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Buy Your Very Own Exoskeleton Flying Vehicle
dks writes "Yahoo! News is running a story about a personal flying machine originally developed for the military that straps on an individual's back and allows her to fly around for over two hours at a time. The prototype is now up for auction on eBay. The only catch--you have to agree not to operate the vehicle if you purchase it. Uh...yeah...I'm just buying it for display. Yeah, that's it."
I don't see why they have to agree not to fly it. Why not just sign an agreement that if you kill yourself or others, the seller is not responsible? Makes more sense to me. What idiot would by a personal flying machine for > a million and agree not to use it?
Uhhhh, yeah, thath dithgustin. [The lady's man]
Would you buy something for a million dollars off of ebay when the seller's rating is zero?
Man and they just missed christmas..
I live in Canada... if I was to buy such a device and sign the agreement, would the agreement hold true if I operated it in Canada?
I don't think it would, plus how would they even know?? are my neighbours are going to call these guys and tell on me??? I doubt it.
I only want it to...kill zombies?
Everything will be taken away from you.
that straps on an individual's back and allows her to fly around
'He' is the singular indefinite pronoun in English ("if a person drinks too much, he will likely experience a hangover"); 'He' also happens to be the masculine personal pronoun.
'She' is the singular pronoun of personification in English ("if England fails to advance America's foreign-policy ambitions, she will suffer terrible consequences"); 'She' also happens to be the feminine personal pronoun.
Confusing the two exhibits not a warm-and-fuzzy concern for the inclusion of women so much as a writer's or speaker's ignorance. Using the feminine personal pronoun as an indefinite article is as moronic as using the masculine personal pronoun for personification. Thus the captain greets us: "Welcome to my ship. Isn't he splendid?"
RJ
Last.fm - join the social music revolution
The reason they are selling the proto-type is that it got tangled up in the tether during a test hop and crashed. Its damaged and they don't have the funds to fix it. The DOD/DARPA folks that were supporting the development declined to extend the deadline(s) for demonstration of the technology after the crash.
The whole story as told from the SoloTrek perspective is on their web site. http://www.solotrek.com/
The eBay article features a link to the company designing this stuff and they have a very cool concept for a two seater: duotrek. I WANT one of these. No more fucking parking problems, that is if the roof of my appartment is strong enough...
giel.y contains 2 shift/reduce conflicts
That's like someone selling you a new house on the condition that you don't live in it. Retarded!
So how would you know it worked?
I guess you could look at it like being married.
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.
I just want one!
Please, I did not have a nice present this year! Pretty please?
The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
This is either a new low, or a new high.
How about someone buys this thing and then sells it to me and then I fly it?
FRA: STFU GTFO
isnt ship feminine? as in 'she sank to the bottom'
or
'The Bonnie Belle is a sailing ship. She is very seaworthy.'
and an interesting point after a quick google search:
All this can be seen for the English-language folk-etymology DRECK that it
really is by listening to sailors (i.e., people who have actual
experience on ships rather than n-tuple-removed theoretical knowledge),
who say that a ship is only animate-feminine when 'manned'; when the ship
is decomissioned and without human activity (in mothballs), the ship is
referred to as 'it' -- pointing to the actual ANIMACY conferred by he/she
rather than just sexual genitalia, as we normally do in English.
bleh grammar on...
Mruphy's Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules...
After you paid that $1.000.000,- you probably get an exoskeleton that doesn't fly at all.
And since you signed a contract that you wouldn't fly the thing, those people probably are within their rights.
I'm sure they just need money to make it fly, or to make it fly safely.
I'm going to wait for M$ Exoskeleton Flying Machine .NET Service Pack 1 before getting mine.
Vacancy for signature. Apply within.
with this guy's comment
Oh my god, these things look like the Orca helicopters off the original Command and Conquer game.
Wondered how long it'd take someone to rip off the design -- can't be very economical though surely.
