Chinese company EHang has developed a vision-guided autonomousaerial vehicle,or passenger drone, called the EHang 184 that can transport passengers at up to 60 mph at altitudes up to 1,000 feet. By July, Dubai hopes to have these drones, or “hover-taxis,” in their airspace.
The Ehang 184 drone was unveiled at the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES 2016. The drone is about 13 ft. long by 13 ft. wide and stands less than 5 ft. tall. It is made of reinforced composite material with carbon fiber and epoxy, and is available in custom colors. Weighing almost 530 lbs, the Ehang 184 can carry one person weighing up to 220 lbs inside. It can be fully charged in two hours and fly for 23 minutes at sea level, and is designed to fly about 1,000 to 1,650 ft. off the ground, with a maximum altitude of 11,500 ft, according to the company. Additional features of the electric-powered drone include a downward facing camera, air conditioning, and four doubled propellers spinning parallel to the ground.
When passengers enter, they set a flight plan and from there, need to give only two commands, which are "take off," and "land," each controlled by a click on a Microsoft Surface tablet. The test comes as Dubai seems to ensure a quarter of its means of transport are self-driving by 2030, according to Phys.org.
"The autonomous aerial vehicle exhibited at the World Government Summit is not just a model," authority head Mattar al-Tayer said."We have already experimented (with) the vehicle in a flight in (the) Dubai sky."
Every effort is being made to ensure that the autonomous aerial vehicle is in operation in July, according to Tayer. The authority also noted that the drone has “highly-accurate sensors” and can resist extreme temperatures, which is relevant, since the area is known for its hot summers.
View more information on the Ehang 184.
View the Phys.org article.
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James Carroll
Former VSD Editor James Carroll joined the team 2013. Carroll covered machine vision and imaging from numerous angles, including application stories, industry news, market updates, and new products. In addition to writing and editing articles, Carroll managed the Innovators Awards program and webcasts.