Iron Man exoskeleton suit is not an impossibility, but to defy gravity and zip across the sky like the fictional superhero, we all know is pure sci-fi fantasy. Based on the technology known to mankind today, there’s no way that a suit like such can harness enough thrust to propel a full-grown man with hundreds of pounds armor a few feet above ground, much less into the sky. Lets not get us started with the stress crushing on the arms and legs by the hand and foot thrusters. Despite the obvious, it doesn’t stop backyard engineer and YouTuber The Hacksmith from exploring the possibility – at least for the liftoff part, that is. As part of his quest for an Iron Man-like suit, he is cracking his brain over how to make himself liftoff like Tony Stark did in the movie.
As you will witness in the video below, he had put together two rockets fed by solid rocket fuel – one on each hand – to provide him with a total of 50 pounds of thrust. The amount of the thrust did lift him several inches of the ground, albeit very briefly. While encouraging, there are some concerns, which includes the individual rockets not igniting simultaneously, ridiculously short lift time, and the obvious danger of setting his legs on fire in the process. Anyways, it was an interesting attempt and perhaps a necessary route when on the road to discover more efficient method of lift.
In the video, Hacksmith noted that due to certain laws, he will not be able to deploy more rockets to increase the thrust. Well, I guess it’s a good thing, cos’ he might just set himself on fire anyways. So, good for him. In view of this, Hacksmith has collaborated with Hobby King to explore the possibility of using electric ducted fans for thruster duty. With motor kicking out 8 kg (18 pounds) of thrust, those ducted fans are essentially electric-powered jet turbines that should offer the same effect as the rocket system but with a longer flight time and a whole lot less dangerous.
We will have to keep our eyes peeled as Hacksmith works on the new lift system. In the meantime, enjoy the video and witness the first ever Iron Man lift off in the making.
Images: screengrab from Hacksmith’s YouTube video.