If you read their story at the solotrek site, you'll find that there were TWO prototypes, one of which is fine.
The Auction does not say you can't fly it...
"As a condition of sale, the successful bidder will have to execute an agreement warranting that they will use the aircraft for static exhibition and educational purposes only."
There is no
"Did you know you can buy Jeeps for $44 from the U.S. government?"
Yeah, and they'll even cut them into four pieces for you before you take delievery. That's so you don't flip over and crash the first time you take a thirty degree curve at over 30 mph. Very thoughtful!
As a condition of sale, the successful bidder will have to execute an agreement warranting that they will use the aircraft for static exhibition and educational purposes only.
Educational Purposes. What about LEARNING to fly it? It doesn't say you can't fly. You can exhibit it statically (i.e. not fly it), and use it for educational purposes. Just choose the latter!!
I have a fully functioning time machine for sale, bidding starts at £2 million. The only catch you have to promise not to use it. I also have a babe magnet but that's not for sale, but I may consider renting, usual conditions apply.
It's been posted here for days.
The Glider and the Flight suit are missing!
... the first thing I'd do is slap some Type-R stickers on this baby.
I mean, according to the specs page, it's only got 120 horsepower. I'd definitely have to keep adding and try to get that over 300.
After the stickers, I'd probably buy some shiny alloy propeller covers for the engine. Nothing says speed like a bling blingin' shine.
Then I'd alter the exhaust. To get better performance and an altogether faster ride, I'd replace the existing muffler with a stainless steel, hole-bored version. This would allow for a louder, more powerful sounding flight. Nearly everyone recognizes that fart can noises are sure signs of a ton of horses in the engine.
Last but not least, I'd get some neon lighting for above the head of the passenger, a few blacklight stickers for the interior portion, bright blue Xenon lights for nighttime flying, and a few custom Eminem and Jay-Z mixes for some kick ass in-flight tunage!
Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
Anyone has pictures of one of these beauties...?
They claim to be the first one with this, I guess they have done very little research... Look, it's even here ...
the site mentions a stability augmentation system, which is fine for professional pilots, but what about you and me?
would a "segway" type control system help ordinary people be able to fly this thing without 1000's of hours of training?
I recall seeing the results of a recent survey in which people were asked how they would recognize when they were living in "the future." The overwhelming majority answered, "when we have flying cars." Is this getting us any closer? Does anyone else remember seeing this survey?
Considering the facts that
- the name SoloTrek looks alot like StarTrek
- the font of their logo is remarkably similar to the font used for TNG
- they obviously are into science fiction
How long until they get sued by a certain company protecting their trademark?I started writing this post trying to make a joke, but now I have thought some more about it; dunno...
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
"... so, those are the things you need to do to start it on. If you have more questions from now on, please, do not raise your hand."
"There is no teacher but the enemy."-Mazer Rackham
The posting doesn't say that you cannot operate it, it says it must remain static. Perhaps operating it with a Tether would be considered static testing under FAA guidelines?
Looking for something to do? http://www.grinion.com
Man Gets 70mpg in Homemade Car-Made from a Mainframe Computer
It would be an even better genetic-elimination-device than those powered parachutes so many "flyers" use to whang themselves (and often passengers) into power lines and antenna towers now.
No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
I heard an interview last night on NPR with the CEO and he mentioned that they were going to take a few "key" parts out before they sold it so that it would be impossible to fly.
Shucks.
Just imagine if had been endoskeleton, rough ride.
Even helicopers can land if their engines fail. It looks to me that if those engines fail, the passenger is outta luck.
Folks, I think the request (nay, demand) that the buyer not use the device is perfectly reasonable.
Remember: This device has not flown beyond testing hops. You can daydream all you want about flying machines, but this is an extremely difficult thing to develop and what you see today is a very slick looking prototype -- not a finished whizz-bang commuting device.
The day the US 'makes' Canada do anything is the day I enlist in the Canadian Forces.
