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If, during your next walk or trip to the store, a bearded man flies over you with a whistle, do not be surprised. This is not Batman or even Iron Man, but Richard Browning, a British maker and inventor of a 3D printed jet-powered suit.
Richard does not work alone on the stylish suit of a man-interceptor, but in the company of the same slightly crazy inventors who have united in a startup called Gravity Industries. Richard, of course, acts as the CEO, chief engineer and crash test dummy. And yes, the inspiration of the project was the work of Tony Stark, and fans have already nicknamed Richard "the real Iron Man."
We were in a bit of a hurry about the 3D printed suit, but not much. The fact is that the current prototype, called "Daedalus Mk I", is made without the use of additive technologies, but the team is already actively working on improved versions using a range of 3D-printed components, including wings and new combustion chambers. There are eight costume options in development.
Successfully fighting gravity - the invention of another gloomy British genius named Isaac - Richard is helped by four engines, put on his hands, plus a backpack equipped with an additional pair of turbines with a reserve of kerosene. The assembly on each hand weighs a hefty forty kilos, and the exhaust temperature reaches 700 ° C. Fortunately, jet streams dissipate quickly, so no fires have yet been observed in limbs or other sensitive parts of the body. Daedalus' son was less fortunate, but that's another story.
“We are currently working with the manufacturer on a whole bunch of modifications to make the engines more suitable for our purposes. Obviously, the original design was not intended for something like this. We have already designed beautiful, bionic enclosures and they are being printed right now, ”says Richard.
According to Browning, it is not that difficult to control the suit - the direction of flight and the height are quite intuitively set by the wrist motors. A safety helmet with augmented reality goggles manufactured by Daqri is worn on the tester's head, allowing the pilot to track flight parameters, including speed and altitude, as well as engine operation. During recent flight tests, Richard managed to reach a speed of about 80 km / h. The main thing is to make sure that no aspen gets in the way.
