Turning impossible into possible: Singaporean Students Invent personal Flying machine!
Personal flying machines are no more a fairy tale or StarWars movie item. it’s a reality and it is all due to a bunch of students from Singapore.
A team of National University of Singapore/NUS engineering students have transformed a dream into reality by inventing a working aircraft that can vertically take off and land while carrying a single person on board.
The battery-powered aircraft is labeled as Snowstorm and tested by the students successfully. By first look, it seems more focused on performance than style.
Snowstorm comprises a hexagonal frame featuring motors, inflated landing gear and of course, propellers.
The craft’s demonstration video shows Snowstorm lifting itself off the ground and hovering for about 15seconds before landing gently.
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The students claim that this craft can stay airborne for at least 5 minutes.
According to Joerg Weigl, one of the two project supervisors, this craft is like a “common trope in popular science fiction is the projection of humans flying on our own – think “The Jetsons,” or even “Back to the Future.”
The craft was created for FrogWorks project, the purpose of which was to engage students into designing and construction of leisure crafts.
The project brought together NUS Faculty of Engineering’s Design-Centric Programme and the University Scholars Programme for envisioning a craft for personal use within spacious indoor premises.
Pentagon Working on Drones That Vanish in Thin Air After MissionA third year engineering student, Shawn Sim, also studying at NUS stated (PDF):
“Designing and building Snowstorm was a great learning opportunity for us. The toughest part of this engineering challenge was ensuring a good thrust to weight ratio to allow the craft to lift a person into the air. At every stage of our design, we constantly had to balance and consider trade-offs between the types of materials, their characteristics and weight. In some instances, we even 3D-printed parts, such as our landing gear mount, just so we can have a customized and optimal fit.”
This is not the first time when a personal flight machine has made it to the news. In September 2015, a YouTube user posted a video on his profile in which he recorded a test flight of his homemade personal helicopter that is powered by 54 miniature drones. He named it “Swarm Manned Aerial Vehicle Multirotor Super Drone”.
NUS