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell, 1984
Now they're selling failed aeronautical projects to the public! When can I get my Lockheed F-23?
The message on e-bay says that you can only fly it for static or educational purposes only. So you can't strap missles to it to blow stuff up. And all you cat burglars out there are out of luck if you want to use it to quietly make up to the 100th floor safe.
yeah erm, if you look closer it shows, and says "SoloTrek XFV is a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft that a person *steps on*, straps on, and flies in an upright position." You can see where the feet actually are supported by the craft, meaning no weight from the actual machine is taken by the human body, it supports the pilot. As for whether you believe the video or not, well...
The question to really ask is what would you wanna do with one of those anyway? I think I'd use one to get to college in, depends how many miles to the gallon I could get tho ;)
Someone said its selling at > 1mil, so why not go for the pragmatic solution of making one yourself (and whos gonna tell you not to fly one you've just made?!) - yes, thats right, 200 grands worth of battery powered hair dryers, a few office fans...also powered by battery....and you could make your own!
Alternativly, collect bird feathers, glue them together with wax hence making yourself fake wings. I mean, come on, no one will have thought of that before!
Load'er up with pot, jump over the border, unload, repeat.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
>Besides, why would someone WANT to fly this? It
>would be cool if it was like the 3rd or 4th
>generation COMMERCIAL version
Shame on you! Haven't you learned anything from Gundam? The prototype is always faster / better than the mass produced verson. In a fight, the prototype will always have some sort of Advanced Weapon System that the mass produced verson just doesn't have...
~~~
Click here, you know you wanna!
Come one
You can buy a real flying machine for less then this price.
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Ground effect does not apply to this type of aircraft.
For an airplane, "ground effect" is the term applied to the tendency of a wing to exhibit increased aerodynamic efficiency (basically more lift and less drag) when it's within roughly a half-wingspan of the ground. It's caused, at least in layman's terms, by a cushion of air forming beneath the wing and the ground, and by the reduction of a drag-inducing wingtip vortex.
This vehicle has no horizontal wing flying thru the air. So we can eliminate the obvious cushion of air.
Now, a helicopter demonstrates ground effect for the same basic reason as an airplane, within half a rotor-disc-diameter or so of the ground, and also because for a hovering vehicle, the downwash tends to bounce back up again to provide a additional cushion. Here's a primer on helo ground effect. As you can see, the ground effect is largely produced by the ground limiting development of a tip vortex.
Just for completeness, we can also address ground effect for a hovering jet, like the Harrier Jump Jet. In that case, the downwash bouncing up certainly provides a cushion, and the Harrier has strakes under the fuselage designed exclusively to capture that cushion of air and enhance it - kind of like a hovercraft. But for a hovering jet, you have an additional problem - the exhaust gases also tend to get reingested by the engine, lowering the engine efficiency. One of the most vexing problems for the Harrier, and also for the newer Joint Strike Fighter designs, is "hot gas reingestion". In fact, if you hover these aircraft pointing downwind, you can snuff out the engine due to lack of oxygen. (This issue is probably not a big problem for the high-bypass arrangement of the SoloTrek, where very little exhaust gas is produced.)
Now to address this vehicle. The lift is provided by ducted fans. Therefore there is no tip vortex, because the duct prevents one from forming. In fact, the duct itself provides the same effect as ground effect, by eliminating the efficiency loss due to the vortex. The only relevant part of the "ground effect" here is therefore the bouncing cushion of air. But the fans on this vehicle are mounted so high above the ground (about 7 feet), and the total thrust is so low, that a fairly minimal ground effect cushion can be developed. In fact, in the pictures on Ebay, at least one of the photos shows the thing high enough up (the fans are at least 12 feet off the ground) that any ground effect that might exist would be almost totally eliminated.
So it's extremely unlikely that this vehicle's performance would change significantly with climbing away from the ground.
--Brandon / Split Infinity Music
The aircraft is still in the developmental stage but Moshier envisions a day when the sky is full of people dashing across town in the flying machines that operate much like a helicopter.
