Today on Engineering Newswire, we’re taking a ride on the latest hoverboard, climbing walls with a versatile robot, and sensing objects underwater with sonar gloves. 

$20K Hoverboard Can Fly for Six Minutes

Another company is claiming to have invented a working hoverboard, and unlike the Lexus or Hendo hoverboards, which are powered by magnets, this new version can hover over any surface.

Aerospace company Arca Space is taking orders for its ArcaBoard, a device which is said to hover up to a foot in the air. To achieve this feat, 36 high-powered electric ducted fans deliver over 270 horsepower and 430 pounds of thrust.

Disney’s Wall-Climbing Robot

Disney and ETH Zurich have developed a new four-wheeled robot called VertiGo, which can transition from rolling on the ground to climbing walls.

This ability to transition from the ground to a wall and back again allows the robot to travel through urban and indoor environments.

To accomplish this, the robot has two steerable propellers that provide thrust onto the wall and keep it from falling. They work similar to spoilers on cars, which create downward forces to keep the vehicle pressed to the road.

One pair of wheels is steerable, and each propeller has two degrees of freedom for adjusting the direction of thrust.

Sonar Gloves Let Wearer Feel Distant Objects

A group of Ph.D. candidates from Japan’s Tsukuba University have created a sonar glove that lets wearers feel what’s underwater without actually touching anything.

Called the IrukaTact, the glove’s designers hope the technology will help first responders find the exact locations of victims during emergency situations such as flooding.