Great Scott! They've invented a hoverboard that really, truly works

Just in time for October 21, 2015.

Great Scott! They've invented a hoverboard that really, truly works

Just in time for Marty McFly's arrival in the future of Back to the Future II, a Califnornian company has launched a real-life, genuinely functional hoverboard.

The Hendo Hoverboard is the first application of a magnetic technology that allows stable flotation. Knowing where the publicity is – and the funding dollars that go with it – the company has started out by creating one of science fiction's most desirable toys.

"Yep, there was a movie. However, our attorneys have told us not to go there. So this is as far as we’ll take it," the Kickstarter proclaims, circumventing any mention of a specific 1989 smash-hit time-travelling adventure.

Marty McFly's hoverboard chase scene in BTTF2 is an iconic scene of the 90s classic.

It's hardly a coincidence that a crowdfunding campaign has launched with exactly one year to go until October 21, 2015 - when the famous film is set - with the company looking to raise US $250,000 to develop and ship the product within the year.

The science of hoverboarding

This isn't a simple case of putting one magnet on top of each other to float them, like that simple repelling trick we learn in primary school. Instead, Hendo, the team behind this project, is hugely passionate about creating real, usable hover technology.

They call their solution Magnetic Field Architecture, and it is a complex solution to creating a stable opposing field using a physics principle called Lenz's law.

Right now, the technology needs "a non-ferromagnetic conductor" - or a copper sheet to you and I - to interact with the magnetic field generated by four powerful "hover engines" on the board's underside.

With that in mind, Hendo has plans to build a "hoverpark" - modelled after skateparks - to allow users "skate" in an area tiled with the appropriate surface.

What's it actually like?

Reporters at Engagdet tested the device in person, and reported it to be remarkably stable under the weight of a human being.

"I initially approached the floating pallet with caution, expecting it to dip and bob under my weight like a piece of driftwood," writes reporter Sean Buckley.

"It didn't. The levitating board wiggled slightly under my 200-pound frame, but maintained its altitude (a mere inch or so) without visible strain."

New York Times reporter and "ageing skateboarder" Conor Dougherty, who also had the opportunity to try the device, said the device was functional, but difficult to control. "No, I do not feel like Marty McFly - but you can definitely feel you're floating," he said after his test drive.

Unfortunately, to actually own one, you'll need to front a whopping US $10,000 - but that's only to be expected at this early prototype stage.

Beyond a hoverboard

The company is building a hoverboard as the focus of their Kickstarter, but they foresee many more applications of their technology.

"The Hendo hoverboard is just the first step - it's a proof of concept - the simplest path for demonstrating our new technology in a way everyone can understand," Greg Henderson, one of the creators, said.

Some examples given by the company are trains that hover above their tracks and building foundations that aren't anchored to earthquake-prone continental plates.

Backers of the Kickstarter project for $299 or more are entitled to a "Whitebox" developer kit - a box containing a working hover engine, which the company encourages users to disassemble and use the engine to build something new.

"Our goal is to create an ecosystem, together with you, of technologies that use Magnetic Field Architecture," they write. "We want to encourage the democratization of technology."

And, in the process, fulfill the dreams of every child of the 80s and 90s.

You can find more details about the project on the Kickstarter page here.

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