Most people can barely drive in 2 dimensions without a cellphone, now give them 3 dimensions and a cellphone. Charles Darwin would be a very proud man.
Sounds good, how many cup-holders does it have?
I love reserves! I meen realy, I love having no idea how much my bid is realy worth! WHY ON EARTH WOULD I ?
HElllo StarTrek er SoloTrek!!!! Just set the min bid HIGHER, don't use the reserve system wich is garunteed to fail, and if you'r reserve isn't me ebay says touch tities goes to the highes bidder.
I heard an interview on Canada's CBC Radio 1 (Friday evening), and they were talking with the owner of the company. He said that in their test flights they had only gone 4 or 5 feet off the ground until further improvements could be made. He also said that the one they're selling on Ebay has had some vital components removed to help "keep the buyer honest".
This is the 29th year of Moller vaporware. I have a 1974 brochure for Moller's "Discojet", which was supposed to be for sale Real Soon Now. This was a saucer-shaped flyer with eight Wankel engines. The brochure mentions prototypes going back to 1967. So he's been at this for 36 years now. Unsuccessfully.
Not for lack of money, either; substantial funds have gone into this project.
Small thrust-only flyers have been built. Several from the 1950s are at the Hiller Museum in Redwood City, CA, and they actually flew. They have the famous Hiller Flying Platform. Such vehicles are inherently unstable and hard to fly, but not impossible to build. The stability problem ought to be solveable today - many modern military aircraft are stable only because a control system is constantly struggling to keep them stable. But an unstable VTOL is the worst case - aerodynamic control surfaces are ineffective at low speeds, adjusting engine thrust has too much lag, engine gimbals add weight, and thrust deflector plates waste power. The Harrier fighter, after 30 years, remains the only succesful pure-thrust VTOL.
Dear Seller
I am very interesting with your item, and do you accep credit cards and please you calculate shipping cost to Indonesia?
Thank You
I watched the flight video and I couldn't help thinking that they need to hook up with Segway to iron out all of the stability and usability problems.
"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
wow other /. ers comment on the pc-ness and grammatical correctness of the author's use of 'she' instead of 'he' and I'm the only one thinking 'great women drivers part II aerial assault'
But then, I guess precious karma doth hang in the balance.
Yeah, they'd never guess it was you... considering there's so many people with these things flying around the country.
Who knows, this could be the biggest con since Victor Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower (twice), or since Enron anyway.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
When I hear about these things, I think about the following:
A scene in Simpsons where the "Merry Bobbins" flies away only to be sucked into an airliner engine...
In the Jetsons, people on jetpacks "banging heads while flying"... except in real life, there would be more "banging and splattering"...
From "The Wizard of Oz"... an army of people with these things in flying monkey costumes heading out to terrorize trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
... Actually, that last idea doesn't sound half bad....
Winged Power Photography
The focus of the sale is in the hopes of it being used for an educational purpose, ie: placed in a technology center or a science museum...or a very rich school board. He didn't get into why they were selling it, at least I didn't hear him get into it.
It take more faith to believe in evolution than it takes to believe in God
You obviously never read the site.
1.) Notice there is only ONE Solotrek for sale, and there were two orginal Solotrek XFV prototypes, one that crashed, causing them to miss the fatal milestone, and another unscathed on.
2.) As said by Goldenhawk, the ground effect does not apply. Though you are right, it's never flown untethered.
3.) Originally, Trek Aerospace planned on just closing its doors, but since the last article has updated their status and website greatly. The eBay auction states that the proceeds of the auction will go towards funding for the NEXT generation Solotrek vehicle, which has a much more conservative timeline.
4.) According to Trek Aerospace's original statement about closing their doors, they were quick to mention that the first prototype only crashed because of a change in the management at DARPA, who would not allow them to extend the deadline of the milestone they would eventually miss. As such, they were forced to fly in inclement conditions, which were blamed for the crash.
