[phantoms]

Forget Uber or Lyft, Call a Drone When in Dubai
Autonomous drones taking flight this summer.
by Michael Strong on Feb.15, 2017

Amazon has been talking about using delivery drones for sometime now; however, if you’re in Dubai later this year, the delivery drones could be dropping off more than packages â€" they could be delivering people.

In fact, the drones will be autonomous, marrying two of the latest trends in transportation. Dubai’s Roads & Transportation Agency has cleared the way for Chinese-made EHang 184s to dot the city’s skyline.

http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2017/02/forget-uber-or-lyft-call-a-drone-when-in-dubai/

Here's the EHang 184

 

[gunsmoker]

Um, no thanks.
I'm not trusting my life to a giant Chinese radio-controlled toy whose brain is a computer.

 

[moe mensale]

It does have an impressive top speed of about 100 mph, but will operate closer to 60 mph.

ummmmmmmmmmmmm.................... No thanks.

 

[Nemo]

ummmmmmmmmmmmm.................... No thanks.

Make that a NFW.

Nemo

 

[a_springfield]

I exceeded the max weight.

 

[gunsmoker]

Now, could the Chinese make a backpack-copter that you strap on your back like a parachute harness, with one rotor that comes straight up and a tail rotor that goes off to the side, that can lift its own weight plus about 150 lbs of the wearer's weight?

That would let women and skinny men fly around.

I would use THAT for fun, to "fly" at low altitudes around a field. Just a few meters in the air.

For guys weighing over 150, it could be used in conjunction with your legs to boost your performance at running and jumping.
Imagine being on the moon, but without the clumsy astronaut space suit.
You could run with a 15 foot stride, and leap over parked cars. Jump ditches with ease.

 

[Fallschirmjäger]

Pfft, the Krauts had the whole 'one-man helicopter' thing figured out way back in WW-Deuce

And the USA has been using them for cargo for years as well, (Kaman K-Max and others)

Increasing the number of propulsion systems and rotors adds redundancy... but it's Chinese quality that worries me after hearing of deadly dog food, poisoned toothpaste, toys painted with lead paint,

That said... would I want to get into or even get close to an Ehang 184? Nope, No way; not with 8 spinning blades right at knee level.

 

[45_Fan]

It would be more efficient with gripper arms and face recognition instead of a pod.

Maybe it could screech loudly right as it picks you up too!

 

[phaed]

but, who will build the roads?

 

[Wegahe]

but, who will build the roads?

I'll take care of that. A few hundred billion from the US treasury should be enough to build an air interstate system.

Now where did I put those air guitar strings?

 

[Wegahe]

Those saying no should think about if they would fly on a modern jetliner. Al flight controls are actually computer controlled. Auto pilots are computer controlled with the aid of an electronic GPS. Glide paths are computer controlled. Flight surfaces are computer controlled. The pilot uses a joy stick more or less to tell the computer what he wants to do and the computer makes the adjustments in flight surfaces. The F117, F25 and the F35 are all capable of autonomous flight so if the pilot is woonded or killed they can complete the mission and return to base all on their own.

I would rather have a US made and longer flight time though.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

I exceeded the max weight.

:lol: The Chinese must not have been thinking about the American market.

 

[Wegahe]

:lol: The Chinese must not have been thinking about the American market.

Why should they? They believe they will soon annex the US anyway.

 

[gunsmoker]

Lol

It would be more efficient with gripper arms and face recognition instead of a pod.

Maybe it could screech loudly right as it picks you up too!

That's great. You had me laughing out loud.

:rotfl:

 

[GoDores]

Their web site has lots of pretty CGI and what looks like a static model. We need an update when a flying model is able to operate out of ground effect with a 100kg weight onboard for anything close to the promised speeds and flight time. I would guess that will be a long time from now, or July, if ever.

 

[Clark]

I'd fly in one. I won't go to Dubai to do it (or for any other reason), but it looks fun.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Their web site has lots of pretty CGI and what looks like a static model. We need an update when a flying model is able to operate out of ground effect with a 100kg weight onboard for anything close to the promised speeds and flight time. I would guess that will be a long time from now, or July, if ever.

The head of Dubai's Roads and Transportation Authority, Matt Al Tayer, said that the municipal authorities have already tested the Ehang 184 in the skies, and found it to be safe and satisfactory.

http://www.popsci.com/passenger-drone-taxis-dubai#page-6

Last year the Ehang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV)-what we might call a big-ass drone-was a prototype. This year it's a real, flying vehicle, seasoned by 200-plus successful (non-crashing) test flights, and it just may start taking passengers for real in the near future.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3155...ehang-184-personal-drone-is-ready-to-fly.html (video does not have a person in the seat, though, and I did not see any like that).

 

[moe mensale]

Those saying no should think about if they would fly on a modern jetliner. Al flight controls are actually computer controlled. Auto pilots are computer controlled with the aid of an electronic GPS. Glide paths are computer controlled. Flight surfaces are computer controlled. The pilot uses a joy stick more or less to tell the computer what he wants to do and the computer makes the adjustments in flight surfaces. The F117, F25 and the F35 are all capable of autonomous flight so if the pilot is woonded or killed they can complete the mission and return to base all on their own.

I would rather have a US made and longer flight time though.

Pilots of Boeing jets can override the computerized controls. Airbus pilots not so much.

 

[GoDores]

http://www.popsci.com/passenger-drone-taxis-dubai#page-6

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3155...ehang-184-personal-drone-is-ready-to-fly.html (video does not have a person in the seat, though, and I did not see any like that).

I have no idea of the qualifications of Dubai's municipal authorities (although before today I've never even heard of municipal aviation authorities), but Popular Science and PC World are not known to have any particular aviation expertise.

The video in the second link at least appears to be actual footage instead of CGI, although five seconds of vertical flight with an empty cabin doesn't quite prove the assertion of moving 100kg 30 miles.

Call me skeptical, but I think there's a reason the model is being shown at places like CES (technology/computing trade show) and not, say, Oshkosh (aviation show). It may be easier for the manufacturer to explain their technology than their aeronautical engineering.