The Skolkovo Innovation Center houses the Russian startup Hoversurf, a company that invents “things of the future”. They have in their arsenal flying cargo drones capable of delivering parcels weighing up to 100 kilograms, and flying taxis that will cover up to 450 kilometers without recharging, as well as the sensational flying motorcycle - Hoverbike Scorpion, which has already been pre-ordered by thousands of companies.
Sneg.TV met with the main creator of the hoverbike, Alexander Atamanov, who said that he had dreamed of creating a flying motorcycle since childhood:
All my childhood I was fond of science fiction literature and films, so the idea of a flying motorcycle sat in my head for a long time. Only I did not know how to implement my idea, because then there were no such technologies.
Alexander admitted that from an early age he was an inventor and before Scorpion he created several successful projects that allowed him to start working on a flying motorcycle. By the way, the name of the bike was not accidental: according to Alexander, the hoverbike is as beautiful, but dangerous as a scorpion.
© Petr Generalov/SNEG.TV
First of all, Hoverbike was created for extreme sports or amateur flights, but the idea of a flying motorcycle came to many tastes. As the company told us, Russian hoverbikes will soon take to the skies of Dubai, where they will be cut through by the local police.
The maximum flight height will be 5 meters, and the speed - 70 km / h, the battery charge is enough for 25 minutes of flight. But such restrictions were set by the Dubai police; in fact, the climb height record is 28.5 meters, and the speed of the bike can reach up to 100 km/h, said Atamanov.
The hoverbike will appeal not only to the Arabs, it can also be used in Russia. The fact is that Scorpion belongs to the type of light aircraft, or ultralight aircraft (ALA), so if you fly it in zone G, then a pilot's license is not needed.
Alexander admitted that it is quite difficult to fly a hoverbike, since there is no such experience in the world, but they gradually learn and create general rules flights. For example, pilots must have special equipment: a frame suit and a helmet.
Four propellers are able to lift a hoverbike into the air on a manual or automatic control. According to the company's website, Scorpion has a security system equipped with modern controllers flight, special logic programs, as well as speed and altitude limiters.
Alexander Atamanov shared that his team is working on the concept of AtaaS (Air Transport as a Service) - transport system future, which will include not only vehicles, accessories and spare parts, but also the whole infrastructure. So in the near future, in an ordinary city parking lot next to parked cars, we will be able to see a portable flying bike.
The widely known enthusiastic inventor surprised the whole world with his new creation. Colin Furze was able to assemble his own hoverbike in a few days. Of course, the engineer immediately demonstrated the handicraft transport in action.
While entire companies, spending incredible resources on creating the world's first full-fledged hoverbikes, the famous inventor and blogger Colin Furze is building his own prototype hoverbike in just a few days. Enthusiast simplifies the design as much as possible vehicle, taking into account the action of only the most important factors. The result obtained cannot but impress, despite the fact that the ideal created hoverbike is still very far away.
According to Colin Furze himself, the idea to create a hovercopter came to him after he saw similar projects from other enthusiasts and companies. The inventor noted that initially the project was completely comic, moreover, despite all the relative simplicity of the transport design, his first project was even simpler than the final prototype.
In fact, everyone can assemble such a hoverbike in their garage. However, Colin himself jokingly asks no one to repeat something like this, due to the insecurity of the project. Transport is based S-frame, on which two gasoline engines with two propellers. If you think a little about the design, you can see the similarity with the Chinook twin-rotor cargo transport helicopters. Colin's creation is based on the same principle - two powerful propellers rotating in different sides.
The prototype, created by an enthusiast, already flies at low speed and is able to lift off the ground to a height of up to one meter. Of course, transport needs balancing and calibration. In its current form, it is far from any ideal. At the same time, Colin managed to prove that, with the proper desire, anyone can create something similar in their garage.
