‘Snowboard’ Through The City Streets With LEIF’s Electric Freeboard
Add two inline skate wheels with 360-degree rotatable casters to the bottom of a skateboard and you have a fast and Furious-fashion drifting gadget referred to as a freeboard. Developed within the ’90s, these boards are an off-season way to get pleasure from the graceful carving and prolonged slides of snowboarding when all you will have are city streets. But similar to on the slopes, when the hills flatten out, so does quite a lot of the enjoyable. That’s what spurred snowboarder Aaron Aders into motion in October 2013. He based LEIF Technologies with the thought for an electric “snowboard for the streets” that would sort out 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 positive-tune the machine at its Brooklyn-primarily based workshop. A Kickstarter marketing campaign is currently underway. The ultimate product is scheduled for a spring 2015 release. We caught up with Aders earlier this week to check out the LEIF in particular person and take it for a spin.
Gallery: LEIF Technologies electric freeboard | eleven Photos
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Electric skateboards have been popping up over the years, and after pushing laborious on my human-powered deck over tough terrain for half-hour to get to the meeting, I can see their allure. After all, not having skated for about six years will set alight all kinds of soreness, however that’s a part of the fun. If you beloved this article and you would like to receive more info concerning lithium iron phosphate battery pack (godotengine.org) please visit our own website. Unlike most electric boards, the LEIF is not nearly making it simpler to go from point A to point B. Its freeboard design is all about cruising, carving and having fun with drifts far longer than you can maintain on a traditional skateboard. For the uninitiated, a freeboard is actually a skateboard with a “Rollerblade” type skate wheel mounted on a spinning caster along the inside of every truck. These internal wheels are raised slightly past the peak of the outer 4, permitting you to “float” at sideways angles, much like carving by the snow on a snowboard. The outer wheels act as edges, providing traction to decelerate or grip the street when turning. After a full day of testing one of the primary prototypes, Aders discovered that the LEIF wasn’t that far off from its wintry counterpart. Not having ridden a snowboard for a while, he stated that the LEIF elicited aches and soreness in all the identical locations that he’d experienced after a day on the slopes.
The real magic of the LEIF design lies in its tandem 360-diploma, Lipo battery pack rotatable, energy 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 prime of the deck and sends juice to the 2 2,000W brushless motors beneath, offering about 5.5HP and propelling the board at speeds of as much as 20MPH. The current design for the casters delivers electricity to three concentric rings of copper via three conductive pads that press in opposition to them like needles in a document groove, permitting for its full 360-diploma vary of spin. The final design aims to make use of bearings for the rotation, in addition to conducting the electrical present to the motors.
Speed is controlled through a single hand-held 2.4GHz radio remote, which Aders discovered to be extra reliable and resilient in the sphere than IR and had less competing noise than Bluetooth (at the least in the city). After leaping on the board for a take a look at trip, it only took a minute or two to figure out the right amount of stress for the throttle and holding the control was less of a bother than you would possibly suppose. To decelerate, you simply let off the throttle and use the wheels as traction to scale back pace or spin to a cease.
The setup is presently a Freebord brand deck, trucks and wheels, and falls someplace between an everyday skateboard and a longboard in length. And with all of the motors and batteries on board, it weighs in at a respectable 15 pounds, though it is hardly noticeable while riding since it is motorized. Snowboarders and skateboarders ought to don’t have any bother getting comfy on it, though skaters might have a second to get used to the thought of foot clips. In case you lose your balance and need to bail, though, it is simple enough to jump out of them with out getting hung up.
As for lithium iron phosphate battery pack battery life, the LEIF’s rechargeable battery system lasts for about eight miles of riding — depending on the terrain. The rechargeable battery pack pack can be replenished by a normal wall outlet — although LEIF is considering solar as a potential different — and takes solely about one hour to get the battery up to 100 %. That’s more than enough juice for an area commute or a decent day’s session out on the streets.
You may get in on a Kickstarter Early Bird deal beginning at $1,299 for one among the primary manufacturing run LEIF boards — at the least till the marketing campaign ends on August 31st. That worth puts it on par with different electric boards when you consider the characteristic set, vary and energy. So, whether you’re a snowboarder, skater, surfer or a Segway person who’s searching for a bit more type, the LEIF should in all probability be on your radar.
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
