# Hendo Hoverboard **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053 "2014-10-30T20:45:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/1 "2014-10-30T20:45:29Z")
[Here.](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/142464853/hendo-hoverboards-worlds-first-real-hoverboard?ref=popular) For those of you who don’t/won’t click the link, the creators have somehow managed to make a maglev hoverboard that works on non-ferromagnetic surfaces. I want to do some more research as I don’t see how this works. I so want to believe that this is the real deal. I wonder if they can get Micheal J Fox to be a spokesperson?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/2 "2014-10-30T20:53:01Z")
It still needs a conductive surface so you won’t be riding it down the sidewalk anytime in the foreseeable future. > [@](#): > > While our hoverboard is primarily intended to be self-propelled, the actions which stabilize it can also be used to drive it forward by altering the projected force on the surface below. > > Currently, this surface needs to be a non-ferromagnetic conductor. Right now we use commonly available metals in simple sheets, but we are working on new compounds and new configurations to maximize our technology and minimize costs. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/3 "2014-10-30T20:58:28Z")
Sounds like nonsense, no real claims made on that web site. [A video from a debunker](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEBPQO4Vz1I) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/4 "2014-10-30T21:14:11Z")
That “debunker” is a retard. He states, “Lol, that ain’t no hoverboard. It’s just magnets, tards” Uh, yeah dipshit, they tell you in the video and on the website they get the board to levitate using,…wait for it,…wait for it,…wait for it,…magnets. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/5 "2014-10-30T21:29:41Z")
A little [more](http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/142732/how-does-hendo-hoverboards-achieve-the-self-propelling-motion-what-is-the-mfa) on the theory. You are right **zoid** ; I do think that this has a lot of potential in other applications. i wish i had the funds to play with one of those whiteboxes on the KS page, it looks like fun. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/6 "2014-10-30T21:32:18Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > That “debunker” is a retard. He states, “Lol, that ain’t no hoverboard. It’s just magnets, tards” Uh, yeah dipshit, they tell you in the video and on the website they get the board to levitate using,…wait for it,…wait for it,…wait for it,…magnets. There’s no indication they’ve found a way to levitate without a magnetic surface underneath. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/7 "2014-10-31T14:24:05Z")
Not true. [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=txmKr69jGBk) is a different demonstration using an aluminum plate. the principle is the same as the hoverboard. The trick is that the other surface has to be sufficiently conductive and non-ferromagnetic, otherwise the board will simply stick to the surface. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/8 "2014-10-31T15:21:20Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Not true. [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=txmKr69jGBk) is a different demonstration using an aluminum plate. the principle is the same as the hoverboard. The trick is that the other surface has to be sufficiently conductive and non-ferromagnetic, otherwise the board will simply stick to the surface. > [@](#): > > At the Palais de la Decouverte in Paris, they showed me this experiment where a 1kg aluminium plate is levitated above a large coil of wire that is being supplied with 800A of alternating current at 900Hz. This is by far the best demonstration of electromagnetic induction I have ever seen. That’s got magnetic fields above and below, it’s not going to make a stand-alone hoverboard. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/9 "2014-10-31T21:17:15Z")
Not yet. If the technology allows us to make near room temp superconductors then it should be possible to go over water with this thing or a later iteration, which is closer to BTTF, and nonetheless this thing is pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/10 "2014-10-31T21:18:30Z")
I gotta say the more I read this thread the more this thing sounds like BS. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/11 "2014-10-31T21:40:44Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > That’s got magnetic fields above and below, it’s not going to make a stand-alone hoverboard. No, it only has a coil below the plate. Just the reverse of the Hendo configuration. There’s nothing even remotely surprising that this should be possible. It’s a form of [electrodynamic suspension](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrodynamic_suspension). A moving or time-varying magnet can induce an eddy current in a conductor, and those eddy currents produce their own field. You can see a passive version of the same effect [in this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFBEViVSZyE). Because it’s passive, the system cannot stop the magnet completely, but you can see that the effect is still quite powerful. With an active system like the Hendo there’s no reason why it couldn’t levitate itself indefinitely. The Hendo Kickstarter does seem a _little_ scammy to me, but as best I can tell they haven’t said anything incorrect. It’s more just the implication that this is some world-changing thing when really it’s a pretty well-known effect of somewhat limited utility. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/12 "2014-10-31T21:55:42Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > No, it only has a coil below the plate. Just the reverse of the Hendo configuration. > > A moving or time-varying magnet can **induce an eddy current in a conductor, and those eddy currents produce their own field.** (bolding mine) So there is a magnetic field above and below, right? A hoverboard with an active base to float on is entirely feasible now using just permanent magnets in the board and electromagnets in the base, but not really what a hoverboard is supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/13 "2014-10-31T22:15:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > So there is a magnetic field above and below, right? You made it sound like there are separate magnetic coils above and below the board, which is not the case. If that’s not what you meant, I apologize for misreading you. That said–yes, there are two magnetic fields: one, in the part containing either the permanent magnet or electromagnets; and the other in the conductive plate, which is an induced field. These fields repel each other and produce the levitation. This _has_ to be the case, of course–a magnetic field can only push on another magnetic field. That’s just how they work and nothing on the Hendo site implies otherwise as best I can tell. I would say there’s a large difference in practicality between a levitation device that requires actively driven electromagnets in the base vs. one that can operate on passive sheets of aluminum or copper. Still not enough to make the board “worth it”, IMHO, but possibly good enough for a few practical uses. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendo-hoverboard/703053/14 "2014-10-31T23:15:23Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > You made it sound like there are separate magnetic coils above and below the board, which is not the case. If that’s not what you meant, I apologize for misreading you. Don’t worry about it, we’re just getting on the same page.