It will be interesting to look at what other engineers are trying to do. Here's to your attention
A bike hovering above the ground is a cross between a helicopter and a motorcycle. It looks like a regular quadcopter. Only with handlebar and saddle. Correspondents of Komsomolskaya Pravda also risked a ride on it.
The propellers whirred. We took off from the ground and hung in the air. The car took off thirty or forty centimeters. The height is not God knows what, but it became creepy. Vibrating and pulsing, the "air horse" now and then strove to fall to the side due to air turbulence near the ground.
By God, there was a whole abyss between us. Not thirty centimeters.
View from the cab. PHOTO: provided by A. Atamanov
The flight was stabilized. Five minutes in the saddle - and we are already experienced pilots. At a minimum, we learned how to take off gently and land softly... The excitement has passed. But we did not tempt fate. Having flown a few meters, they put the bike on the ground. Enough for a debut!
The first flying motorcycle in Russia was developed by a graduate of the St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications. Bonch-Bruevich, master of the Higher School of Economics, founder of the ATM Cargo Drones Design Bureau in Russia and Howersurf in the USA, inventor and businessman Alexander Atamanov.
- The hoverbike is easy to operate. Especially for "traditional" motorcyclists. We made successive ergonomics,” he told us. - A flying motorcycle is a compact thing. We transport him in a regular pickup truck. It does not need to be disassembled or disassembled. Sat down and took off.
The cost of the toy is 52 thousand dollars on pre-order. Three million rubles... Not so expensive. For some Russians. SUV executive class not cheaper.
- The cost of bikes is higher. 52 thousand dollars is the price to "probe" the market, - the inventor noted. - There are orders. Flying motorcycles are purchased by private buyers.
Alexander Atamanov presents his development. PHOTO: provided by A. Atamanov
The idea to create a "transport of the future" came to Alexander Atamanov five years ago. It was not possible to implement it immediately. The level of technology did not meet the requirements of scientists. I had to wait a bit. The first prototype appeared in 2015. It was called "Scorpion 1".
“A new prototype is already ready,” the developer shared. – Its working title is “AK-47”. Like the Kalashnikov assault rifle, it will be just as reliable and ... massive. As in the AK-47, it will use not only metal, but also natural wood. But he shouldn't kill people (laughs).
The project was started as a non-profit. The innovators were not going to make money on the sale of flying motorcycles. Scientists wanted to inspire the public. They believe that someday flying motorcycles will soar over city roads...
– It is worth looking into the future. How else can we get rid of traffic jams? There is no place on the road, so let's find it in the air! I myself am a motorcyclist, so I understand all the problems very well, - Alexander Atamanov shared. - It is impossible to use hoverbikes as "official" means of transportation in Russia. But there is no direct prohibition either. We stand for order and security, therefore we are ready to take part in the formation of legislation. Sooner or later, flying motorcycles and cars will take their place in the air.
The "stuffing" of a flying motorcycle is dozens of knots. PHOTO: provided by A. Atamanov
The "stuffing" of a flying motorcycle is dozens of components: propellers, engines, motor controllers, a generator, landing systems, sensors and a flight computer... The first prototype of the bike weighs 45 kg. Its carrying capacity is 150 kg, and the maximum speed is 100 km/h. The hoverbike also works in unmanned mode - via a radio channel and autonomously, like a large drone. The bike does not take off above five meters (the height was limited for safety). The battery charge is enough for twenty minutes of flight.
The first public test flight of a Russian aircraft motorcycle HoverBike S3 took place on Saturday as part of the international competitions in road-circular motorcycle racing, which took place in the Volokolamsky district of the Moscow region at the Moscow Raceway.
The pilot on the HoverBike S3, who rose a meter above the ground, flew about a kilometer. “A flight of a drone with a pilot is a rather significant event that allows us to judge the level of development of technology,” commented on the first test run of a flying motorcycle, its creator Alexander Atamanov, CEO of HoverSurf.
