'Iron Man' takes flight at TED 2017

British inventor Richard Browning built a suit inspired by Iron-Man and flew it at the TED conference 2017

A British inventor built a suit inspired by Iron-Man and flew it at the Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference 2017 outside the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Richard Browning was inspired by his late father, an aeronautical engineer and inventor, and has always been passionate about creating things. "I did this entirely for the same reason that you might look at a mountain and decide to climb it - for the journey and the challenge," he said.

A Royal Marine Reserve, Browning used six miniature engines along with a custom designed exoskeleton to create the flying machine which is paired with a helmet with a heads-up display to inform him about fuel-use. The suit named Daedalus - after the father of Icarus - takes flight vertically.

Browning uses his arms to control the speed and direction of flight and the machine is easily able to fly at 200mph (321km/h) at an altitude of a few thousand feet. However, for safety he keeps the speed and altitude low.

Currently the suit can fly for 10 minutes and he insists that it is "safer than a motorbike". Browning originally uploaded a video on YouTube of his maiden flighty which went viral and gained the interest of investors and the UK military. However, he insists that the project is "a bit of fun" and it is highly doubtful for it to become a mainstream method of transportation.

Browning has founded a start-up, Gravity, which is working on further advanced technology which will make current prototype look "like child's play". The Civil Aviation Authority [CAA] has not made any decisions on the regulation levels required for jetpacks while the European Safety Agency, responsible for approving aircraft design and concepts, is yet to form any opinion on human propulsion technology.

A CAA spokesperson said: Going forward, it may be necessary to create a new category of regulation for this technology as it clearly does not fit in neatly with aircraft regulation."

This article originally appeared on BBC News.