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The Truth About Hoverboards
By Bill Butler
March 6, 2007
Updated May 2, 2007
Aside from a few hacked YouTube
videos, online forums, and Hovertech.com— there isn't much information available on
hoverboard development. Does this mean flying skateboards aren't practical, or simply
that nobody's succeeded in building one yet? HoverTech's Bill Butler explains what's
available today, and what's to come.
If you don't mind a miniature hovercraft powered by an internal-combustion
engine, there are a couple hoverboard-like craft on the market today (see "Further Reading"
below). However, if your idea of a hoverboard involves floating 6 inches or more above the
ground, without wind, noise, and pollution, then HoverTech probably has what you're looking
for— at least in theory.
Floating without wind and noise isn't the hard part. There are forms of levitation such as
Maglev trains that do
this quite well— it's making them work without a track that gets tricky.
All modern forms of aerospace propulsion work by moving a mass, whether that
mass is air or hot exhaust gasses. To create levitation without moving mass requires a
force that works at a distance. The two most common forces that work at a
distance are magnetism and electrodynamic (or electrostatic) force. Gravity also
represents a force at a distance, but is not as well understood. The reason it
is so difficult to float without moving mass is because most surfaces do not
interact magnetically or electrodynamically.
Over the past 15 years, HoverTech has sought to develop a magnetic or electrodynamic
levitation system. What we discovered indicates that most designs are inefficient.
For instance, the extra energy required to force the ground into a conductive
state far exceeds the energy required to lift an equivalent mass by conventional means.
Nevertheless, we have also found ways to levitate without costing any energy expenditure.
But before you start thinking there's no such thing as a free lunch, consider that work
equals force times distance. Therefore, an object suspended at a fixed height (distance = zero),
shouldn't require any additional energy to maintain its position. One example of this principle
is our hydrostatic hovercraft theory.
Another potential hoverboard technology involves the use of magnetic fields to trap
and contain ionized air. Because ionized air usually consists of positive or negative ions,
the mutual electrostatic repulsion between the ions behaves exactly like pressure. Therefore,
a magnetic field could theoretically replace the rubber skirt used on conventional hovercraft.
By creating two concentrations of positive and negative ions, the overall net charge would be
zero— which means you won't need to worry about shocks or your board discharging into
the ground.
More about HoverTech's Theories >
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