{"id":801,"date":"2019-11-12T09:28:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T09:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/?p=801"},"modified":"2021-12-08T16:08:42","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T16:08:42","slug":"can-drones-carry-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/can-drones-carry-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Passenger Drones: Are There Drones That Can Carry People?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Can Drones Carry\nHumans?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, they can! Drones that can do this are called <em>passenger drones<\/em> or <em>drone taxis<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The very first drone taxi was unveiled in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show 2016 by the Chinese drone manufacturers, Ehang, and was called the Ehang 184.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"EHANG 184 - The World&#039;s First Passenger Taxi Drone\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i3i4BBJjzw4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this was just a prototype. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two years later in 2018, Ehang demonstrated that we were\ncloser than ever before to a world with a sky lined with autonomous drone\ntaxis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They released video footage of passengers boarding their\nautonomous drone and taking off with the push of a button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What made this footage special was not the fact that it\ncould carry passengers from point A to point B. A lot of other companies in\nEurope and America, including some big name players had been able to achieve\nthat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What made the Ehang footage special was that it showed how\nfar ahead of the competition the Chinese drone maker was in the push for\ncreating a new form of transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The video shows the human carrying drone coping with all\nsorts of possible challenges. There were test flights showing the Ehang 184 flying\nat a height 1000 feet above the ground, flying in storm-force winds, flying in\nlow visibility, and also flying at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the drone manufacturer, they possess the only\npassenger drone capable of reaching speeds that exceed 80 miles per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Companies Are\nWorking on Passenger Drones?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Large, global cities like Los Angeles and Dubai are\nstraining under the weight of traffic congestion problems, and are ready to\nwelcome passenger drones as a viable solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few companies around the world who have identified this\nopportunity are racing to effectively satisfy this need and rake in cash in the\nprocess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the companies willing to scale the engineering,\nmechanical, safety, and regulatory hurdles standing in the way of passenger\ndrones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ehang <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a aria-label=\"Ehang (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ehang.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ehang<\/a> is a major drone manufacturer in China that currently lies in the lead as far as passenger drones are concerned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their passenger drone, Ehang 184, is a one-person passenger\ndrone that has been stressed tested and shown to be capable of carrying up to\n500 pounds of cargo. It can reach speeds that exceed 80 miles per hour and can\nfly for up to 23 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the major keys to this autonomous aerial vehicle is\nits highly sophisticated flight system. The Ehang 184\u2019s flight computer system\nis able to pull data from onboard sensors and also use satellite navigation to\nchart the safest path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the system is damaged, the drone taxi is designed to make\na controlled descent to safe ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ehang 184 which runs on 100% green technology being powered by electricity only, could start providing flights to the public in Dubai as soon as 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Volocopter<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a aria-label=\"Volocopter (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.volocopter.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Volocopter<\/a> is working on its own human carrying drone in partnership with Intel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Daimler-backed aviation company announced itself as a serious player and made waves at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018 by finishing of their keynote address with the Volocopter VC200 flying across the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Volocopter VC200 is a two-seater 18 rotor drone taxi\nthat can be operated by a pilot or fly autonomously. It runs on green\ntechnology and is powered solely by electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exhibition at the Consumer Electronic Show 2018 marked\nits first flight in North America although it has had several test flights in\nDubai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Presently, the Volocopter VC200 can fly for up to 30 minutes\nand cover a distance of 17 miles. The company already has a permit to fly in\nGermany and expects to be part of Dubai\u2019s commercial pilot program as soon as\nthe early parts of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>CityAirbus<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Airbus publicly announced that it would have its electric\npassenger drone zipping across the skies in 2018. However, the first successful\ntake-off was announced&nbsp; on 3<sup>rd<\/sup>\nMay, 2019. Although there was no formal announcement, their CEO made the news\npublic over Twitter with a photo of the engineering teams in front of the\npassenger drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a aria-label=\"CityAirbus (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.airbus.com\/innovation\/urban-air-mobility\/vehicle-demonstrators\/cityairbus.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CityAirbus<\/a> is designed to be a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle that uses a four rotor (quadcopter) design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Airbus have not ruled out the possibility of using a pilot to fly their vehicle but they are perfecting the architecture and safety systems with the autonomous version first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This all-electric autonomous device runs on four&nbsp;800-volt batteries that power the four sets of paired, counter-rotating rotors inside aerodynamic ducts fused to the fuselage. The rotors span about 9 feet in diameter and are surrounded by aerodynamic ducts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CityAirbus is designed to be the quintessential urban\nvehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Lilium Jet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a aria-label=\"Lilium Jet (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/lilium.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lilium Jet<\/a> is another passenger drone company in Germany, hoping to usher in the era of the autonomous taxis. Their all-electric aircraft is able to take off vertically like a helicopter, and had its maiden flight in Munich in April 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Lilium Jet 5-seater technology demonstrator\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8qotuu8JjQM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the Lilium Jet takes off like a helicopter, it\npropels forward like a jet, hence the claim that it is \u201cthe world\u2019s first\nelectric vertical take-off and landing jet\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, this human carrying drone has a range of 300 km\nand can travel up to 300 km\/h. