What Do Hoverboards Need to Function?

Airboards

• About the closest technology that exists to hoverboards today is known as the airboard, which operates over land as opposed to water. Unlike the name implies, the airboard doesn't look much like a board. The technology virtually matches that of a larger hovercraft; however, it uses only a single engine to blow air downward. For guidance and control, it contains handlebars allowing the rider to shift weight to create turn. Airboards are generally several feet wide and are shaped like flattened spheres.

Levitation

• Fundamentally, for a hoverboard to work properly, it will need to do one thing -- hover. In fiction, the hoverboard seems to counter gravity, allowing the user to remain very controlled and balancing much like a skateboard. In reality, the only systems that levitate are maglev trains, hovercrafts and their smaller versions, such as airboards. Hovercrafts serve as amphibious vehicles, blowing air below a light craft, requiring a special "skirt" to create a pocket of air. Maglev trains float based on an electromagnetic current supplied from the tracks.

Control

• Control is the other important system; the preconceived idea of a hoverboard is a board free from external connections. Today's maglev trains can only work within a designated track, constantly supplied with electricity, allowing it to function. One idea is to create hoverboards over a similar electromagnetic track; however, this eliminates much of the control for the user. Hovercrafts and airboards only work over smooth surfaces, but allow lots of freedom of control. Unlike hoverboards, both of these technologies require a containment area for the cushion of air created.

Propelling System

• Hoverboards also need a general propelling system to function. Maglevs propel based on the clever use of magnets to push and pull the hovering train (which has no engine). Hovercrafts usually have two engines, one that blows air underneath the craft, while the other exists on the rear of the craft, acting much like a propeller. Airboards act the same way, but use one engine. Hoverboards in fiction act like a skateboard, where the user propels the board himself, although realistic versions might have to adopt techniques from existing technologies.