Hoverboard

For the type of two-wheeled scooter sometimes known by this name, see Self-balancing scooter.
Hoverboard

Fictional hoverboard used by the character Marty McFly in both Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III.
Plot element from the Back to the Future film series
Publisher Amblin Entertainment
First appearance Back to the Future Part II (2015 in fictional timeline)
Created by Robert Zemeckis
In-story information
Type Personal transport
Function Personal transportation similar to a skateboard, but using a magnetic means of levitation instead of wheels.

A hoverboard (or hover board) is a fictional levitating board used for personal transportation, first described by author M. K. Joseph in 1967 and popularized by the Back to the Future film franchise.[1] Hoverboards are generally depicted as resembling a skateboard without wheels. During the 1990s there were rumors, fueled by director Robert Zemeckis,[2] that hoverboards were in fact real, but not marketed because they were deemed too dangerous by parents' groups. These rumors have been conclusively debunked.[2] The hoverboard concept has been used by many authors in various forms of media.[3]

The Guinness World Records recognizes the term hoverboard to include autonomously powered personal levitators. In May 2015, the Romania-born Canadian inventor Catalin Alexandru Duru set a Guinness World Record by travelling a distance of 275.9 m (302 yd) at heights up to 5 m (16 ft) over a lake, on an autonomously powered hoverboard of his own design.[4][5]

Another method of achieving levitation is superconductivity, used by the Slide hoverboard.

Real world

Several companies have drawn on hovercraft technology to attempt and create hoverboard-like products but none has demonstrated similar experiences to those depicted in films.

In the 1950s Hiller aircraft produced the "Flying Platform" which was similar to the modern concept of a hover board.[6]

Airboard was unveiled in the 2000 Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony,[7] which was manufactured and sold by Arbortech Industries Limited.[8] Series II was unveiled in 2007.[9]

Rumors circulated in 2001 that inventor Dean Kamen's new invention, codenamed Ginger, was a transportation device resembling the Hoverboard. In reality Ginger was the Segway Human Transporter, a self-balancing two-wheeled electric transportation device.

In 2004, Jamie Hyneman and his team built a makeshift hovercraft for MythBusters, dubbed the Hyneman Hoverboard, from a surfboard and leafblower. However, Jamie's hoverboard was not very effective.

In 2005, Jason Bradbury created a "hoverboard" for The Gadget Show, using a wooden board that was levitated by means of a leafblower. The original design was not propelled and could also not be steered. In 2009, a second version was made which was propelled/steered by a small jet engine (rather than a fan as with an air boat), and also contained 2 (more powerful) leafblowers.

In 2011, French artist Nils Guadagnin created a hovering board that floats by magnetic repulsion between it and its base but cannot carry a load. The board includes a laser system which ensures stabilization, in addition to an electromagnetic system which makes the levitation possible.[10]

In October 2011, the Université Paris Diderot in France presented the "Mag surf", a superconducting device which levitates 3 cm (1.2 in) above two magnetized repulsing floor rails and can carry up to 100 kg (220 lb).[11]

In March 2014, a company called HUVr claimed to have developed the technology for hoverboards, and released a video advertising the product on YouTube featuring Christopher Lloyd, Tony Hawk, Moby, Terrell Owens, and others riding hoverboards through a parking lot in Los Angeles. Special effect failures such as incomplete wire removal have conclusively identified the video as a hoax or joke, traced to the Funny or Die website through identification of the cast and public references to the project.[12] Funny or Die later posted a video featuring Christopher Lloyd "apologizing" for the hoax.[13]

In October 2014, American inventor Greg Henderson demonstrated a prototype hoverboard working on a magnetic levitation principle. Similar to maglev trains, the hoverboard requires a surface of non-ferromagnetic metal such as copper or aluminum to function, carrying up to 140 kg (300 lb) while hovering 2.5 cm (1 in) above the surface. Four engines were used to power the magnetic levitation, with the option of applying thrust and spin to the board under user control. The prototype was promoted in a campaign on Kickstarter the day of the news coverage, with a price of $10,000 for the first ten boards.[14][15] The New York Times said that although the board worked, Greg Henderson had no personal interest in skateboarding and that the Kickstarter was "basically a publicity stunt," designed to call attention to his California-based company, Arx Pax's, Magnetic Field Architecture (MFA) which Henderson was more interested in using for other applications, such as an emergency maglev mechanism capable of raising buildings from their foundations to protect them from earthquakes. Henderson was quoted as saying, "That's why we picked the hoverboard: to capture that attention. If one in 10 people realize there is another use for this stuff, that would be a great success."[16]

