Driverless taxis have been proposed in several countries including the U.S. by various vendors. Now a driverless air taxi service has been proposed in Dubai with service starting in July. Dubai’s ruler announced last year that 25 percent of all journeys in the city would be conducted by driverless vehicles by 2030. Autonomous flying passenger drones will be carrying passengers this year according to the head of Dubai’s roads & transportation agency. He recently announced the Chinese drone will be used as the self-flying taxi.
The Chinese made taxi (pictured here) made waves at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where it was first exhibited. Each quadcopter taxi allows for a half-hour flight time with a distance of 30 miles. The autonomous craft can reach a top speed of 100 MPH and carry a passenger weight of 220 pounds.
After climbing into the drone’s seat, the passenger selects a destination on the dashboard’s touch screen, buckles up, and enjoys the scenic ride. Interestingly, the taxi’s four propeller arms fold inwards so it can fit into a single car parking space.
Passengers will not even require a license to travel, since the drones will be ‘auto-piloted’ by a command center. Sounds terrifying? Not really because the vehicle has a ‘fail safe’ system that prompts it to land in the nearest place should anything malfunction. New innovations help our society advance with these latest technologies.
~ Bob Larson is a former engineer, photo-journalist, technologist, and Marketing Director at 50 Plus Media Solutions.