The Slide (stylized SLIDE) is a

maglev Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantag ...

hoverboard A hoverboard (or hover board) is a levitating board used for personal transportation, first described in science-fiction, and made famous by the appearance of a skateboard-like hoverboard in the film '' Back to the Future Part II''. Many attempt ...

demonstration developed by

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

. Lexus built a skate park in

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

specifically for the project. The system was built as a promotional demonstration, not for public sale.

Conception

The overall project took about 57 weeks from start to finish. The SLIDE was teased in June and officially revealed August 5, 2015. Dietmar Berger, a magnetic levitation engineer, and Ludwig Schultz, a pioneer of superconducting

levitation Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact. Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...

, were the main experts responsible for the design of the system. Professional skateboarder Ross McGouran was the main rider for prototype testing and also promotional riding as well.

Technology

The main focus of the demonstration is the levitation of the hoverboard, achieved through the use of

superconductors Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...

inside the board and a magnetic track. The board itself is made of bamboo and carbon fibre support structures. The board has 32

yttrium barium copper oxide Yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) is a family of crystalline chemical compounds that display high-temperature superconductivity; it includes the first material ever discovered to become superconducting above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen ( ...

superconductors cooled by liquid nitrogen. Superconductors are conductors that have no internal resistance as long as they are kept below a certain temperature. When a metal has no internal resistance, a current running through the metal will run forever without a power source. When a superconductor is subjected to a magnetic field, the superconductor aligns itself with the magnetic field and floats on top of it. Superconductors only have zero internal resistance when cooled to a certain temperature. In order to achieve this the system uses

liquid nitrogen Liquid nitrogen—LN2—is nitrogen in a liquid state at low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, low viscosity liquid that is wi ...

to cool it down to . Even though liquid nitrogen cools down the superconductors, it also boils at the same temperature. This makes it difficult to have a constant supply of liquid nitrogen to continually cool down the superconductors; the system can only operate for an average time of about 20 minutes on maximum liquid nitrogen onboard capacity.

Track

The track built by Lexus for the SLIDE project is in

Cubelles Cubelles is a municipality in Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, Spain. It is situated in the comarca of Garraf. Culture A 2005 film by the Spanish director Paco Plaza, "'' Cuento de navidad''" (''The Christmas Tale''), part of the film s ...

.{{Cite web, url=https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2015/6/25/8846785/lexus-hoverboard-skatepark-its-real-not-a-drill, title = This is the skatepark Lexus built for its real hoverboard, date = 25 June 2015 The entire skate park has magnetic tracks concealed beneath a thin layer of wood. The magnetic track pulls the board along the path. All the uphill and downhill slopes of the track were specifically designed to ensure the magnetic field has enough momentum to pull the board.

References

External links

Lexus SLIDE Official Video

Lexus SLIDE Official Page
Maglev Skateboards