Riding a skateboard is such a thrilling experience and all those cool stunts that people do, take you by your breath. A skateboard has such a simple structure yet it poses a great challenge to ride it with great efficiency. But it seems that it must be made more complicated to enjoy it more. After the launch of the classic Hendo Hover board which levitates in midair, the tech fans wanted something new. The Hendo hover board provided a very secluded area to play it on, something more versatile was definitely awaited. If a ride on four wheels was exciting, a ride on one wheel will definitely be more thrilling. This is the thought behind the flying nimbus skateboard. The name is going to ring bells in the minds of harry potter fans as it shares the name of the famous broom the young wizard flies. Believe me the experience of driving this skateboard is going to be the same.
This innovative idea originated in the brilliant mind of Dane Kouttron. He thought it was easy to ride a basic skateboard so a little complexity must be added to it to increase the thrill. Just by a glimpse of it, one wouldn’t believe that it can be proportionately balanced. Its stability might appear as the biggest question to you. But its design hides so many secrets which compensates all the queries and provide the ride of a life. This hover board is complex arrangement and assembling of cool hardware that hides all the complications.
In one registered moment it looks like an aluminum slab entertaining a big wheel in the middle portion. But what appears is not what it is. It hoists a dead man switch. The person riding this skateboard must strategically position himself so that one of his legs is in front of the wheel and the other is at the back, on the switch. This dead man’s switch is aptly named as the press of this button is crucial to the movement of the skateboard. The skateboard will move only when this button is pressed, relieving it will immediately stop the skateboard. I guess all those cool stunts will pose a great difficulty doing them on the flying nimbus.
The basic structure consists of a hub-mounted motor with a servo drive. This amazing flying nimbus skateboard can reach a maximum speed of 15 mph using a big cluster of batteries which provides it the necessary power. The biggest question that arises by looking at it is its balancing mechanism. An accelerometer and gyroscope are used to provide it the balance it requires. The signals from these components are fed into a microcontroller that adjust the motor to maintain an even posture. Turning to one side is also very easy, it depends mainly on the direction change of the bodyweight of the rider. Leaning in the direction you want to move will make the wheel tilt a little bit and rotate on its edge, thus providing the signal for direction change.
