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Volocopter's massive utility drone can carry up to 440 pounds
While Volocopter's been busy working on its air taxis, it's also preparing to enter the utility drone market using a similar design. Much like the company's experimental 2X and upcoming VoloCity, the aptly-named VoloDrone announced today is yet another 18-rotor electric aircraft, which can be remote-controlled or set to a pre-planned route in autonomous mode. But instead of carrying passengers, the VoloDrone is designed to fit various types of cargo and equipment under its belly -- be it a box, an agricultural sprayer, a sling or disaster relief tools.
Lilium's latest flying taxi prototype can at least hover
There are a number of flying taxi startups out there, but Lilium has stood out with its unique airplane-like design and serious aeronautical cred. Now, the company has unveiled an all-new prototype and flaunted the first successful tests with the craft. In a video, it shows the craft taking off vertically, hovering just above the ground and then landing, complete with the de rigueur employee cheering and hollering.
Volocopter will test its autonomous air taxis in Singapore next year
Volocopter is preparing to run inner-city tests of its autonomous air taxis in Singapore, starting in the second half of 2019. The company and the city-state's civil aviation authority are determining the scope of the tests, which Volocopter plans to conclude with public demo flights.
Japan teams up with Uber, Airbus and 19 others on flying taxi plan
Japan wants to bring flying taxis into the mainstream over the next decade and it's putting together a government-led group in order to do so, Bloomberg reports. The country's trade ministry said to today that the group will bring together at least 21 businesses including Uber, Boeing, Airbus, Japan Airlines and Toyota-backed Cartivator, which will meet next week to discuss plans going forward. For its part, the government will work on ways to regulate these sorts of vehicles. "The Japanese government will provide appropriate support to help realize the concept of flying cars, such as creation of acceptable rules," the ministry said.
Uber's 'Skyport' plans are straight out of science fiction
Uber's flying taxi service -- that glorious sci-fi dream -- still plans to launch its first takeoffs by 2023. One major caveat, however, is that unlike regular taxis which can freely zip about the streets, UberAIR taxis need access to the sky and a place to land. That's where "Skyports" come in: special areas localized specifically for launching, landing, and customer pickup, and they're looking appropriately futuristic.
This is Uber's first air taxi prototype
Today, Uber gave CBS News a first look at design models for its new air taxi, which it hopes to fly by 2020. They will be on display at the Uber Elevate Summit this Tuesday in Los Angeles. You can see the model in the video below at a timestamp of approximately 1:02.
Volocopter hopes to have air taxis in the sky in five years
In addition to autonomous vehicles crawling the cities without drivers, we should start getting ready for the sky to be taken over by robot chauffeurs. One of the companies working on future air taxis is Germany-based Volocopter. Its 18-rotored human-sized drone took flight at Intel's CES keynote and was on display at the Las Vegas Convention Center. So naturally, we asked to sit in it.
Daimler funds Volocopter's autonomous flying taxi dreams
Volocopter just got a $30 million cash injection, thanks to a few investors, including fellow German firm Daimler. The automaker's contribution can help the company stick to its timeline and its plans to release its first autonomous electric air taxis next year. Volocopter has been working on the creation of a personalized air transport system for years and completed the first manned test flight of its multicopter in 2016.
