Add two inline skate wheels with 360-degree rotatable casters to the base of a skateboard and you've got a Fast and Furious-style drifting device known as a freeboard.
Developed in the '90s, these boards are an off-season way to enjoy the smooth carving and extended slides of snowboarding when all you have are city streets. But just like on the slopes, when the hills flatten out, so does a lot of the fun. That's what spurred snowboarder Aaron Aders into action in October 2013. He founded LEIF Technologies with the idea for an electric "snowboard for the streets" that could tackle downhill, flat ground and even uphill terrain with ease. While the technology is still in the prototype phase, the company has its eyes on the future and continues to fine-tune the device at its Brooklyn-based workshop.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently underway and the final product is scheduled for a spring 2015 release. We caught up with Aders earlier this week to check out the LEIF in person and take it for a spin.
Electric skateboards have been poppingup over the years, and after pushing hard on my human-powered deck over rough terrain for 30 minutes to get to the meeting, I can see their allure. Of course, not having skated for about six years will set alight all kinds of soreness, but that's part of the fun. Unlike most electric boards, the LEIF isn't just about making it easier to go from point A to point B. Its freeboard design is all about cruising, carving and enjoying drifts far longer than you can maintain on a normal skateboard. For the uninitiated, a freeboard is essentially a skateboard with a "Rollerblade" type skate wheel mounted on a spinning caster along the inside of each truck. These inner wheels are raised slightly beyond the height of the outer four, allowing you to "float" at sideways angles, similar to carving through the snow on a snowboard. The outer wheels act as edges, providing traction to slow down or grip the road when turning. After a full day of testing one of the first prototypes, Aders found that the LEIF wasn't that far off from its wintry counterpart. Not having ridden a snowboard for a while, he said that the LEIF elicited aches and soreness in all the same places that he'd experienced after a day on the slopes.
The real magic of the LEIF design lies in its tandem 360-degree, rotatable, power caster wheels driven by 18 nano-phosphate lithium-ion batteries (LiFePO4) -- nine for each motor. The battery pack is housed in a 3D-printed shell on top of the deck and sends juice to the two 2,000W brushless motors underneath, providing about 5.5HP and propelling the board at speeds of up to 20MPH. The current design for the casters delivers electricity to three concentric rings of copper through three conductive pads that press against them like needles in a record groove, allowing for its full 360-degree range of spin. The final design aims to use bearings for the rotation, as well as conducting the electrical current to the motors.
For more info see the Engadget article:
http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/21/leif-technologies-electric-freeboard-with-snowboard-style/
View the video:
http://youtu.be/d42G01gZNwI
Or visit the Leif Technologies homepage:
http://www.leiftech.com
No comments:
Post a Comment