Hailing the future taxi: Drone-car mashup model takes flight
82 views · Published 2 December 2018 · 5:18 · Indexed 2 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(27 Nov 2018) LEADIN: A scale model of a flying drone-car mashup is providing a tantalising glimpse of future of urban mobility. The "Pop.Up Next" prototype drone is being developed by aviation giant Airbus, car maker Audi and Ital Design. STORYLINE: It's the latest in drone technology, although it won't be flying across your street just yet. This craft is made up of three separate modules, a chassis with wheels, a two-seat capsule for passengers and a four-rotor drone. Joerg Peter Mueller, Urban Ari Mobility Airbus says "So at the very beginning the systemswill probably be one vehicle that just does flying from A to B. So it will probably not be modular at the very beginning and then as the technology matures as we know more about what the customer expects, what he values, how he wants to get transported, we will see what kind of modularity we can apply to the system and ultimately perhaps come to something like this." There are several steps to be taken before the Pop.Up Next, or a future model of the drone is ready for commercial use. Airbus executive Jean Brice Dumont says: " Here we're all guessing, but I think it will take more than a decade until a real significant, massive deployment of an air taxi system." To illustrate what might be possible one day, a one-quarter size scale model of the taxi system made its maiden public flight at the Amsterdam Drone Week convention. Arriving in darkness the drone flew across the hall and landed on a black parking spot. A small car drove itself underneath the drone and its passenger capsule was lifted up to latch onto the underside of the drone. Once the two were docked, the drone lifted off again and flew back to its starting point, where the capsule was lowered onto another set of wheels to continue its journey. Uber has already unveiled an artist's impression a year ago of a sleek machine it hopes to start using for demonstration flights in 2020 and to have in service in 2023. Uber's battery-powered aircraft looks like a cross between a small plane and a helicopter, with fixed wings and rotors. Meanwhile, a Dutch company has developed its own flying vehicle called the PAL-V Liberty that is a three-wheeled, two-seat car and gyroplane rolled into one. At the Amsterdam convention, European regulators are discussing too how to keep the continent's airspace safe, as more and more drones take to the skies. "Are we ready to accept that in our cities we will have dozens of hundreds of drones overflying us? or do we want to have a scheme in which you go to a place where you can get your parcel instead of having it delivered to your door. So I think it's it has a lot to do on what would the society need. What would be acceptable in terms of safety in terms of noise, because I don't know if you ever saw one of those small drones, but they are very noisy even though they are electrical and they are very noisy."says Patrick Ky the executive director of the European Aviation Safety Agency. European Union rules are expected to come into force next year harmonizing drone regulations across the 28-nation bloc. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/8732522c38795634bdcc0f5086ba0be1
