Would you consider a hover bike?

[ineffableone]

You can vote in the poll 3 times. And I am letting you change your vote if for some reason you decide you picked the wrong the first try.

The Scorpion-3 (S-3)



Hover Bikes have become a very real thing.

Official website
https://www.hoversurf.com/



This Scorpion 3 is reported to have a carry capacity of aprox 265lbs, go 30 mph, have a max attitude of 33 ft, and have a 30 min battery life. The speed and attitude are artificially limited. Imposed on the craft for safety. I suspect it is capable of much higher speeds, and it is definitely capable if it was not limited of higher attitudes. I am sure battery life could improve depending on better batteries. Though the safety issue might keep a limit on speed and attitude, I don't doubt if these hit the market that within a week there will be a hack figured out to override that limit.

Hoversurf intentionally designed the craft to resemble a compact dirt bike in size and shape, with its frame based on a motorcycle concept.

Some pics

Controls


Props


From below


Side shot


So what do folks think?

While this is obviously just the beginning stages and plenty will change before it hits the market, this is a very real working prototype of a soon to be marketed hoverbike. Anyone seeing this and thinking how you can justify this as a decent prep just as an excuse to get one?

The company also has plans to build hover cars from drone technology, with hopes to have a drone taxi by 2018. So they are planning to scale up to larger vehicles with more carry capacity.

[emclean]

looks like a fun toy, but not something that would be practical any time soon.

[LowKey]

Better design would be along the lines of the hover bikes in the Ringworld series by Larry Niven.
Recumbent style bike seat with the propulsion/lift units higher than the bottom of the bike seat.
In this case, raise the props above the level of the riders head.
Lower center of gravity, less likely to have something lopped off.

[raptor]

I really like the idea but I would point out something obvious but significant.

You will note that they are in a warehouse. This is so that there is no wind. Wind will affect this design tremendously.Wind affects all flying vehicles tremendously.

For instance if the wind is blowing 15 mph on your nose and you are going 14mph forward you will in fact be going backwards at 1mph. No big deal.

However if the wind is blowing 90 degrees to left or right you will going in that direction 15mph.

Aircraft and pilots deal with this all time. It is no big deal (normally but can kill you if you fuck up) with training.

Now you get this (I assume the open propellers will be shrouded for safety) in a tight city where the buildings change the velocity and direction of the wind (venturi effect) dramatically in a few feet you will have a wild ride.

The other thing is calledground effect. Rotory wing aircraft have two ceilings (max height where the craft can be flown) one is in ground effect and the other is out of ground effect. I suspect that this thing has a very low service ceiling and relies a lot on ground effect to stay airborne. No biggee there unless you think you can use a rooftop helipad. The ride down to ground effect would be exciting.

Still it is really neat and I suspect that a properly trained person could use this in a quite versatile fashion. I look forward to seeing it developed.

BTW nothing really new here except perhaps the propulsion engine and stability technology. I wonder how the range capability to payload capacity limitation works out.

[Close_enough]

Right now, it's not much more then a flying GoPed motor scooter. Shroud the fans so I don't decapitate anybody, increase battery life to 6 hours or more, and add a auto-stabilization system so I can safely put down in the wind. Then come back to me.

[NT2C]

Colin Furze did it better

[ineffableone]

About the test being indoors, yes there is some validity to this but they have also done outdoor tests. BTW keep an eye on the amount of air displacement that is cast upon tree leaves. You also mentioned ground effect, see how much these props are kicking up and how far away the air is being pushed.

Unmanned test



Manned remote controlled test



As for ground effect, yes that is a very real concern. Though in the tests, it did not seem to be a horrible problem, I have seen and experienced a lot great issue with ground effect in drones than seen with this. I suspect they have some pretty decent programing in their flight controller that counters much of the ground effect issues.

Also to address the stabilization, while I don't know the details but like RC drones they do have a flight controller that regulates the motors to adjust for stabilization. In their own words from their site.

SCORPION platform is equipped with a safety system powered by state of the art flight controllers, special logical programing and passive elements with computer aided speed and altitude limiting.

[ineffableone]

Colin Furze did it better

I love Colin he is a mad genius, but I would be a lot more willing to try the Scorpion 3 hover bike than Colin's. While Colin put fan shrouds on his. His looks a lot less stable and a lot more dangerous. The Hoversurf folks have flight controllers that help stabilize and regulate the power/speed of the motors to combat wind, change in balance, etc... Colin did not supply this sort of thing. Also as Colin mentioned, his can just barely lift him off the ground. The Scorpion 3 can lift you up to the max of the artificial limit they programed in. So the Scorpion 3 can actually get some real height rather than being stuck close to the ground where as mentioned there is serious issues with ground effect.

[emclean]

the appeared to have been testing on a calm day (judging from the trees in the background of the videos).
I hope they get all the bugs worked out, those look like a lot fun to play around on.

[NapalmMan67]

Neat toy.

Not enough carry capacity for my fat azz, let alone with gear.

[Aikibiker]

These things are where quadcopter drones where five years ago. I bet they will improve pretty fast. Probably have commercial level stuff in three years.

[ineffableone]

These things are where quadcopter drones where five years ago. I bet they will improve pretty fast. Probably have commercial level stuff in three years.

Yes, these days collision avoidance and ground tracking has almost become standard equipment on 2017 drones. Even some pretty small drones have found ways to fit sensors in. For something carrying a rider you would really want to see this sort of tech added into it. While it wouldn't trump good piloting, it could really help make these safer.

[Evan the Diplomat]

It looks fun, but I didn't see it turn. What happens when that tree jumps out in front of you?

[LowKey]

It looks fun, but I didn't see it turn. What happens when that tree jumps out in front of you?

Same as when the tree jumps in front of your car....plus a 30 ft fall.

[afishhunter]

It looks fun, but I didn't see it turn. What happens when that tree jumps out in front of you?

See STAR WARS, RETURN OF THE JEDI. A Storm Trooper had a tree jump out in front of his hover bike.
You could probably expect the same results.

Are these things Lean Steer?

Will I get one? Sure. As soon as elephants sprout wings and can fly like a falcon ... or crow ...

[ineffableone]

The Scorpion 3 had it's 1st public flight demo at the MOTO GP championship, nothing too amazing in the video, just some slow forward flight.



I really would like to see a video of one of these doing some turns, how it flies over uneven terrain, and other more complex tests. See how these hover bikes actually perform in more real life usage. Still though it is exciting they are moving forward still and looking to marketing these. While I don't think I would jump to buy one, it is opening up a big market for flying vehicles for the average person.

[Halfapint]

I really would like to see a video of one of these doing some turns, how it flies over uneven terrain, and other more complex tests. See how these hover bikes actually perform in more real life usage. Still though it is exciting they are moving forward still and looking to marketing these. While I don't think I would jump to buy one, it is opening up a big market for flying vehicles for the average person.

Good to see you back! I agree. This is rather exciting I've been slowly building a power pack out of 18650 batteries and those little things can pack a huge amount of energy for their size. However until we can pack even more into them, or make motors that do not require the amount of energy these do we don't be able to get very far. I think most the tests I've seen they fly for about 30 seconds or so.

[Ellywick]

Gah *shudder* this looks like a nightmare to me! Open propellers right next to driver's legs, no protection for the driver, and flying at height ranges to run into lots of things. Given the fact that I am afraid of open heights, don't ride bikes, and am, ahem, shall we say, at times a sloppy fast driver, this is definitely not on my list of something I want to try.