NUS showcases Snowstorm drone which transports humans

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has designed a futuristic personal flying machine called Snowstorm, which is built like a giant drone, and is able to transport humans. Currently, the prototype drone can only offer a five minute flight time in an indoor environment. The Snowstorm is elevated by a series of 24 propellers, mounted within a hexagonal frame, with a landing gear consisting of six inflated landing balls which provide shock absorption. Dr Joerg Weigl, supervisor of the NUS project, said "NUS’ Snowstorm shows that a personal flying machine is a very real possibility, primarily as a means to fulfill our dreams of flying within a recreational setting."

Next to the hoverboard, the ever-elusive "flying car" is the most sought-after futuristic technology that still has yet to become a staple of our 21st century lives.

But a team in Singapore hopes to push us a little closer to the dream of flying personal vehicles by introducing a prototype called Snowstorm.

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The vehicle, which looks and sounds like a giant drone, seats just one person and is lifted by a series of 24 propellers mounted within a hexagonal frame. The landing gear consists of six inflated "landing balls" that provide shock absorption.

Designed by a team at the National University of Singapore, the vehicle is, however, only designed for indoor flight at this point.

“A common trope in popular science fiction is the projection of humans flying on our own – think the Jetsons, or even Back to the Future," said Dr. Joerg Weigl, who supervised the project, in a statement(opens in a new tab) on the university's website. "NUS’ Snowstorm shows that a personal flying machine is a very real possibility, primarily as a means to fulfill our dreams of flying within a recreational setting."

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Singapore's FIRST Personal Flying Machine!(opens in a new tab)BEHOLD! THE SNOWSTORM - Singapore's FIRST indoor personal flying machine! Designed and built by a team of NUS students, Snowstorm is an electric-powered aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing that can be controlled by a pilot. This super cool project is part of FrogWorks, a collaboration between the NUS Faculty of Engineering's Design-Centric Programme and the NUS University Scholars Programme.Now your dreams of flight can become a reality… with your very own personal aircraft! Follow the SNOWSTORM project here, FW Air: Electric Aviation#NUSLife #NUSResearchPosted by National University of Singapore(opens in a new tab) on Wednesday, December 2, 2015

The electric-powered vehicle only offers about five minutes of flight time so, along with the indoor travel limitation, that makes the Snowstorm more of an interesting prototype rather than a real attempt at a usable vehicle.

There's also the matter of flying with a large array of rapidly spinning blades above your head with no protection -- a crash in this thing looks fairly dangerous. That might be why the video mostly focuses on flight with a test dummy, whereas the footage of flight with a real person only lasts about two seconds .

Nevertheless, the Snowstorm could inspire others to continue developing rotor blade-based personal vehicles into something we can eventually use in the real world.