Gravity test the Ainstein US-D1 on their Jet Suits

The Gravity Jet Suit is a lightweight human flight ‘suit’ consisting of micro gas-turbine arm propulsion on each arm together with a backpack that houses further turbine thrust together with the fuel system and control hub. Pilot engine data, fuel information and system alerts are delivered via a pilot display pendent on the chest. Together the Suit gas turbine engines are harnessed to generate sufficient thrust to lift the Suit, pilot and payload.

Stability and manoeuvrability are achieved by entirely intuitive body movements akin to those employed in skiing, surfing, skateboarding or even riding a bicycle. These perturb the stable matrix of thrust vectors to instigate precise manoeuvres, not relying on throttling up or down the Suit thrust.

For small aerial systems, such as most UAVs, Lidar sensors have historically been a popular choice for measuring altitude. However, although these types of sensors perform adequately over solid terrain with good visibility, they do not perform well over water or in poor visibility, such as through rain or fog. Although the Gravity Jet Suit does not rely on sensors such as altimeters for stability and control, accurate monitoring of altitude is useful, especially over water or in low visibility.

For this reason, Gravity decided to test Ainstein’s most popular radar altimeter, the US-D1, and compare results with a similarly priced lidar.