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Forget about Lexus, We Found the Real Doc and His Hoverboard – Video

If he wasn’t hairless (no pun intended) he would have fooled us. Give this inventor a white robe and Doc’s crazy look and you have the person who invented the time machine. The thing is, Robert Bigler has no DeLorean in his garage and there’s no traveling to the past involved either. Instead, we’d like to tell you a little about his functional hoverboard that seems more down-to-earth than what Lexus unveiled recently.
Hoverboard 1 photo
Photo: Hoverboard
Imagine that one-wheel commuter and Lexus’ levitating hoverboard merged together in one piece. The difference is, there are no superconducting materials and no liquid nitrogen involved. As a matter of fact, the hoverboard currently looking for backers on Kickstarter only gives the impression of levitation, where, in fact, the skateboarder is riding a one wheel board.

The start-up that is planning to get this thing on the market claims they used a unique self-balancing system that utilizes ground contacting sonar to float the rider over every contour. In terms of figures, things look quite promising: 12 miles range, 16 mph maximum speed, 25 lbs weight and 18 minutes time for a full charge.

Tilt forward to accelerate, lean back to brake or go the other way. Haven’t we heard of such commands before? Yes, we did and it would routinely refer to similar electricity-powered last-mile commuters, whether they were a skateboard or roller blades. The special spice that makes this recipe perfect, apparently, is also the thing that costs the most: the drive unit. Designed to be “smart”, it comes with a small micro-controlled embedded to store all of its unique characteristics and present those to the Motor Control Unit.

By special features, the company means Direct-Drive, Industrial Class BLDC (Brushless Direct-Current) servomotor, bearings and position sensors. As we said, the hoverboard comes with Ground Contacting Sonar, which basically is a set of sensors that proactively react to bumps or changes in slope for a more stable ride.

Before you click the play button on the video below, you’ll also want to know that the first 100 backers will get a special $3,775 offer. Still quite a lot of cash, but it may turn up to be worth it.

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