It’s Not 2015 Yet But Marty And His Hoverboard Are Already Here!

Okay now this is seriously awesome. [Rodger Cleye] has made a real working Hoverboard.

You guys might remember the recent [Tony Hawk] and [Christopher Lloyd] viral Hoverboard hoax video… Well, this isn’t that. Nope, not even close. It’s real.

The Hoverboard is a quadrotor on steroids — it features four 1200W brushless motors driving 12″ props, a massive 13.4Ah 5S Li-Po battery, and a [Marty McFly] mannequin wearing the classic red vest. He’s counter-balanced [Marty] and the battery around the rotors which makes for a surprisingly smooth flight. It even has a run-time of over 5 minutes, thanks to a whopping 83% efficiency using the 12″ props.

[Rodger] designed and simulated the entire system in eCalc before construction — He had first attempted a bi-copter design, but opted for the tried and true quad-rotor instead. The frame is made of 1/2″ PVC pipe to conserve the mass budget, but altogether it still weighs an unbelievable 20lbs! How close are we to being able to give toddlers the ability to fly?

Just take a look at the following video — we’re seriously impressed.

This has gotta be one of the biggest home-made quads we’ve seen so far. Mind you the Spruce Goose of quadrotors is still a bit bigger…

22 thoughts on “It’s Not 2015 Yet But Marty And His Hoverboard Are Already Here!

  1. Hi – UAV propulsion specialist here. I’m very much doubting that his whole drive system efficiency is >80%. Not without some very very special aerodynamics work and exceptional motors. I’m not just buying it with what look like APC props. It’s a nice piece of work, but it’s not what’s claimed (no matter what eCalc says).

  2. What is this shit? Doesn’t even carry a real human. Better make a post about the new martin fan backpack.

    I can do that too, use an old fucked up rubber love doll and strap it on top of a large quadcopter. Maybe fill it with hydrogen to make it lighter and to blow it up for special effect.
    Maybe I would even earn some money if I use it to make advertising flights for the local whorehouse .

  3. Only 640W is needed to hover, each motor or the total of all four motors combined?

    Looks pretty nice. I imagine it going to get much, much louder to lift a real person. The weight of that rig + person is going to easily be 10x the one shown, unless the rider is a child or a jockey.

  4. Two observations / questions..

    How much does inflatable ‘Marty’ weigh?

    This could be fun for real mortals – by making a prone driving position (as in a luge)… The center of gravity will be much lower for improved balance, and offer an amazing personal flight experience !

  5. I would add a distance detecting IR device on the bottom to control altitude, and some minimum speed to control how fast it lowers from a altitude that is higher then some set amount.

    And I would power it using Transformer coil to coil power transfer from an under the road, some coil system. with capacitors that wind down speed for soft landing on power failure.

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