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A vertical take-off and landing craft of elegant simplicity.Interest in vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft is growing, but few prototypes have realised the simplicity of designer Siva Shanker’s Polestar Atom.

source-image: Siva Shanker

Which takes inspiration from classic gyroscopes. It is a central passenger pod featuring two simple wrap-around seats.

source-image: Siva Shanker

Designer Siva Shanker’s Polestar Atom draws inspiration from the classic gyro with a central passenger compartment with two simple wraparound seats. The surrounding tricopter chassis pitches and rolls as the vehicle accelerates and moves, so it uses gimbals to keep it level at all times.

source-image: Siva Shanker

The surrounding tricopter chassis pitches and rolls as the vehicle accelerates and moves, so it uses gimbals to keep it level at all times.

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It’s gimballed to keep it constantly level, as the surrounding tri-rotor chassis pitches and rolls when the vehicle is accelerating and moving.

source-image: Siva Shanker

Flight will always be an energy intensive mode of transport. With battery technologies constantly developing, there is increasing potential for a small, elegant VTOL craft designed to make journeys far more efficient than in today’s fossil fuel-powered light aircraft. Atom shows how this might be.

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