Omni Hoverboards Prototype 1
Prototype 1
Omni Hoverboards, Inc.
Montreal, Canada
www.omnihoverboards.com
Based in Montreal, Canada, inventor Alexandru Duru founded Omni Hoverboards in 2015 and Duru has been working on his flying electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) hoverboard since 2010. His compnaHis interest in making a personal hoverboard began when he realized the technology from small drones would allow him increase the size of the drone to allow for human flight. He's had an interest in electronics from a young age and by trade is a software engineer.
Prototype 1's main frame is made out of one main structural tube and at each end of this tube are four booms, for a grand total of eight booms. At the end of each boom holds an upward facing electric motor and propeller. For a grand total of eight electric motors and eight propellers. The pilot's feet are strapped in using snow boarding straps which are fixed at each end of the main structural tube. From video alone, it looks like the batteries are in a back pack worn by Duru. Also, from pictures alone, we estimate the Prototype 1 hoverboard to be in the area of 2.5 meters wide (about 8 feet wide).
According to one early flight test of Prototype 1, there was difficultly getting the hoverboard to lift off the ground. There were also problems with the first prototype catching on fire. However, these problems were eventually solved and then a second prototype was made.
While many of the details of his work is based on secrecy (his website lists no specifications, no information about his prototypes and no history of the work he's done creating the hoverboards), the self-made inventor has had a few reporters interview him, take pictures of this workshop, hoverboard and have reported on his progress with articles and videos. He uses many types of materials and equipment from around the world to create this hoverboard prototype.
A second prototype has been made, has been flight tested extensively and then flown at events around the world. For more information about second hoverboard prototype please see the eVTOL News Omni Hoverboards Prototype 2 web page we've made. The company has reported they are working on a very secretive next generation prototype.
Specifications:
- Aircraft type: eVTOL hoverboard prototype
- Piloting: 1 pilot
- Flight control: Unknown
- Cabin: None, the pilot stands using snow boarding straps to keep your feet locked onto the aircraft
- Flight time: Unknown
- Propellers: 8
- Electric Motors: 8
- Batteries: Unknown and most likely stored in the pilot's backback
- Length: Unknown, possibly 2.5 meters wide (over 8 feet wide)
- Landing gear: The frame of the hoverboard
- Safety Features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers and motors on the aircraft so if one or more motors or propellers fail, the other working motors and propellers can safely land the aircraft.
Resources:
- Omni Hoverboards website
- Omni Hoverboards Facebook
- Omni Hoverboards Twitter
- Omni Hoverboards YouTube Channel
- Omni Hoverboards LinkedIn
- Article: Video: Watch incredible footage of farthest flight by a hoverboard record set by Canada's Catalin Alexandru Duru, Guinness World Records, May 22, 2015
- Video: Farthest flight by hoverboard - Guinness World Records, Guinness World Records, May 22, 2015
- Article: Montrealer sets world record for farthest flight by hoverboard, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, May 23, 2015
- Video: Omni's propeller-based hoverboard prototype (first test flight), Omni Hoverboards, May 25, 2015
- Video: Omni's propeller-based hoverboard w/landing (prototype), Omni Hoverboards, June 18, 2015
- Video: Canadian Develops Futuristic Hoverboard, CBC News: The National, Oct. 13, 2015
- Article: Canadian inventor tests new prototype of record-setting hoverboard, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Oct. 14, 2015
- Video: Training Before our flight in Paris, Omni Hoverboards, June 9, 2016
- Video: Omni Hoverboard | The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation, The Henry Ford, Mar 30, 2017
- Video: Ball for the Portuguese Cup Delivered from the Air by a Man on a Hoverboard, Omni Hoverboards, May 29, 2017
- Video: Brazil - Parintins Folklore Festival - Festival do Boi-Bumbá - do Caprichoso - Third night, Omni Hoverboards, July 4, 2018
- Video: Hoverboard followed by Drone, Omni Hoverboards, Jan. 16, 2020
Recent Pages
- Aerial Rider Tilt-Rotor eVTOL (concept design)
- Aerial Rider Six-Seater eVTOL (concept design)
- Aerial Rider 7A Series (production model)
- Aerial Rider 5A09-R (production model)
- Aerial Rider 5A07 (concept design)
- Aerial Rider 5A Series (production models)
- Aerial Rider 1A Series (production model)
- Xpeng Aeroht X5 (concept design)
- XTI Aircraft TriFan 600
- XTI Aircraft TriFan 600 VLCA (concept design)
