Dubai Drone Taxis and Flying Cars in Dubai.
Dubai has once again raced itself to the front line of top development stories and have now succeeded in it’s position of being the smartest city in the world. Ambitions to have self-driving Dubai flying cars has never been a dream too big for Dubai. Drone taxi price has not been confirmed yet but these so called flying cars are expected to account for a quarter of journeys made by 2030.
The flying drone taxi Dubai developed by German drone firm Volocopter resembles a small, two-seater helicopter cabin topped by a wide hoop studded with 18 propellers. The vehicle is said to carry one passenger weighing up to 100kg (220lbs). The passenger can select a destination on a touch screen display but there are no other controls inside the craft.
Chief executive Florian Reuter explained “Implementation would see you using your smartphone, having an app, and ordering a Volocopter to the next Voloport near you” then the Volocopter would come and autonomously pick you up and take you to your destination. Being a new innovation and to increase safety, security and confidence, each vehicle is equipped with plenty of fail-safes in case of trouble: back-up batteries, rotors and, for a worst case scenario, a couple of parachutes.
Dubai conducted the first test of the drone taxi service back in September 2017 where it took off for a five-minute flight above a strip of sand on the Gulf coast, in the presence of Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed. Since then it’s been up and about quite a few times as you can see in the following video clips.
Volocopter was in a race with more than a dozen well-funded European and U.S. firms, each with its own science fiction-inspired vision for creating a new form of urban transport that is a cross between a driverless electric car and a short-haul, vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft.
These include aerospace giant Airbus, which aims to put a self-piloting taxi in the air by 2020; Kitty Hawk, a company backed by Google co-founder Larry Page; and Uber, which is working with partners on its own flying taxi strategy, and we can’t forget to mention US-based flying taxi firm Vimana Global have also conducted a prototype trial of its autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV), prior to its launch in Dubai by 2020.
Virmana’s flying taxis have a cruising speed of 244mph, and can hold a payload of up to 400kg. You’ll be arriving at your destination in a matter of minutes at those speeds. The pilot free taxi, will be a logistics drone as well as being an urban flying taxi for people to use and is in a mutual collaboration including a feasibility study with the local authorities in Dubai to undertake and deploy blockchain aerospace platform prior to its launch in 2020.
Here is a clip which explains the ins and outs of the Vermana but to find out more you can visit their website at: vimana.global/media-center.
so what do you think? Let us know which one is your favourite and why?
Dubai has big plans for becoming a smart city, with drones and robots central to its future progress and it’s just a matter of time before the Volocopter becomes a viable transportation system in the city. UAE and in particular Dubai, is now very famously known for their high-tech, forward-looking society. We have also heard of their plans to send an unmanned probe to Mars by 2021, the Arab world’s first mission to space. Dubai has in many ways led their impressive march into the future by introducing the region’s first driverless metro and robot policemen prototypes.
Sheikh Hamdan also said in a statement,
“Encouraging innovation and adopting the latest technologies contributes not only to the country’s development but also builds bridges into the future”
So what do you think? Would you try Dubai Drone Taxis or would you feel nervous? What would be your reaction? 🙂 And how much would you be willing to pay for this luxury ride?
Leave us your comments below and let us know your thoughts!
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