Autonomous two-seater 'passenger drone' completes first manned flight...
Autonomous
two-seater 'Passenger Drone' that could revolutionise the daily commute
completes its first manned flight
·
The vertical take off
and landing aircraft is equipped with 16 electric engines
·
Flight
testing began in May with the first manned flight back in August
·
Footage of the voyage
was released this week to mark the product's launch
·
Its top
speed is around 45 mph and has a maximum payload of 270lbs (120kg)
Incredible images and video footage have
captured the first manned flight of an autonomous drone that could revolutionise
the daily commute.
Passenger Drone took to the skies with a pilot aboard to
test out the aerial craft's capabilities.
The aptly named red vehicle can fly at a top speed of
around 45 mph with a flight range of up to 25 minutes.
PASSENGER
DRONE SPECIFICATIONS
Empty Weight (including batteries) : 520lbs (240kg)
Maximum Take Off Weight: 800lbs (360kg)
Maximum Thrust : 1230lbs (560kg)
Maximum Payload : 270lbs (120kg)
Maximum Speed: 45mph (60 to 70km/h)
Flight time: 20 to 25 minutes (without range extender)
Dimensions (L x W x H): 165″ x 90″ x 70″ (4.2 m x 2.3
m x 1.8 m)
Two Passenger Seats
16 Engines and Propellers
Flight testing of the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL)
craft began in early May and for the last few months it has undergone intensive
assessments.
Experts at the company, based in California, used
different simulated payload weights, engine failures and control modes, before
field testing began.
It was then put through its paces without a pilot onboard
and, following successful testing, in August 2017 the first manned flights took
place.
Footage of the first flight, which was around two to
three miles (roughly four km), was released this week as part of the product's
official launch.
In a written statement, a company spokesman said:
'On-demand aviation and manned drones has the potential to radically transform
how we get from place to place, and to restore precious lost family and
personal time to commuters worldwide.
'Overall, the lower cost and improved flexibility
provided by aerial drone technology may afford compelling solutions for
individuals, businesses or governments worldwide.
'Passenger Drone is excited and passionate about the
potential benefits, and positive impact VTOL urban air transportation can
offer.'
Equipped with 16 electric engines, the firms says
Passenger Drone is a low-noise, high-speed, and economical mean of
transportation with zero emissions.
Its engine system is less complex than most quad-copters,
which the firm says provides enhanced safety, performance, greater payload and
range.
It also claims it produces less noise than other models
already available on the marketplace.
The vehicle's structure is composed of lightweight and
strong carbon fibre composites, especially created for Passenger Drone.
The avionics, stability systems and electrical control
systems have been custom designed especially for the company.
Passenger Drone's internal communications are transmitted
through fibre optics.
With the exception of the main power cables, there are no
other wires in the entire aircraft.
From the connection between the control joystick, main
control CPU, engine controllers and the navigation screens, everything is
communicated by light.
This is designed to ensure the safety, reliability, and
security of the drone.
The 16 individual rotors are all powered separately to
enhance stability, cohesion, and redundancy.
Its creators believe that social and economic benefits of
such a vehicle are numerous.
In cities around the world, traffic congestion costs
commuters millions of hours every year and billions in lost productivity.
The average travel time to work in the United States is
25.4 minutes, representing almost an hour every day, and just under two weeks
annually.
In 2016, the total cost of congestion to all drivers in
the US was £226 billion ($300 billion) including environmental costs, according
to Passenger Drone.
That total is expected to rise by 50 per cent over the
next fifteen years.
In many global megacities, the situation is far
worse.
Over time, many firms believe that VTOLs could have the
potential to become the go-to form of daily transportation, surpassing that of
owning a car.
Air travel has historically been seen as an expensive
proposition, due in great part to the small volume of production in the
aerospace industry.
Mass production of vehicles like the Passenger Drone
could potentially revolutionise transport methods in the future.
THE
WORLD'S 'FIRST' FLYING CAR
Chinese drone maker Ehang revealed a giant
quadcopter big enough to fit a passenger at last year's CES, held in Las Vegas
in January 2016.
The all-electric autonomous vehicle has
four arms with a total of eight propellers at the end.
Since then, the 184 has gone on to be
tested for use as a flying taxi, notably in Dubai.
The fully ready-to-fly 184 is a manned
drone capable of automatically carrying a passenger through the air, simply by
entering a destination into its accompanying smartphone app.
It uses multiple independent flight control
systems to automatically navigate passengers from point A to point B.
These systems combine real-time data
collected from sensors throughout the flight and automatically plot the fastest
and safest route to carry passengers to their destinations.
The EHang 184 has built in reinforcements for all flight
systems, so that in the unlikely event that a component does fail, multiple
backups are already in place to seamlessly take over.
EHang's independently developed Fail-Safe
System ensures that if any components malfunction, or if there's damage while
the AAV is in-flight (i.e. from a bird), the aircraft will immediately begin
taking the necessary precautions to ensure safety.
The 184's Fail-Safe System automatically
evaluates the damage and determines whether the AAV will need to land to ensure
its passenger's safety.
The EHang 184 AAV flight control systems
have multiple sets of sensors that provide the drone a constant stream of
real-time data.
The 184's communication system was also
designed with a safety guarantee: every system is encrypted, and each AAV comes
with an independent key.
In the event of an emergency, passengers
can elect to halt flight and simply hover in the air with just one click.
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