Gravity: The human propulsion flight suit

Early in 2016, Richard Browning had a vision. To build a viable anti-gravity jet-engine suit and build a company that could re-imagine human flight.

Throughout 2016 he designed, built, redesigned and rebuilt his prototype flight suit – Daedalus – testing, developing and reiterating for a year before filing patents for the technology and launching Gravity (gravity.co) the world's first human propulsion company.

His strength, perseverance and ambition to change the world are enthralling and RS is excited to be part of Richard and Gravity's incredible journey, providing tools, components and expertise to support the development of human propulsion technology.

Portrait of an Inventor

About Gravity Industries

Founded by Richard Browning in March 2017, following the completion of the Daedalus suit and the world's first human propulsion flights. Gravity Industries is a British technology start-up with innovation, endeavour and inspiration at its core.

Our mission is to build an inspirational technology company by re-imagining the future of human flight and pioneering aeronautical innovation. The vision is to build an entirely new generation of human flight systems for commercial, military and entertainment applications.

Technology showcase

As it develops, the suit is bringing together all kinds of exciting technologies and showcasing them in new and innovative ways.

HUD system: the Sony SmartEyeglass Developer Edition (912-1099) provides fuel and engine status on a heads-up display (HUD) system.

Wi-Fi data linkage: live streaming from the Daedalus suit to ground monitoring and the HUD system.

Advanced ECU turbines: automated with the best-in-class power-to-weight ratio.

Fuel air detection: utilising medical bubble detectors to provide a fail-safe fuel alert.

Graphene composites: using super-advanced materials to reduce the weight of the suit.

Airbag system: working on the auto inflation and impact protection system.

Interview with Richard Browning

We caught up with Richard (safely on the ground!) at his home in Salisbury to discover more about his inspirational journey and where Gravity Industries is going next. We had a lot to talk about, so the interview is broken down into individual questions, below.

1. When did the idea to build an HPT system first come to you?
2. Can you tell us a bit about your engineering background?
3. Did you ever doubt that the Daedalus system would work?
4. Can you tell me about the HUD system you’ve developed using the Sony SmartEyeglass?
5. How fit do you need to be to ‘pilot’ Daedalus?
6. Are we heading for a new mode of personal transport?

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