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EHang shows footage of its passenger drone in flight
EHang has been talking about its 184 passenger drone for ages, but there's been a curious absence of footage showing manned flights. Thankfully, it's rectifying that situation: the company has posted a video showing the EHang 184 in action through a series of manned tests. The clip shows both single- and double-seat models going through the paces, including extreme conditions such as typhoon-level winds, intense maneuvers and high-altitude climbs. There's a definite Blade Runner vibe -- EHang's personal vehicle like one of the sci-fi franchise's Spinners, just with rotor blades.
ICYMI: Microsoft's drone simulator and Dubai's hover taxis
Today on In Case You Missed It: Why get stuck in traffic when you can simply fly over it? At least, that's Dubai's plan. The UAE's largest city announced its intent to unleash swarms of EHang 184 "Personal Flying Vehicles" -- the same ones that wowed crowds at last year's CES show -- to ferry citizens around town starting as early as this July. We also take a look at Microsoft's new open-source UAV simulator, the Aerial Informatics and Robotics Platform. With it, drone designers will be able to program and test their flying creations for autonomous operation without having to worry about their precious prototypes crashing and burning. Or getting attacked by wildlife. Or being shot out of the sky by trigger-happy property owners. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Ehang preps its flight command center for passenger drones
Almost exactly a year ago, Ehang surprised the world with its supersized drone, the 184, made for carrying a human passenger or artificial organs. Nevada even gave Ehang permission to test its quadcopter in the state as of June, but that was the last we heard from the drone maker, until now. As it turns out, the Chinese company has yet to perform a single test flight in the US, and earlier this month, it had to lay off about 70 people from its team of around 300, plus there were signs of financial problems -- including canteen food issues, missed payments to suppliers and diminishing consumer drone shipment numbers -- as far back as August, according to Chinese news site Xtecher. Perhaps to reassure worried folks, Ehang decided to shed some light on the 184's latest development.
Passenger drone gets permission for US flight tests
Don't be surprised if you see a very large, very unusual drone flying through Nevada's skies. The state's Institute for Autonomous Systems has given China's EHang permission to test fly its passenger-toting 184 drone later this year. In addition to providing basic clearance, the move will also have the Institute create criteria that shows the airworthiness of the autonomous single-seater to the Federal Aviation Administration. It's not certain just where the 184 will fly, although it'll sometimes need restricted airspace. EHang won't just be flying in the empty desert, then.