5.) The eBay auction, also states "As a condition of sale, the successful bidder will have to execute an agreement warranting that they will use the aircraft for static exhibition and educational purposes only."
As a personal note, after not metioning that the vehicle was not in one piece, and showing pictures of a fully functional Solotrek, I'm sure it would have to be some form of misrepresentation to just hand the winner a broken Solotrek in a box of parts.
--- What
"and allows her to fly around for over two hours at a time."
:)
So, this is a womens jetpack? How interesting. To think, all this time I didn't even think women liked jetpacks.
If there was ever any sign that the rich are too rich, it's that people are actually bidding on this thing.
And another thing... for half a million simoleans, you can BET I will fly the thing, or die trying!
Mmmmmm... Bold, yet refreshing!
> Harrier, .. you can snuff out the engine due to lack of oxygen.
No. Piston engines may use almost all of the oxygen that passes into the combustion chamber, but jet engines never do, even if using an afterburner.
Jet engines must process sufficient mass flow of air to get thrust, not just for combustion, on a piston engine the propellor processes the air needed for thrust.
What will 'snuff out the engine' from ingesting hot air is that the compressor will not be able to compress this to the correct ratio without exceeding the allowable temperatures and this will disrupt the combustion leading to significant power loss.
I looked at all the pictures for this prototype. They all show the fans in the exact same position. If they were actually spinning would the appear blurry in the image? Even if they were, how did the camera capture them in the same position everytime. And the Ebay images appear to be look very altered. Check for yourself... http://www.solotrek.com/mjet/photos.html
This is a one of a kind prototype of what the manufacturers hope will become a popular mass production phenomenon. If you read the blurb on E-Bay you realise that the biding is realy for "The smithsonian" and anyone else with the cash to bid against them.
I.e. Major museums and insanely welthy individuals.
Treck knows this will eventualy end up in amuseum. They want it there as permanent advertising.
The only thing that could prevent that is some ID10T crashing into propane tank and smashing the flier to smitherines.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
At least not in a usefull manner, maybe it got off the ground once for a couple of seconds ... but it is obviously not working to production standards.
... as is it is just stupid.
Just a publicity stunt to raise some money and get some investor eye balls pointed at them.
Pretty naff, if they promised to upgrade it to a production unit at some point in the future it might be worth the money to someone
To the winning bidder: there's a really simple solution to the signing-a-contract-that-you-won't-fly-it problem. But the thing, take it apart, put it back together a little differently or with some modifications and legally, they can't be sued anymore because you aren't flying their vehicle. You're flying your experimental aircraft that you built from pieces of the XFV. However, getting an isurance company to insure you flying in it without attached safety cables is a nother story...
A much cheaper ($30,000) personal flying machine that you can buy right now in kit form can be found here and here. These things do actually fly.
I'm not griping (really, I'm not) but the submission chosen for this item was a poor one. I submitted this item -- once on Tues. Dec. 7 and an UPDATE (read carefully before responding) on Fri. Dec. 10 -- with plenty of links to detailed info, and it was rejected both times. Which one do you think was more useful?
Dec. 7: SoloTrek XFV personal VTOL flight vehicle on eBay
Trek Aerospace announced it will auction a protoype SoloTrek XFV ducted fan Vertical Take-Off and Landing flight vehicle on eBay this Friday, with a starting bid of about $50,000. Trek's CEO says he thinks the seven-day auction's winning bid will exceed $1-million. Technical info, photos and video are available. The company is also working on an unmanned aerial vehicle and closed-cockpit versions for one, or two people.
UPDATE Dec. 10: SoloTrek personal VTOL aircraft on eBay
Trek Aerospace's eBay auction of its protoype SoloTrek XFV ducted-fan Vertical Take-Off and Landing flight vehicle started today (Friday), with an opening bid of about $50,000. As I write this, 46 people have bid and the current bid is $175,000. Trek's CEO says he thinks the seven-day auction's winning bid will exceed $1-million. Technical info, photos and video are available. The company is also working on an unmanned aerial vehicle and closed-cockpit versions for one, or two people.
