DARPA and the Human Cannon Ball

How many times have you walked up to a building and thought, “I wish I could just catapult myself onto the roof?”

Apparently, someone at DARPA did and designed and patented a “controllable launcher”.

The patent abstract reads:

“A controllable launcher for propelling a payload through a predictable and repeatable trajectory to a desired height. The launcher has an energy source for propelling a carriage and a piston in substantially opposing directions and a controller for controlling the trajectory of the propelled payload to enable the payload to land gently at a safe impact distance from the edge of a destination structure.”

I bet medieval kings would have given their right hand for one of these.

• NewScientist.com
• US Patent Office Listing
• Morning Orbit