Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018: jet packs and robotic barmen to delight Future Lab attendees

A jet pack capable of 200mph and an altitude of 10,000ft might sound like something a toddler imagineered in a crayons-and-Haribo fugue, but this unlikely sounding invention will join the myriad classic racers and supercars on Goodwood’s iconic hillclimb at the Festival of Speed in July.

That’s right – an actual jet pack. It’s appearing as part of the Future Lab project, which this year sees a slight departure from the automotive focus of 2017 and instead explores much wider reaches of technology and movement. As such, the kerosene-powered JB11 will make its European dynamic debut in front of the Festival’s guests next month.

It has six turbojet engines, only four of which are needed to maintain flight – the other two are in case of emergency. The pack is attached to the pilot using a five-point safety harness, and the speed, altitude and direction are manipulated using the two control arms and the throttle on the right handle. Two computer screens display the fuel level, RPM, exhaust temperature and battery so there shouldn’t be any sudden crash landings – although such an eventuality has been taken into careful consideration.

The jet pack has auto-stabilisation technology built in to prevent major wobbles, and also has the ability to re-balance thrust in case one of the six engines unexpectedly drops out, preventing the pilot from entering a disorienting downward spiral. Its parachute system can operate without manual input, instead picking up on information sent from the engines. Indeed, its inventors claim that the mechanism will save a pilot from catastrophic failure even if the malfunction occurs below 10m from the ground.

Could the JB11 jet pack topple the 41.6-second hillclimb record set by Nick Heidfeld in the McLaren MP4/13 almost 20 years ago? We’ll believe it when we see it, and no doubt this futuristic tech will raise smiles and eyebrows in almost equal measures.

Back on the ground, another Future Lab highlight will be serving up something to steady your nerves after watching such feats of courage. Makr Shakr is a robot bartender that claims to be able to mix a limitless range of cocktails (10 to the power of 100) at an impressive rate of 120 drinks an hour – certainly one way to cut down on the Friday night wait at a sticky, crowded bar.

It precisely mimics even the most delicate bartender movements such as spiralling citrus, muddling a mojito and pouring with millilitre precision. It is quick, efficient and won’t get fussy if you don’t have the right change. But how will it handle the age-old British institution of the queue?

Less of a spectacle but thrice as practical is what3words. This project has divided the surface of the planet into 3m by 3m squares, each of which has a unique three-word ‘address’. For example, the front door of Goodwood house is at cuddled.thinnest.arranger, and the Telegraph’s motoring desk is at worm.gravel.prices or thereabouts. These ultra-accurate locations could become hugely important in parts of the world where street addresses are unreliable or non-existent – though Festival of Speed attendees will use it primarily to navigate the car parks.