BECAUSE I'M CAPTAIN POWER!
I got them today, and they are very nice for only $4.00 per pair. They are hand made, and I got a bag full of them (12 pair) Took about a month to get here. Each pair is different, and they are hand-made. Wouldn't pay $600,000.00 for the flying contraption, that's the current bid.
Seems like that kind of $$ would buy a nice private plane with money left over for the flying lessons, hanger space until you crash it, etc.
The idea is, find a stretch of unobserved border, and jump over the fence. Obviously, if you did this right next to the Tijuana border crossing, you might get shot down.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
I don't understand the picture of the guy who is airborne with the streamers flying straight up above his head.
Now, those rotors would have to be pushing air straight down at a ridiculous rate to lift the whole thing off the ground, so wouldn't those streamers get sucked into the rotors?
It doesn't make sense to me.
Contract, shmontract, I just raised the price to $750,100, making me the high bidder.
Whee!
I wanna fight for pleasure.
No big fucking engine NOISE in my ears, thanks.
Gimme real wings!
I wonder.. with the advance of new materials (and nanotech, etc), I could be possible someday to build a really light wing.
Each wing would be a strucutre of 'bones' articulated in a 'VV' shape. Half of it (one of the 'V's) follow your arm. When you open your two arms straight the thing 'locks' soundly on this position (like when you open your arms pretending to be wings, to fly).
This way you could carry it like a backpack and mount and dismount the wings easly. It could have three 'modes': backpack (free arms); with your arms attached to the wings (but you can still use your arms, just keeping them closed); and with the wings spawned, with the arms straight opened.
That's a real exoskeleton, not this little helicopter. It's more like a motorcycle, in terms of size and usage.
The 'VV' shape (for each wing) doubles our 'wingspread', making it plausible for a flight.
The only problem is: are we (or can we get) strong enough to flap the wings to give propulsion? Just imagine your self running for an open area, 'wearing' the wing, you open it when you reach the speed, flap, and you're flying! 8^)
For a glide (like Batman) no need for strenght, as the strucutre of the exoskeleton will lock in the straight position (with each wing holding against the strucutre on the back).
try looking: here,
here,
here,
and here
with a bunch more
here
This guy's been getting articles in Popular Science for decades about personal VTOL aircraft, that somehow are always five years away. I remember reading about this back when I was in grade school in the 1970's. Burt Rutan, he ain't.
Is there a Collier trophy for vaporware?
A million bucks is pretty steep for a failed prototype.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
At least David Blaine edited his levitation video so you couldn't see the cable!
The engines and fan produce a major third tuning, I suppose this says something about the engine rpm to fan ratio?
I'd like to see a picture of this thing on fark.com, this thing really ought to be married to a segway for those cities that ban segways on the sidewalk.
- random coward
ps yes I know about the Balducci Levitation, my kids love it but that's not the one you see on the Blaine special...
I'm an engineer too, and even I think that was a bit much. That all could have been dumbed down and summarized for the slashdot crowd (average education level: high school) in a paragraph or less.
I'm not familiar with the 'half-wingspan' rule-of-thumb for significant ground effect phenomena. Wouldn't other simple factors, such as Reynold's number, aspect ratio, etc. be more important? It seems that the ground effect boats entering ferry service operate a bit higher than half-wingspan.
But what do I know, aerodynamics is not my area, and this is slashdot.
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
Bah! I've seen personal flying machines for much cheaper. Runs on vaccume motors. Only 29 bucks for the plans in the back of Boys' Life.
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
Simply claim that when you hit the throttle the planet started to move away from you.
Hmm.... I need a decent case fan =)
I should really get around to creating a sig.... Nah - too lazy =)
I was only playing. Geez, you moderators are brutal. :(