The team at ARCA Space engineering wants the world to be able to hover as a means of transportation. A Kickstarter campaign is currently running to fund the ARCABoard, a device they say will be the world's first true hoverboard.
Thirty six electric ducted fans work together to produce 272 horsepower that can propel a rider of up to 110 kilograms. The array of motors was chosen over a few larger motors to make sure that operators would be safe if any number of fans stopped operation. Motors each have lithium polymer batteries to create multiple redundancies in the system. A docking accessory is optional and can charge the system in around 35 minutes, or standard wall charging takes around six hours. A full size rider can use the board for a ride of approximately three minutes, or a rider up to 80 kilograms can take a six minute ride at a top speed of 20 kilometers per hour.
Composite materials act as the frame for the board and proximity sensors sit on the bottom of the structure to control the distance from the ground. For safety the company does not recommend jumping off the board during use but if that happens or if the rider falls the prox sensors prevent the board from flying off into space. Dimensions are 145 x 15 x 76 centimeters.
The ARCA Space Corporation has been around for 17 years and I first heard of them during the 2004 Ansari X Prize competition. The design of the ARCABoard definitely looks to me like they've put solid engineering and design work into the project with an aerospace level of component quality. The marketing and visuals for the Kickstarter campaign also impresses me. There are several companies working to develop hoverboards - true hoverboards that hover instead of rolling around and annoying older generations. This looks like a big leap in the right direction but price point, ride time, footprint, and energy consumption are all design constraints that need to be optimized before we hit full hoverboard saturation.
ARCABoard has a $10,000 pricetag for this campaign and is expected to ship in July 2016. The campaign ends on March 20, 2016. A drone consisting of four motors and a 20 centimeter square footprint can also be ordered through this campaign.