Sister blog of Physicists of the Caribbean in which I babble about non-astronomy stuff, because everyone needs a hobby

Friday 28 April 2017

The Daedalus suit shall one day be MINE !

Shut up. Shut up and take my goddamn motherfrakkin' money.

A British inventor, who built an Iron Man-style flight suit, has flown it at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference in Vancouver. "My approach to flight was why not augment the human mind and body, because they are amazing machines, so I just bolted on what was missing - thrust."

Mr Browning, a Royal Marine Reserve, created his flying machine using six miniature jet engines and a specially designed exoskeleton. He has a helmet with a sophisticated heads-up display that keeps him informed about fuel use.

The Daedalus suit - named after the father of Icarus by Mr Browning's eight-year-old son - takes off vertically. Mr Browning uses his arms to control the direction and speed of the flight. Mr Browning said it is easily capable of flying at 200mph (321km/h) and an altitude of a few thousand feet. But, for safety reasons, he keeps the altitude and speed low. He insisted it is "safer than a motorbike". The suit can currently fly uninterrupted for around 10 minutes..

But he insists the project remains "a bit of fun" and is unlikely to become a mainstream method of transportation.

Reminds me of a story they told us once in school. An old man wearing a backpack walks into an airport looking somewhat lost. Eventually an official asks him if he needs any help. "I've invented a flying machine," says the old man, "and I thought this might be the place to show people."

The official laughs. "Sir," he says, "we have lots of flying machines. All those things outside are flying machines. We use them all the time. Have done for years. Look, there's one taking off now."

"Ah, I see you're right," says the old man. "My invention has come too late to be of any use." With that the old man walks outside, presses a button on his backpack and flies away.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39441825

1 comment:

  1. I wonder if the turbines can all be mounted on the backpack and ducting be used to bring the thrust round to the arms/legs to make it more compact.

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