Aerofox decide to adopt a designed that was abandoned in the 1960s
because of stability and rollover problems and came up with a mechanical system — controlled by two control bars at knee-level — that allows the vehicle to respond to a human pilot's leaning movements and natural sense of balance.
Aerofex, a California-based firm’s erospace engineer and founder of Aerofex Mark De Roche said: "Think of it as lowering the threshold of flight, down to the domain of ATV's (all-terrain vehicles.”
De Roche also told InnovationNewsDaily: "It essentially captures the translations between the two in three axis (pitch, roll and yaw), and activates the aerodynamic controls required to counter the movement — which lines the vehicle back up with the pilot. Since [the pilot's] balancing movements are instinctive and constant, it plays out quite effortlessly to him."
Aerofex claims the same hover technology can prove handy in agricultural fields, or swiftly deliver supplies to search-and-rescue teams in rough terrain. Even the soldiers or Special Forces might use such hover drones to carry or deliver heavy supplies in the tight spaces between buildings in cities. U.S. Marines have already begun testing robotic helicopters to deliver supplies in Afghanistan.
Flight testing in California's Mojave Desert led to the presentation of a technical paper regarding Aerofex's achievements at the Future Vertical Lift Conference in January 2012. The company plans to fly a second version of its vehicle in October, and also prepare an unmanned drone version for flight testing by the end of 2013.
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