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite all this power, the Lilium Jet makes less noise than\na motorcycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Boeing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Boeing <u><font color=\"#000121\"><a aria-label=\"successfully completed (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2019\/1\/23\/18194332\/boeing-electric-autonomous-aircraft-test-flight-vtol-aurora-flight-sciences\" target=\"_blank\">successfully<\/a><\/font><\/u> carried out the first test operation of its own autonomous air taxi prototype on January 22, 2019, at Manassas, Virginia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company was able to build its prototype through its NeXt division which utilized a Boeing subsidiary company, Aurora Flight Sciences, to develop the electric-powered VTOL aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prototype had to takeoff, hover for a few seconds, and land to complete its first test flight. And during the exercise, the ground control apparatus and autonomous features were tried out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Future planned flights will test the wing-borne flight, and forward flight as well as the phase of transition between forward-oriented and vertical flight modes. This transitioning promises to be the most challenging engineering hurdle of all for any VTOL aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All these accomplishments by Boeing came within one year of compiling the conceptual ideas to a working prototype. Their expertise in aviation, as well as acquiring Aurora Flight Science, no doubt played a part in the rapid development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Boeing\u2019s human carrying drone is run on an electric propulsion setup, and is designed for completely autonomous operations from take-off to landing. It\u2019s targeted flight range is 50 miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is 30 feet in length and 28ft wide, and its sophisticated airframe will leverage propulsion and wing systems to achieve efficient hovering and forward-going flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Boeing is already working with regulators and other industry stakeholders to create its vision of a new mobility setup that hinges on piloted and autonomous drone taxis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bell Helicopter<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a aria-label=\"Bell (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bellflight.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bell<\/a> is known more for producing drones aimed at package delivery. But at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018, they showcased a virtual reality simulator of their concept for an air taxi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They, thus, became the first helicopter company to exhibit\nat the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The four passenger concept is slated to come with a lot of\ncommuter creature comforts when ready such as video calling, WiFi, AI, and\nwireless charging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can also be flown by a pilot, but the company is working\ntowards it being fully autonomous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Uber Elevate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In collaboration with NASA, and a host of other companies like Aurora Flight Sciences, <a aria-label=\"Uber Elevate (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uber.com\/gb\/en\/elevate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Uber Elevate<\/a>\u2019s passenger drones are being designed to be vertical take-off and landing vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plan is to have them fully operational in 2020 and the\ncompany is currently liaising with officials and real estate firms in congested\ncities like Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Dubai to arrange possible\nlocations for take-offs and landings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first mockups of the concept drones have already been\nreleased and it is clear that Uber passengers in the air will be just as comfy\nas those in the Uber Black rides. And rides are projected to cost about as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accommodation per ride will be for 4, not including the\npilot. Interiors will include space for luggage and will be fully customizable\nby the operator to best serve customer needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to all this, Uber Elevate\u2019s human carrying\ndrones will be able to travel at 150 miles per hour and will burn no fossil\nfuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How Does A Passenger\nDrone Work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Passenger drones are simply life-sized versions of the\nremote-controlled drones that dominate the skies today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the Ehang 184 uses the same quadcopter design\nof your commercial drone, added with a cabin that seats one person and a Microsoft\nSurface tablet that acts as its console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The craft itself is made up of composite material designed\nto take the heavy payloads, usually carbon fiber and aerospace-grade aluminum\nalloy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The present passenger drones models and concepts are battery\noperated, running on lithium-ion batteries that make up much of the vehicle\u2019s\nweight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lift force is provided by the propellers and each design\ncomes with its own minimum requirement to lift the machine into the air. For\nexample, the CityAirbus needs to achieve over 950 revolutions per minute to\ntake off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Safety is worked into every part of human carrying drones\nand this overrides even the autonomous systems. For example, should the flight\nsystem of the Ehang 184 malfunction, the drone would land gently at the safest\npossible spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The passenger could also temporarily take over controls in\ncase of an emergency in order to land the drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, to prevent signal hijacking the Ehang 184\u2019s\ncommunications system is encrypted, with each unit having its own independent\nkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of human carrying drones as your commercial drones on\nsteroids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Future of\nPassenger Drones<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It is an exciting time for passenger drones as newer, better\nconcepts are developed. But the future is still shrouded in uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are the technological and engineering hurdles that\nremain. There are also regulatory hurdles that will need to be overcome before\nwe can live in a world you can realistically expect to avoid ground traffic in\nan air taxi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hopefully, with all the investment going into the space, and\nthe serious hitters involved, we can expect to live in that future sooner\nrather than later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can Drones Carry Humans? Yes, they can! Drones that can do this are called passenger &#8230; <a title=\"Passenger Drones: Are There Drones That Can Carry People?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/can-drones-carry-people\/\" aria-label=\"More on Passenger Drones: Are There Drones That Can Carry People?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones.jpg",825,457,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones-300x166.jpg",300,166,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones-768x425.jpg",768,425,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones.jpg",825,457,false],"img_rate_products_categories":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones-552x306.jpg",552,306,true],"img_rate_products_slideshow":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones.jpg",825,457,false],"img_rate_products_preview":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones-168x93.jpg",168,93,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones.jpg",825,457,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/passenger-drones.jpg",825,457,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Sam","author_link":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/author\/sam\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Can Drones Carry Humans? Yes, they can! Drones that can do this are called passenger ... Read more","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3136,"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801\/revisions\/3136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}