A company called Arca Space is taking a crack at the futuristic hoverboard mode of transport, despite the recent spate of hoverboard accidents and reports of them catching on fire that has pushed Amazon to remove links for most hoverboards made overseas due to safety concerns.
But, unlike the standard two-wheeler we've come to associate with the name, Arca Space has attempted to make a board that actually floats in the air. To a degree, the company has been successful: its hoverboard can stay in the air for up to six minutes.
To work, the ArcaBoard uses 272 horsepower (about 430 of pure thrust), which it sources from 36 ducted electrical fans build into the board's infrastructure, which is powered by LiPo (lithium polymer) batteries. While most people might imagine a hoverboard would look like the one flown by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future II, ArcaSpace's model looks more like a heavy, thick flat rectangle — or a long box fan.
To balance, the ArcaBoard uses proximity standards in conjunction with a stabilization system — though the specs on the ArcaSpace website don't dig too deeply as to what that system is actually comprised of. ArcaBoard is billed as the "lightest personal vehicle" and can move in every possible direction, including upward to a height of a foot, the company notes, at 12.5 mph maximum. It measures 57x30x6 inches, weighs 180 pounds, and can carry a rider weighing up to 243 pounds.
As the Verge points out, even though the board can hover, that's about all it can do, with no indication that the rider has control over where he or she is going, or what he or she is even doing in the first place.
"I've always wanted to create a commercially available product for the masses," said Arca Space CEO Dumitru Popescu in a promotional video for the craft. "But the creation of this truly revolutionary product proves that Arca is not only able to create amazing technologies, but is actually engineering the future."
The ArcaBoard is currently listed as going for $19,990. For an additional $4,500, purchasers can also throw in a charging unit called the ArcaDock that charges the onboard batteries in 35 minutes. A full charge with the off-the-box charger takes 6 hours.
Check out the ArcaBoard in action in the video below.
Via: The Verge
