Company Creates Star Wars Like Speeder Bike
Aerofex Corporation, an engineering company based in California, says that its goal is to "break the barriers that limit access to the benefits of flight." If they're latest innovation — a flying bike that is a close clone of the speeder bikes seen in Star Wars: Return of The Jedi — gets any more publicity, they might want to update that goal to "give Star Wars fans everywhere the feeling of pure joy."
Aerofex has created a flying bike based on design that originated in the 1960s. That model was scrapped because it was unstable, but Aerofex has fixed the problem and given us all something so close to a speeder bike we can almost feel a storm trooper bearing down on us. The first model goes about 35 miles per hour and can hover as much as 15 feet above the ground. It uses two tiny helicopter-like blades to hover, which have its pros and cons.
They are less efficient than a helicopter, which has the benefit of larger diameter rotors," Mark De Roche, founder of Aerofex, told Innovation Daily. "They do have unique performance advantages, though, as they have demonstrated flight within trees, close to walls and under bridges.
Who cares, right? It's a speeder bike!!! De Roche said the key to getting the bike to work was getting it to balance. To do that, he and his team installed a mechanical system that operates by the bike's user moving bars with his knees and arms. The bike relies on the pilot's natural sense of balance to work.
"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 explained. "Since [the pilot's] balancing movements are instinctive and constant, it plays out quite effortlessly to him."
So not only has De Roche and his team created a speeder bike, it's all mechanical. No fancy computer interface, no complicated training program required. Just get on the bike and boom — you're flying through the woods with Ewoks. Well, no Ewoks. Hopefully Aerofex is working on that next.
Obviously we're not getting our hands on the bike anytime soon. De Roche knows where the money is (read: the military) and he's shopping his invention there first. But rest assured Star Wars fans, this is happening. It will eventually come to the public, much like the Hummer was the public version of the military's HumVee vehicle. So start saving your money now, because the bike will definitely be expensive. As for the Ewoks? Well, maybe strap a teddy bear to the back of your Aerofex when you get it. And don't worry about people making fun of you. You're on a speeder bike, dammit.
[Pic via Screengrab via Youtube video]
