ETNew Hover Vehicle Recalls ‘Star Wars’ Bike Aerofex Aerial Vehicle

The Aerofex hover vehicle recalls the futuristic look of Star Wars speeder bikes. Credit： Aerofex View full size image

A resurrected hover vehicle won‘t fly through dense forests as effortlessly as the “Star Wars” speeder bikes from “Return of the Jedi，” but its intuitive controls could someday allow anyone to fly it without pilot training.

The aerial vehicle resembles a science fiction flying bike with two ducted rotors instead of wheels， but originates from a design abandoned in the 1960s because of stability and rollover problems. Aerofex， a California-based firm， fixed the stability issue by creating a mechanical system — controlled by two control bars at knee-level — that allows the vehicle to respond to a human pilot’s leaning movements and natural sense of balance.

“Think of it as lowering the threshold of flight， down to the domain of ATV‘s （all-terrain vehicles），” said Mark De Roche， an aerospace engineer and founder of Aerofex.

Such intuitive controls could allow physicians to fly future versions of the vehicle to visit rural patients in places without roads， or enable border patrol officers to go about their duties without pilot training. All of it happens mechanically without the need for electronics， let alone complicated artificial intelligence or flight software. ［Video： Hover ’Bike‘ Flies on Pilot’s Intuition］

“It essentially captures the translations between the two in three axis （pitch， roll and yaw）， and activates the aerodynamic controls required to counter the movement — which lines the vehicle back up with the pilot，” De Roche told InnovationNewsDaily. “Since ［the pilot‘s］ balancing movements are instinctive and constant， it plays out quite effortlessly to him.”

But Aerofex does not plan to immediately develop and sell a manned version. Instead， the aerospace firm sees the aerial vehicle as a test platform for new unmanned drones — heavy-lift robotic workhorses that could use the same hover technology to work in agricultural fields， or swiftly deliver supplies to search-and-rescue teams in rough terrain.

The Aerofex hover vehicle undergoes flight tests in California’s Mojave Desert.Credit： AerofexView full size image

Even the soldiers or Special Forces might use such hover drones to carry or deliver heavy supplies in the tight spaces between buildings in cities. U.S. Marines have already begun testing robotic helicopters to deliver supplies in Afghanistan.

The hovering drones would not fly as efficiently as helicopters because of their shorter rotor blades， but their enclosed rotors have the advantage of a much smaller size and safety near humans.

“They are less efficient than a helicopter， which has the benefit of larger diameter rotors，” De Roche explained. “They do have unique performance advantages， though， as they have demonstrated flight within trees， close to walls and under bridges.”

Aerofex has currently limited human flight testing to a height of 15 feet and speeds of about 30 mph， but more out of caution rather than because of any technological limits. Older versions of the hover vehicles could fly about as fast as helicopters， De Roche said.

Flight testing in California‘s Mojave Desert led to the presentation of a technical paper regarding Aerofex’s achievements at the Future Vertical Lift Conference in January 2012. The company plans to fly a second version of its vehicle in October， and also prepare an unmanned drone version for flight testing by the end of 2013.

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新哈弗汽車召回“星球大戰(zhàn)”自行車

ETNew哈弗汽車召回“星球大戰(zhàn)”自行車Aerofex空中Vehicle

的Aerofex懸停車輛召回的星球大戰(zhàn)調(diào)速自行車的未來(lái)派外觀。圖片來(lái)源：Aerofex查看原圖

一個(gè)復(fù)活的懸停飛行器不會(huì)像“星球大戰(zhàn)”的“絕地歸來(lái)”的“星球大戰(zhàn)”超音速自行車那樣飛過(guò)茂密的森林，但它的直覺(jué)控制終有一天會(huì)允許任何人在沒(méi)有飛行員訓(xùn)練的情況下駕駛它。

的飛行器酷似科幻飛行自行車有兩個(gè)管道轉(zhuǎn)子，而不是輪子，而是從一個(gè)被遺棄在20世紀(jì)60年代，由于穩(wěn)定 性和翻轉(zhuǎn)問(wèn)題的設(shè)計(jì)源于。 Aerofex，總部位于加州的公司，通過(guò)創(chuàng)建一個(gè)機(jī)械系統(tǒng) mdash固定的穩(wěn)定性問(wèn)題 由兩個(gè)控制桿在膝蓋級(jí) mdash控制 允許車輛以應(yīng)對(duì)人類飛行員的傾斜運(yùn)動(dòng)和平衡。

u0026 自然感，把它看成是降低飛行的門檻，下降到亞視（全地形車）， 的領(lǐng)域 馬克說(shuō)德羅氏，航空航天工程師，Aerofex創(chuàng)始人。

這種直觀的控制可以讓醫(yī)生飛汽車的未來(lái)版本看望農(nóng)村病人的地方?jīng)]有道路，或者使邊境巡邏人員去了解自己的職責(zé)，而不飛行員培訓(xùn)。所有這一切都發(fā)生機(jī)械，無(wú)需電子，更不用說(shuō)復(fù)雜的人工智能或飛行軟件。 該線的車輛回來(lái)了試點(diǎn)， 德羅氏告訴InnovationNewsDaily。 由于［試行the pilot’s相反，航空航天公司看到了飛行器作為測(cè)試平臺(tái)，為新的無(wú)人駕駛飛機(jī) mdash 這可以用同樣的懸停技術(shù)在農(nóng)業(yè)領(lǐng)域的合作，或迅速地提供供應(yīng)重型機(jī)器人馱馬搜索和救援隊(duì)在崎嶇的地形

的Aerofex懸停車輛經(jīng)過(guò)飛行試驗(yàn)在加利福尼亞州的莫哈韋Desert.Credit：AerofexView全尺寸影像

連士兵或特種部隊(duì)可能會(huì)利用這種無(wú)人駕駛飛機(jī)懸停攜帶或城市提供重型物資，在狹小的空間建筑物之間。美海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)已經(jīng)開(kāi)始測(cè)試機(jī)器人直升機(jī)在阿富汗輸送物資。

懸停無(wú)人機(jī)不會(huì)為有效地飛的，因?yàn)樗鼈兏痰霓D(zhuǎn)子葉片的直升機(jī)，但其封閉轉(zhuǎn)子有一個(gè)更小的尺寸和安性人類接近的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

它們比直升機(jī)，其具有較大直徑的轉(zhuǎn)子的權(quán)益， 效率較低 德羅氏解釋。 他們有獨(dú)特的性能優(yōu)勢(shì)，但是，因?yàn)樗麄円呀?jīng)證明了飛行中的樹(shù)，靠近城墻和橋下

Aerofex目前已有限的人力飛行測(cè)試，以15英尺和速度約30英里的高度，但更多的是出于謹(jǐn)慎而不是因?yàn)槿魏渭夹g(shù)限制。舊版本的懸停汽車能飛一樣快直升機(jī)，德羅氏說(shuō)。

飛行試驗(yàn)在加利福尼亞州的莫哈韋沙漠導(dǎo)致了技術(shù)文件的演示文稿就Aerofex公司在未來(lái)的垂直升降機(jī)會(huì)議該公司計(jì)劃取得的成就懸掛其車輛的第二個(gè)版本在十月，也可以通過(guò)年底準(zhǔn)備一個(gè)無(wú)人駕駛飛機(jī)的版本用于飛行測(cè)試.