Inventor who built an Iron Man-style flight suit has flown it at TED

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39441825

by 10dpd • 9 years ago

158 94 9 years ago

bbc.co.uk

H4CK3RM4N• 9 years ago

I thought the point of Iron Man's suit was that the Arc Reactor allowed for stupidly high powered "repulsor beams", which then allowed for force/heat to the generated. This just seems like another Jetpack style design.

BenMosher• 9 years ago

I feel like the combo of arm + leg + back thrusters and an exoskeleton are sufficient to warrant the analogy.

mattmanser• 9 years ago

Interesting that it looks like he ditched the leg thrusters and switched to a back pack, I wonder if trying to control all limbs at once was too complicated.

maxerickson• 9 years ago

That's the movie premise.

In the comics, the first flying suit had chemical jets. And the early suits just ran on batteries.

1ba9115454• 9 years ago

I can't wait to see my girlfriends face when I land in the back garden wearing one of these.

MrBuddyCasino2• 9 years ago

Hackaday discussion: https://hackaday.com/2017/04/13/daedalus-jet-suit-takes-to-t...

It was noted that at least some shots were most likely fake. I guess this validates it as real?

Robotbeat10• 9 years ago

It was noted by someone in the comments. I think I disagree. I don't see why this couldn't work, and the jet engines in question do produce sufficient thrust and are cheap enough that you could buy like 6 of them (52lbf thrust each), with a total of 312lbf of thrust, enough for this kind of project, for the price of a new car: http://www.chiefaircraft.com/jc-p200-rx.html

How much does a good rigging setup cost plus good professional video editing software to edit out such lines? I suspect it's not even much cheaper than making this work. (Particularly since you need to buy the jet engines anyway.)

I always wonder why people think something is fake when the real thing would actually be easier (if more dangerous) and cheaper than faking it.

MrBuddyCasino2• 9 years ago

If you look at the specific time code mentioned, you can clearly see that the back of his shirt is lifted by something that looks like an invisible cable, and that his movement in the air indeed looks like he's being pulled.

But then the astronauts walking on the moon didn't look real to some people either, so we should definitely give him the benefit of the doubt.

teddyh• 9 years ago

Going by the video, it’s less of a “flying” suit and more of a “hover” suit.

Fradow• 9 years ago

Quote from the text:

"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."

mikejb• 9 years ago

"Safety" - he's technically correct, but I believe it is guaranteed death if he'd try it: "The suit can currently fly uninterrupted for around 10 minutes." That leads me to the assumption that if he climbs up to a few thousand feet or goes full throttle to reach that speed, he'll be out of fuel faster than he can break & land.

joncrocks• 9 years ago

I can jump over buildings with a single bound.

But for safety reasons I only jump a foot or so off the ground.

:-)

SideburnsOfDoom5• 9 years ago

"it is easily capable of an altitude of a few thousand feet. But, for safety reasons, he keeps the altitude and speed low."

Sure.

I have watched some of the video, and at no point does he sustain a height high enough to stop benefiting from ground effect.

Hovering for maybe 10 seconds at 5 meters up would do it.

Until he does demonstrate this, I shall choose not to believe him, and won't consider this actual "flight". For much the same reason that an Ekranoplan is not actually an aircraft.

or comments last time this device was on hacker news: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13993728

fareesh• 9 years ago

Hard to believe he couldn't find a height between 3 feet and a few thousand to do a safe demonstration

atroll• 9 years ago

that cant be possible

jlebrech• 9 years ago

could tethered electric ducted fans raise someone in a wingsuit to a suitable altitude? as an alternative to this.

ijafri• 9 years ago

spoiler: it's not an iron-man style.

TED 2017: UK 'Iron Man' demonstrates flying suit (Original title of the post)

Keyword analysis: TED, BBC, Ironman.

Conclusion: British Clickbait.

bhouston2• 9 years ago

It has jets in the rough location of the hands. Very similar to Ironman, just not with the compact form factor that he has.

noxToken• 9 years ago

I fail to see how this is clickbait. Can you explain how this suit's flight mechanism is dissimilar to Iron Man's Mk III from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-19999). He's obviously not using repulsors for flight, but the thrust for suit is hand mounted just like the Mk III.

backpropaganda• 9 years ago

I can imagine a sport developing out of it though, even if it's not a full suit. Imagine gymnastics or skateboarding with this suit.

idiot742• 9 years ago

He was inspired by his father, an aeronautical engineer and inventor, who killed himself when Mr Browning was a teenager.

Was this really necessary? Imagine the reaction of the guy: "Oh cool, there's a bbc article on me.. oh... :(".

weego• 9 years ago

I don't think it's a spoiler for him at this point in life.

idiot742• 9 years ago

Yeah but it can be unpleasant when other people casually bring up tragedies about your life randomly when the context isn't quite right.

ralfd2• 9 years ago

I also found this sentence bizarre. It doesn't add any important information to the reader and makes it sound he was inspired by the suicide.

knorker• 9 years ago

Yeah. It sounds like his father killed himself, so now this guy is going to do it too, albeit in a more spectacular way.

dominotw• 9 years ago

Perhaps something to do with Howard Stark's tragic death when tony was young?

SmellyGeekBoy2• 9 years ago

The phrase "killed himself" seems like a really odd choice. I assumed the author meant in some kind of aeronautical accident, but perhaps it's just a really crass way of saying "committed suicide".

samlittlewood• 9 years ago

As a brit, that reads ok - to me, it does not imply intention. "Fred killed himself whilst overtaking a lorry on the A30" would not imply suicide (but possibly poor judgement).

bhouston2• 9 years ago

A much much better video with a lot more details, accidents, back story, etc.... but it is covered with Red Bull logos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=291&v=JinhIHIF8E...

joelrunyon3• 9 years ago

Red Bull consistently does some of the best advanced extreme sports out there. Awesome to have a company like that backing up their ethos and I'm happy to look at their logo because of the basic fact of how cool the stuff they're doing is.

