Chris WoodAugust 19, 2014A closer look at the Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike

From left to right: the second prototype Hoverbike, the drone (in flight), and the original dual-rotor prototype (Photo: Chris Wood/Gizmag)

Image Gallery (23 images)

Last month we covered the launch of an interesting Kickstarter project that aimed to jump-start sales of a drone version of a fully-functional hover bike. The quadcopter drone acts as a proof of concept for the full-sized manned vehicle, with proceeds from the crowdfunding effort intended to fuel the continued development of the final vehicle. Gizmag visited the Malloy Aeronautics workshop in the UK to take a closer look at the Hoverbike project.

With more than a week remaining before the Kickstarter campaign concludes, its funding goal has been exceeded and development is moving forward at pace. Though the manned Hoverbike is what tends to garner the most attention, the one third scale drones are actually the focus of the Kickstarter effort.

The quadcopter drone can be accompanied by an anthropomorphic, 3D-printed figure known as Cyborg Buster, which features a space to fit a GoPro camera in its head. The drone is capable of following the pilot, following a predetermined flight path, and even has the ability to perform automatic take-off and landing maneuvers.

At this stage, there are three versions of the Hoverbike. The original two rotor manned vehicle, the quadcopter drone, and the still-in-development second prototype Hoverbike.

Thanks to the crowdfunding campaign, we’ve seen quite a lot of the drone, but the full-sized vehicle, in its MK2 state, has remained something of a mystery. Though we’re still a few months out from seeing the finished prototype, the full-sized Hoverbike is already an imposing sight. The quadrotor frame is similar to the drones offered on Kickstarter, but decidedly more angular, constructed from a combination of carbon sheet and aircraft-grade aluminum.

The design of the manned vehicle is cleverly thought out and features a number of interesting design points, such as adjustable weighting in the central section to ensure correct balancing regardless of pilot physique, a self-cutting rotor channel, and offset rotor placement.

In its current, rotor-less state, the inside of the circular, protective blade housing is filled with UV-stabilized polycarbonate (as pictured below). Once the rotors are fitted, they’ll cut through the material, creating a channel that reduces the clearance between the propeller top and duct wall.

The offset design of the four rotors allows the protective frame around one of the blades to be used as a mounting for the other, meaning that the revised vehicle can keep its narrow profile, making it practical for negotiating difficult terrain.

Though the act of designing and creating a fully functional hover bike may seem technologically Herculean, there’s no practical barrier to making it happen, at least not with the quadrotor design Chris Malloy and his team are working on with the Hoverbike. While public skepticism may be a significant barrier, the real challenge is bringing together existing technology, while making the vehicle safe, practical and economically viable.

The move from a dual to quad rotor setup is all about stability. The original Hoverbike design was certainly eye-catching, but it suffered from significant practical problems – namely, that if it were to reach a certain angle in a turn, it would become difficult for the pilot to right the vehicle. This is no longer an issue with the quadcopter design, with the varying thrust of the four rotors affording the vehicle significant stability.

If you find yourself talking to someone about a project such as this, one paramount area of concern that quickly arises is safety, and understandably so. Despite its name, the Hoverbike is not a hovercraft. It will travel up to altitudes in the thousands of feet, as well as achieve significant forward momentum.

One key piece of the puzzle here, and something that should assuage many safety concerns, is that the manned Hoverbike will be equipped with autopilot capabilities, just like the drone version. This means that though the vehicle can be piloted, a significant margin of human error can be removed from the equation.

The autopilot function also provides the option to remotely control the craft, making it well suited to supply drops, search and rescue operations over difficult terrain, and a whole host of other applications. From mountain rescue scenarios to Red Bull Air Race-esque sports applications, the list of potential uses for the vehicle seems practically endless.

With the Kickstarter project having already exceeded its funding goal, and with murmurs of outside funding, the project is moving full steam ahead. Once the crowdfunding effort concludes on August 31, the team will continue to sell the quadcoptor drones, and plans to test the manned-vehicle within a few months.

If you’re interested in being part of the effort, then you can head over to the project’s Kickstarter page. For more images of the both the first and second prototypes of the Hoverbikes, and the quadcopter drone, head to the gallery.

Source: Malloy Aeronautics

1

1

深入了解Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike 仔細(xì)看看馬里航空hoverbike

從左到右：二原型hoverbike，無(wú)人駕駛飛機(jī)（飛行），和原來(lái)的雙轉(zhuǎn)子樣機(jī)（攝影：克里斯伍德/ Gizmag）

圖像畫(huà)廊（23張）
上個(gè)月我們覆蓋一個(gè)有趣的Kickstarter項(xiàng)目的推出，旨在啟動(dòng)銷(xiāo)售一個(gè)全功能的無(wú)人機(jī)懸停自行車(chē)版。直升機(jī)無(wú)人機(jī)作為完整的一個(gè)概念證明大小的載人飛船，與眾籌的努力旨在燃料的車(chē)輛的持續(xù)發(fā)展最終收益。通過(guò)走訪英國(guó)馬里航空車(chē)間采取仔細(xì)看看hoverbike項(xiàng)目。

