---
title: Hoverboard Calculator
emoji: "⚡"
colorFrom: blue
colorTo: indigo
sdk: gradio
sdk_version: "5.34.2"
app_file: app.py
pinned: false
license: mit
tags:
  - build-small-hackathon
  - track:backyard
  - achievement:offbrand
  - achievement:fieldnotes
  - achievement:sharing
  - gradio
---

# Hoverboard Calculator

**Because Michael J. Fox Lied To Me (But It's Cool)**

Design your own acoustic frictionless surface. Not levitation — friction cancellation.
The distinction matters: it requires orders of magnitude less force.

## How It Works

Tile a surface with equilateral triangles. Place a 40kHz ultrasonic transducer at each vertex.
Three speakers converge on each triangle's centroid = one acoustic pressure node.
Stack enough nodes and a skateboard glides like it's on ice.

The default 6'x6' design: ~2,300 triangles, ~1,200 transducers, ~2,300 pressure nodes. $1,510 in parts.

## What You Get

- Full triangular grid calculation
- Bill of materials with real component costs
- Weight capacity analysis (what can ride on it)
- AI assessment of your design
- The knowledge that hoverboards are $1,510 away from existing

## The Physics

- Operating frequency: 40kHz (ultrasonic — inaudible)
- Wavelength: ~8.5mm
- Coherent addition: N triads = N² force (quadratic scaling)
- Published research confirms ~3g force per 40kHz node
- Friction cancellation needs far less force than levitation

## If This Ever Makes Money

First check goes to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. He lied to us about 2015 but he's fighting the real fight.

## References

- Marzo et al. "Three-dimensional mid-air acoustic manipulation" (2014)
- Hirayama et al. "A volumetric display for visual, tactile and audio presentation" Nature (2019)
- Open Source Ultrasonic Phased Array — Hackaday.io

---

*"It's not a hoverboard. It's an acoustic air hockey table. And the grid is triangles, not holes."*

---

Part of [The Treehouse](https://huggingface.co/spaces/Wayfinder6/treehouse) — Build Small Hackathon 2026.

Free dev tools at [Hometree](https://heuremenforprofit.online): code analysis, AI agent monitoring, token-saving agreement scoring.

**Heuremen LLC** — Builder: Wayfinder6


## Demo

- [Demo Video](https://youtu.be/xsYHw3lulVQ)