This is content marketing done right.

manojlds• 9 years ago

The craziest thing is they have two F1 teams.

godzillabrennus• 9 years ago

The only downside is that they are effective at promoting a beverage that is likely to have a negative impact on the health of the consumers who partake.

lloeki2• 9 years ago

Interesting, for now control seems to be extremely raw but I wonder how much an active exoskeleton could help in making this more approachable, both in terms of not needing as much muscle (both strength and endurance) as well as guiding the pilot into more stability.

Shivetya• 9 years ago

the arm strength that appears necessary seems high, I would hope there is some sort of exo to assist with that or perhaps logic in the motors to shut down if they get into an odd angle

Robotbeat10• 9 years ago

I actually kind of like that it requires raw strength.

tener2• 9 years ago

He was inspired by his father, an aeronautical engineer and inventor, who killed himself when Mr Browning was a teenager.

Inspired he was; his invention clearly has the potential to kill the user. He may end up doing the same thing his father did, though surely I don't wish him such fate.

eps• 9 years ago

Who peed in your espresso this morning?

tener2• 9 years ago

The espresso machine is broken. You can see why I'm upset!

Seriously though, there is a long (and sad) tradition of flying machine inventors (or engineers) getting killed by their own inventions. Looking at this particular one it has all the flashy features ('Look! I am the Iron Man!') and none of the safety ones.

Neliquat3• 9 years ago

My grandfather was an EAA builder and the most overly cautious man I have ever known. He got out of his car to look behind it every time he reversed, and then went and did insane aerobatics in something him and his buddies built in a garage. We all have our own level of risk we accept. That man died at 96, tired of living.

Do something worth living for while you can, we all die.

tsaprailis• 9 years ago

My question when I first saw this was where do you get such jet engines? They look small enough to be from any kind of plane/UAV, but also quite large for any small model aircraft.

I wonder how easy it is to get one, do you by any chance need any sort of special license to operate them?

sanswork• 9 years ago

Look for model jet engines they get to be surprisingly big. I haven't looked them up in a number of years but I wanted to build a jet powered bike in a previous life and if I remember right the only thing stopping me was price. Also runtime sucked for them all.

Robotbeat10• 9 years ago

For between about $2500 and $4500 (depending on thrust), you can get a small model jet engine: http://www.chiefaircraft.com/radio-control/turbine-engines/j...

I love these things. I love enabling gadgets that enable hobbyists and garage entrepreneurs to do crazy things like this that would normally require a military program to fund.

buckie• 9 years ago

I'm pretty sure they are JetCat RC engines (based on the purple cowling): http://www.dreamworksrc.com/catalog/Jetcat-Engines

lumberjack• 9 years ago

They could also be suspenders for motor-gliders. Like these from the Netherlands:

http://www.amtjets.com/

1024core• 9 years ago

Get this puppy: http://www.amtjets.com/pdf/Nike_specification.pdf or this bad boy: http://www.amtjets.com/lynx.php

pdelbarba• 9 years ago

It's worth noting that these jet engines are actually just car/truck turbo chargers that were repurposed and placed in a relatively simple combustion sleeve. You can actually build your own fairly easily with little more than a trip to the junk yard.

technotarek• 9 years ago

http://i.imgur.com/fFyJYtq.gif

accountyaccount• 9 years ago

Seems like an easy way to become a double amputee.

tmsldd• 9 years ago

If you are lucky enough...

adrianN• 9 years ago

Then you can attach the jet engines directly to your stumps. You save some weight too!

ceejayoz• 9 years ago

That's the spirit.

agumonkey• 9 years ago

Great, now we can have real live incarnation of Iron Man vs Green Goblin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQLAUFhIxm4

apaprocki• 9 years ago

This seems like the latest April 4th, 2017 flight test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hT__fdxWig

aphextron• 9 years ago

I'm far more interested in what these guys are working on with the Flyboard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wObBrd9wB6M). Way more controllable and practical, and equally mind blowing.

jhpankow• 9 years ago

I just wish he was wearing a wing suit and had transitioned to horizontal flight.

antoniuschan99• 9 years ago

Flyboard Air is so cool.

In terms of innovation, what do you think of their execution strategy?

The founder has extensive experience with Jet Skis, created an innovative hovering contraption using water jets and a business around it, then used some of that money to fund this next innovation - Flyboard Air.

Also, I've read that the engines are repurposed Jet Ski engines. Is this true?

sandworm1012• 9 years ago

Jetpacks are officially dead. The advantages of not lifting your own o2, of burning fuel using air, means that systems based on rockets are now done.

rm4452• 9 years ago

Then perhaps your first sentence should have read, "Rocket packs are officially dead".

I think that the terms have historically been used interchangeably, but the distinction should be made. It's awfully nice not to need to carry oxidiser for your propellant.

joshu2• 9 years ago

Here is my own video of him flying.

https://youtu.be/xSHDK1Ja8x8

ChuckMcM• 9 years ago

Fun, it seems there are two versions he's been trying; one with leg thrusters on his calf and one where those thrusters are on the backpack. Watching the video I imagine holding the harm thrusters down to feel a bit like you're holding your self up on parallel bars.

Inventor who built an Iron Man-style flight suit has flown it at TED

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