用了一個(gè)多星期前的剩余的Kickstarter的運(yùn)動(dòng)的結(jié)論，其資金的目標(biāo)已經(jīng)超過(guò)，在PAC向前發(fā)展E.盡管載人飛行摩托車(chē)是什么會(huì)得到最大的關(guān)注，三分之一規(guī)模的無(wú)人機(jī)是Kickstarter的努力重點(diǎn)。

直升機(jī)無(wú)人機(jī)可以伴隨著一個(gè)擬人化的，3D打印的圖被稱(chēng)為機(jī)器人的克星，具有空間容納GoPro相機(jī)在它的頭。無(wú)人機(jī)能夠試點(diǎn)后，在預(yù)定的飛行路徑，甚至已經(jīng)完成自動(dòng)起飛和著陸機(jī)動(dòng)能力。

在這個(gè)階段，有三個(gè)版本的飛行摩托車(chē)。原來(lái)兩旋翼載人車(chē)輛、直升機(jī)和無(wú)人機(jī)，仍然在發(fā)展二原型hoverbike。

感謝crowdfunding活動(dòng)，我們已經(jīng)看到了相當(dāng)多的無(wú)人機(jī)，但全尺寸的車(chē)輛，在MK2的狀態(tài)，仍然是個(gè)謎。雖然我們還在幾個(gè)月看到完成的原型，全尺寸的飛行摩托車(chē)已經(jīng)是一個(gè)宏偉的景象。旋翼結(jié)構(gòu)類(lèi)似于提供在Kickstarter上無(wú)人機(jī)，但絕對(duì)更角，由一個(gè)組合的碳片和航空級(jí)鋁合金。

設(shè)計(jì)載人飛船是巧妙的設(shè)計(jì)和功能的一些有趣的設(shè)計(jì)點(diǎn)，這樣在中央部分可調(diào)加權(quán)無(wú)論飛行員體質(zhì)保證正確的平衡，一種自我切割轉(zhuǎn)子通道，并抵消轉(zhuǎn)子位置。

在其電流、轉(zhuǎn)子少的狀態(tài)，在循環(huán)里面，保護(hù)葉片外殼充滿紫外線穩(wěn)定的聚碳酸酯（如下圖所示）。一旦轉(zhuǎn)子安裝，他們會(huì)通過(guò)減少材料，創(chuàng)建了一個(gè)通道，降低了螺旋槳的頂部和管壁之間的間隙。

偏移設(shè)計(jì)的四轉(zhuǎn)子使防護(hù)架周?chē)腥~片作為安裝的其他意義，修訂后的車(chē)輛可以保持其窄的輪廓，這使得談判困難地形實(shí)用。

盡管和創(chuàng)建一個(gè)全功能的氣墊摩托設(shè)計(jì)行為似乎是技術(shù)上的艱巨的，沒(méi)有任何實(shí)際障礙真希NG的話，至少不與旋翼設(shè)計(jì)克里斯馬洛伊和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)正在與hoverbike。雖然公眾的懷疑可能是一個(gè)顯著的障礙，真正的挑戰(zhàn)是匯集現(xiàn)有的技術(shù)，同時(shí)使車(chē)輛安全，實(shí)用和經(jīng)濟(jì)上可行的。原設(shè)計(jì)為hoverbike固然搶眼，但遭受重大的現(xiàn)實(shí)問(wèn)題–即，如果它是一個(gè)將達(dá)到一定的角度，這將為駕駛員對(duì)車(chē)輛變得困難。這不再是一個(gè)與直升機(jī)設(shè)計(jì)的問(wèn)題，與四個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)子提供車(chē)輛穩(wěn)定性顯著變推力。

如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己跟別人這樣一個(gè)項(xiàng)目，擔(dān)心很快出現(xiàn)了一個(gè)至關(guān)重要的地區(qū)是安全的，這是可以理解的。盡管它的名字，是不是一個(gè)氣墊船的飛行摩托車(chē)。它會(huì)游到在千丈的高度，以及實(shí)現(xiàn)顯著的前進(jìn)的動(dòng)力。

關(guān)鍵的一塊拼圖，而應(yīng)該減輕許多安全問(wèn)題，是載人飛行摩托車(chē)將配備自動(dòng)駕駛功能，就像無(wú)人機(jī)版。這意味著，雖然車(chē)輛可以駕駛，人為誤差的幅度可以從方程。

自動(dòng)駕駛功能還可以遠(yuǎn)程控制工藝，使得它非常適合于供應(yīng)下降，搜救行動(dòng)在困難的地形，以及一大堆其他應(yīng)用程序。從山地救援場(chǎng)景紅牛賽車(chē)風(fēng)格的運(yùn)動(dòng)應(yīng)用程序，對(duì)車(chē)輛的潛在用途清單似乎無(wú)窮無(wú)盡。

與Kickstarter的項(xiàng)目已經(jīng)超過(guò)了其融資目標(biāo)，并與外部資金的雜音，該項(xiàng)目正全速提前。一旦crowdfunding努力在8月31日結(jié)束，球隊(duì)將繼續(xù)出售quadcoptor無(wú)人駕駛飛機(jī)，并計(jì)劃在幾個(gè)月內(nèi)載人飛船試驗(yàn)。

如果你正在努力的一部分感興趣，那么你可以在項(xiàng)目的Kickstarter頁(yè)面。更多的的第一和第二原型的hoverbikes圖像，和直升機(jī)的嗡嗡聲，頭向畫(huà)廊。

1

1