According to the engineer, for personal by air- future. "The city is not made of rubber, houses cannot be separated, cars cannot ride on top of each other, so the only chance to solve the transport problem is to open the air for such compact and environmentally friendly aircraft as hoverbikes or air taxis," he said.
Childhood dream
Atamanov told TASS that the idea to turn an aircraft into a personal vehicle came to him as a child, thanks to his father. Even then, Atamanov Jr. personally tested trikes designed by his father and colleagues. During his student years, Atamanov connected his life with the engineering field, and then began working with innovative startups.
The project to create a flying vehicle for a specialist is already the third in a row. The first two start-ups - the development of a new type of turbine equipment cleaning and an online patenting company - allowed Atamanov to fulfill his childhood dream.
“Drones have conquered the whole world: they shoot videos, monitor them. And a completely natural step is to start using them to transport people,” he said. According to Atamanov, a passenger drone is a flying computer, machine driven and not the pilot. It is convenient, compact and simple in design. "Therefore, these machines, I believe, will conquer the world. We are now on the threshold of evolution," he stressed.
Specification HoverBike S3
As the engineer himself told TASS, the flying motorcycle is a development of Russian engineers. It is a hybrid of a quadcopter and a motorcycle, powered by electric motors. The seat and curve of the car resembles an ordinary motorcycle, but instead of wheels there are four powerful valves. On dashboard- switches (motor, lights, horn) and two control joysticks.
In addition, before the flight, the pilot must put on a check on his hand, as on a jet ski, so that in case emergency automatically turn off the power system. There is no traditional airbag, because in the event of an accident, the entire hoverbike, including the battery, collapses down.
The maximum load on the HoverBike S3 is 150kg. The flying motorcycle itself weighs 100 kg, 50 of which is a battery, which makes it quite mobile and compact. The flight height is limited to five meters. One charge will be enough for a 30-minute flight. The battery charging time is four hours.
“Even in this configuration, the drone works well at minus 20 degrees Celsius, so we are unlikely to make a new drone separately for the north, unless, of course, there are orders,” the specialist added.
Max Speed apparatus - up to 70 km / h. The HoverBike S3 has three types of control: via radio from the remote control, manual control via joysticks, or by entering GPS coordinates.
"Our motorcycle goes through any door without disassembly. It can be stored at home, even in an apartment. It can be used in a standard parking space for takeoff and landing, no prepared areas are needed, so mass introduction is not far off," Atamanov believes.
Flying vehicle line
HoverSurf is developing three types of flying vehicles: a cargo drone, a flying motorcycle and a drone taxi. A cargo drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, the task of which is to deliver various cargoes weighing up to 100 kg. "The interest in the cargo drone is mainly shown by the Ministry of Defense for the delivery of ammunition and medicines, and from civilian ones - Sberbank for collection in hard-to-reach places, Rosneft for monitoring routes," Atamanov said.
The direct purpose for a flying motorcycle, according to the engineer, is sports, competitions, extreme sports, entertainment, and a flying taxi has personal transport, transportation of people. "Pizza delivery is too far away, if we talk about the use of a cargo drone in the civilian market, it is more likely intended for the service industry," the expert believes.
The developer of flying autodrones believes that on September 2, from the first minute of the flight of the HoverBike S3, the new kind sports. "True, today we competed with ourselves," he says.
Legality of flying in the city
In order to start flying in Moscow or other closed areas right now, the pilot needs to pass state registration aircraft and obtain a pilot's license. However, there are certain zones in the city, including the presidential administration and the Kremlin, where no one and nothing can fly.
"In the future, the legislation will probably go forward, because it is much easier to amend the Air Code and allow the use of drones to transport people than to build new overpasses, bridges over rivers, dig tunnels," Atamanov said.
Every year, incredible technical inventions bring people closer to the fantasy world. Now Star Wars fans can rejoice. Solo flights became possible thanks to the creation of a flying motorcycle.
They started talking about a new miracle of technology back in 2011, but then a flying motorcycle was far from its perfect real embodiment. But now this is not just a sky-high fantasy of the futurists, but a real breakthrough in science, overcoming the earth's gravity!
