is a considerably higher bar.