In May, 2015, Guinness World Records announced that the Romania-born Canadian inventor Catalin Alexandru Duru had set a new record for continuous travel as a controlling pilot on an autonomously powered hoverboard, travelling over a distance of 275.9 m (302 yd) at heights up to 5 m (16 ft) over Lake Ouareau in the province of Quebec, Canada. Video of the flight leading to a controlled splash-down is offered.[17] Duru had designed and constructed the hoverboard himself over the course of a year. Its lift is generated by propellors, and the pilot controls the craft with his feet.

On 24 June 2015, Lexus released a video as part of their "Amazing in Motion" series purporting to show a real hoverboard they had developed, the Slide. It was stated by Lexus that the board worked using liquid-nitrogen-cooled superconductors and permanent magnets. The board was shown moving over a conventional looking concrete skateboard park surface, which led to some skepticism. Lexus apparently later admitted that it only works on special metallic surfaces and the surface shown was not just concrete.[18] On August 4, 2015, Lexus revealed all the secrets of the Slide hoverboard with a promotional campaign, filmed in Barcelona and starring Ross McGouran, a professional London skateboarder. Lexus released a series of videos explaining the technology and the whole engineering, research, and development process in association with all its partners.[19]

On 24 December 2015, ARCA Space Corporation claimed it developed a hoverboard named ArcaBoard, and the batteries can provide energy enough for six minutes of hovering. The hoverboard uses powerful fans.[20]

Popular culture

See also

References

  1. ↑ Shea, Ammon. "Hoverboard". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  2. 1 2 snopes (4 November 2015). "Back to the Future Hoverboard : snopes.com". Snopes.
  3. ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/when-did-we-start-talking-about-hoverboards
  4. ↑ Canadian Develops Futuristic Hoverboard. 13 October 2015 – via YouTube.
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfa9HrieUyQ
  6. ↑ "Exhibits: Hiller Flying Platform".
  7. ↑ "The Hover Board: How Close Are We?".
  8. ↑ "Arbortech Industries Limited Airboard page". Archived from the original on July 20, 2001.
  9. ↑ "Arbortech releases Airboard Series II" (PDF).
  10. ↑ "Hoverboard Project Takes Flight--and Actually Hovers". TechHive. 27 May 2010.
  11. ↑ "Le Mag Surf- Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7". univ-paris-diderot.fr.
  12. ↑ Anthony, Sebastian. "HUVr: The Back to the Future hoverboard is finally here". Ziff Davis, LLC. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Funny Or Die is Sorry for Lying about Hoverboards". Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  14. ↑ Sean Buckley (2010-10-21). "We rode a $10,000 hoverboard, and you can too". Engadget.
  15. ↑ Hendo Hover (2014-10-21). "Hendo Hoverboards - World's first REAL hoverboard". Kickstarter.
  16. ↑ Conor Dougherty (2014-10-21). "Hoverboard? Still in the Future". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ Kevin Lynch (22 May 2015). "Video: Watch incredible footage of farthest flight by a hoverboard record set by Canada's Catalin Alexandru Duru". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  18. ↑ Andrew Liszewski. "Wait a Minute, Did Lexus Actually Make a Working Hoverboard?". Gizmodo. Gawker Media.
  19. ↑ "HOVERBOARD IS a 2015 REALITY : IT’S CALLED LEXUS SLIDE !!!". CROSS BOARD RIDING FOR ANY RIDER RIDESUPBOARDS.COM.
  20. ↑ ArcaBoard: The first real hoverboard?, Gizmag.com, accesat la 26 decembrie 2015

External links

Look up hoverboard in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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