Only ten years ago, the thought of personal flying vehicles would have been thought insane. Nowadays,
people are making their own in their backyards with nothing but wood and propellers.
Come along with us as we go over one such story in this video with the Skypak V1 electric jetpack
made by a single person in Wisconsin.
In the middle of 2020, the development of the first Skypak prototype
was started by Ascend Dynamics founder Daniel Gant.
It never successfully flew, but he upgraded the motors and flight control computer in the second
iteration later that year. Giving it enough oomph to take off before the end of the year.
Over the next year, Gant would upgrade each successive iteration with more rotors and
improved yaw control until eventually creating the full-scale V1 prototype.
That brings us to the present day,
in which Ascend Dynamics is ready to share the V1 with the world!
So, what is the V1 Skypak Electric Jetpack exactly?
This prototype is quite simple as is. An aluminum frame with shoulder straps is meant to be worn as
a backpack, while the twelve rotors on either side of the three arms provides lift.
Each rotor is powered by its own seven-kilowatt
motor for a peak power output of around one hundred and twelve horsepower.
All in all, the Skypak weighs around eighty pounds by itself.
Right now, it is not being manned and instead is using a test dummy with a wooden support frame
that ups that weight to around one hundred and seventy pounds.
The whole thing is powered by a fifty-volt lithium-polymer battery pack,
giving it a flight time of around two minutes.
That may not sound too impressive, but that is only where the project is now.
Ascend Dynamics has plans to take it further and is currently raising money
through PayPal and Patreon donations to develop the next iteration.
The plans for this next advancement involve larger props inside the prop shield for protection.
Increasing the weight to around one hundred pounds and supporting a pilot
of approximately two hundred pounds for the first manned flight.
If the manned flights go well, fingers crossed, Gant says he will try to go
commercial with the Skypak 1. It will feature a carbon fiber frame, improved motors,
support for pilots up to three hundred pounds, and flight times upward of thirty minutes.
The uses for such a machine are endless, but specifically in law enforcement,
firefighting, military, and engineering fields such as bridge inspections.
It's a long road to get there, but Gant seems determined to make it a reality.
As always, thank you for watching, and we hope you enjoyed the video.
Do you think they will see their goals to completion? Do you think
this sort of tech has a place in society?
Head on down to the comments and let us know what you think of Ascend Dynamics project.
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