History of creation
The idea of flying personal vehicles originated in the last century and was found only in science fiction novels and films. However, in 2011, the American company Aerofex shared the news about the invention of the miracle device Aero-X, which is capable of moving through the air at a height of up to five meters. The author of the development was the Australian engineer Chris Malloy. To begin with, he created a prototype - a smaller version that carried certain objects (a glass of water, for example).
In my own way technical structure the flying motorcycle is a mixture of a helicopter and a motorcycle. Instead of wheels, the new transport has propellers with carbon blades, due to the rotation of which the device rises into the air. From the motorcycle, the novelty got the controls and the engine. This is how the world's first flying motorcycle appeared, also called the Hoverbike.
Characteristics
Free movement in space to the new aircraft is provided by two four-stroke engine power of 80 kW. To create traction, screws are attached to each of them. Such characteristics allow a flying motorcycle to rise to a height of about three kilometers and move at a speed of more than 200 km / h. According to the inventor Malloy himself, such a height is not needed in the use of Hoverbike. Enough and 2-5 meters above the ground.
The flying motorcycle runs on gasoline. The duration of the flight with a full tank is about an hour. According to the developer's calculations, 30 liters will be enough for 150 km. The option of using an electric drive is also being considered. For safety reasons, flying vehicles are equipped with two parachutes.
Chinese development
In January, an international electronics exhibition (CES-2016) was held in Las Vegas, at which Chinese developers presented an analogue of a flying motorcycle, called the EHang 184. Its main advantage, according to the engineers themselves, is the absence of the need for a special license to control aircraft. It obeys two main commands: “takeoff” and “landing”, like a drone. These commands are transmitted using the tablet. Weight technical novelty is approximately 200 kg.
The maximum flight altitude reaches three and a half kilometers. The device works on electric drive and four pairs of screws. After a two-hour charge, staying in the air is possible for 23 minutes at speeds up to 100 km/h. The Chinese flying motorcycle has an enclosed cockpit with air conditioning and a lamp. Transport is designed for one person, it is possible to move small luggage.
Mass production
The Chinese quadcopter was positively received and approved at international exhibition in Las Vegas, which gave rise to the idea of his mass production. Developers from China claim that the device has been successfully tested and is quite ready for implementation. It is not yet known when the Chinese flying motorcycle will go on sale. Its price will be approximately 200-300 thousand dollars.
Hungarian version
The development of a flying motorcycle did not pass by the Hungarian engineers from Bay Zoltan, who created their own version of the Flike Tricopter. The novelty was presented at the extreme sports exhibition in Dubai.
The Hungarian flying motorcycle is lifted into the air by electric motors and three pairs of carbon fiber propellers. The weight of the device reaches 250 kg. The maximum speed is 100 km / h at an altitude of up to 30 meters. The speed is adjusted independently by changing the operation of one of the screws. A full charge lasts for 40 minutes at average speed device movements.
The tricopter will go on sale in early 2017. According to preliminary data, its price will be 200 thousand dollars.
Purpose
A flying motorcycle can be used not only as a means of transportation or a demonstration of financial status, but also for higher purposes. According to the developers themselves, the ease of control, modest dimensions and maneuverability of flying motorcycles make it possible to use them in rescue operations, fire fighting, when searching for people, for video surveillance and border patrols.
US trials
The pioneering developers - Aerofex - continue to work on improving their models of flying motorcycles. Today they are conducting tests in the desert areas of the United States. Engineers received a government order and plan to use this invention for military equipment american army. Mass production scheduled for 2017. One device will cost about 85 thousand dollars. So far, this is the most cost-effective offer on the technical market.
In the meantime, the company of engineer Chris Malloy began selling smaller models. Their cost ranges from 1000 to 1600 dollars. The main functions of flying motorcycles are aerial photography and delivery of small cargoes.
