the Back to the Future hoverboard soon a reality?

January 08, 2020

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We all dream of it. Being able to imitate Marty MacFly from Back to the Future by jumping on a flying skateboard. For engineers, making a machine capable of levitating and on which we can move, represents a major challenge. Many companies claim to have invented an approaching vehicle. But what are the most advanced prototypes? What are the remaining challenges? Can skateboarding be the future of our urban journeys? What is still missing to transform this concept of science fiction into reality? We take stock of technological advances in this futuristic field.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020. It is, according to Robert Zemeckis, the screenwriter of Retour vers le Futur II, a date on which we should all have been able to move by skate flying in the streets of our cities. More than a year later, however, these are not part of our daily lives. They are more, a dream and a permanent buzz that the media and the companies maintain. Many of them regularly report that they have made progress in this area or present a prototype.

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Several flying skate projects in the running

As early as 2010, an exact replica of Marty MacFly's flying skateboard was produced by French artist Nils Guadagnin. His board kept levitating thanks to a couple of electromagnets at the front and back of the board. But this creation was not powerful enough to carry a man.

Since then, several companies have taken up the challenge of successfully marketing a functional flying skateboard. Being the first to offer a vehicle that defies gravity would forever win the hearts of fans of “Back to the Future” but also of futuristic technology.

In June 2020, Lexus, the luxury division of carmaker Toyota, presented “Slide”. This flying skateboard or hoverboard used magnetic levitation as its engineers explained. " The Lexus Hoverboard uses magnetic levitation to achieve incredible movements without the slightest friction. Liquid nitrogen cools superconductors and magnets, combined by Lexus to create the impossible. " A technology derived from the air cushion levitation system used by the Aérotrain, a futuristic project developed in the 1980s by the Bertin company in France. But the Lexus craft has so far remained in the prototype stage. It suffered from two major disadvantages: a very limited autonomy (ten seconds) and the obligation to use it on a magnetic track. Unacceptable for an urban use therefore for what was more a communication operation than anything else.

In December 2020, another project was put on the market by ARCA. This “Arcaboard”, equipped with 36 fans allowed to move on all surfaces. While this is arguably one of the most promising projects today, it suffers from several major handicaps. First of all, its dimensions: 145 cm x 76 cm x 15 cm. Its price especially. $ 14,900 for the board and an additional $ 4,500 for a block capable of recharging it in 60 minutes. Almost 20,000 dollars, therefore, for this machine which is not intended for all budgets.

The best flying skate prototypes

Two prototypes currently share fan favors with two different technologies. The first made by the Hendo company which is in its second model. It operates thanks to opposite magnetic fields, which make it possible to levitate the board at 3cm from the ground and to make it advance in all directions. Even though Hendo is still in the prototype stage, the quality of the project has allowed him to receive the endorsement of famous skateboarder Tony Hawk and Bob Gale, the inventor of the concept in Back to the Future.

The second is the work of Omnio. It works with 8 propellers and the orientation is done with the feet. But a demonstration in Paris last June almost turned into a disaster following the overheating of a propeller.

Among the slightly crazy projects, there is also that of Robert Haleluk. In 2013, he attempted to raise $ 1 million from crowdfunding site Indiegogo to create a flying hoverboard skateboard by 2020. Since ? No news. Google X, Google’s innovation lab also long worked on a skateboard project wheel. The engineers finally abandoned the project due to the impossibility of stabilizing the machine.

Pushing the limits of flying skateboarding

The main limit today is that of autonomy. Almost no model can imagine using the flying skateboard as a means of transport like the others. The longest hoverboard world record is currently held by Frenchman Francky Zapata. On April 30, he traveled 2,252 meters in Sausset-les-Pins near Marseille with his Flyboard Air. If its machine can reach 150 km / h, its autonomy is only about ten minutes. In addition, the air route seems rather the destination of the inventor who also explained that his goal is: "To reach the clouds. Like snowboarding in the powder, but in the clouds. This is my dream, and I will do my best to make it happen. "

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So we will have to wait a little longer for flying skates to enter our daily lives. First, either invent new, more powerful batteries for the magnet-based models, or improve stabilization for the propeller models. No doubt that many inventors will continue to look into the subject and make us dream!

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