This Chinese Drone Could Carry Human Passengers

If you thought hurtling along the streets in a driverless car was scary, how about a driverless helicopter aka a human-carrying drone? That's the Ehang184.

Ehang is an established UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) maker in China, so this video might be viewed in the same way as a concept car. It might never make it onto the market, but it is certainly an interesting tech demo-slash-computer simulation.

The emphasis is on safety, as it should be, although the claim of "absolute safety by design" may be pushing things. The drone works like any other, with multiple rotors (eight in this case) independently controlled by computer to give stability and a measure of redundancy. The whole thing is controlled by a touch-screen app. You tap the spot on the map you want to fly to, and the Ehang184 does the rest.

If we're going to have flying cars, then they should surely be autonomous. Human drivers are dangerous enough on the ground, so imagine the damage you could do if flying while texting, or eating a bowl of cereal. But the automation itself is a little worrying. If things go wrong in a driverless car, a passenger can grab the wheel, or at least hit the brakes. What happens if you find yourself on a crash-course for a skyscraper? Do you tap the touch screen furiously?

Ehang's drones can be viewed in a different way. They'd make fantastic rescue vehicles, treating their human cargo as just that—cargo, and able to quickly ferry disaster victims back to base while rescuers work on. And as cargo carriers, larger drones like this could be a make for more practical delivery vehicles than the kinds of limited-capacity drones being tested by the world's postal services.

One can't help but wonder if flying cars are a solution to a problem that won't exist for too much longer. The dream is to fly over traffic-choked streets, and an autonomous drone is preferable to the old, dangerous sci-fi dream of self-piloted flying cars. But just as the tech becomes available to make viable human-carrying drones, the traffic on the ground could be disappearing. The same self-driving tech will clear the traffic jams from city roads, and a shift in the emphasis of city planners to favor mass transit and bikes (in Europe at least) may make flying cars obsolete before they get off the ground.

Source: This Chinese Drone Could Carry Human Passengers

AUTOLUST | VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

If you had your boots on the ground at the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit this month, you would've passed a lonely car parked behind a barricade and hidden under a tarp right around the Lexus and Scion exhibits.

It waited below the shield-shaped logo of VLF Automotive – an American boutique supercar maker based out of the Detroit suburbs. Those initials come from the automotive giants behind the company — former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, entrepreneur Gilbert Villarreal and automotive designer Henrik Fisker. Yes, that Fisker.

Originally born as VL with Villarreal and Lutz, the company wanted to take on Fisker's artistic aesthetic from the hybrid car that carried his name. They'd get rid of all that electrical nonsense and drop in a pure, blessed, fossil fuel, 200 mph+, V8 powerhouse from a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The result would be a very limited edition, bespoke, ultra performance luxury car.

But, why look to take on just Fisker's design when you can work with the man himself. With Fisker onboard, work began on a new supercar — the very machine under that tarp.

When the veil was pulled away at NAIAS 2016, the world got its first look at the VLF Force 1 V10. A rocketing symphony in silver, the Force 1 V10 in Detroit uses an all carbon fiber body set above 21-inch wheels wearing Pirelli tires stopped by Brembo racing quality brakes.

In keeping with the original concept of a Fisker crossbred with a Corvette, the Force 1 V10 rages under the power of a massive 745 horsepower, 8.4  liter v10 engine. At full tap, the Force 1 will hit 60 mpg in three seconds flat and top out at 218 mph. A look at the car's front end reveals the six air intakes that blazing power plant requires — in addition to the low-hanging, but aggressive grill that greets the world.

If you have $268,500 burning a hole in your pocket, you can order your Force 1 V10 with a six speed automatic transmission. But, if you do that, I hope Dante saved a ring of hell just for you because you can get this car with a six speed manual — and the thought of driving this beautiful monster with a stick on the floor is absolutely sticky filthy.

Behind that sweeping expanse of hood, the interior of Force 1 V10 is composed of top class materials and assembled by hand — as a bespoke automobile must be. Every inch of the leather is hand-stitched, with Alcantara Suede (which exists, apparently) filling in the gaps.

Of course, the car features power everything, a full infotainment system and some unique features — like a champagne holder. (I think it's a safe bet the folks at VLF aren't encouraging the consumption of Champagne while driving, but it's good to know you have a chilled bottle of Dom ready to go upon arrival.)

Since the car was new to the world as it debuted in Detroit, the main buzz about the Force 1 was that external styling. While the car features an original design, there are echoes of other beloved high performance cars emanating from this VLF offering.

Looking down the Force 1's barrel, you might catch a glimpse of a Mercedes-Benz SLS. From the rear haunches, there's a little bit of an Aston Martin or an F-Type Jag teasing the eye. When take in the length of the hood needed to house that titanic engine, there's some Dodge Viper there.

None of those touches are negatives as the Force 1 steals nothing from any of these cars. Those are just nice reference points by way of comparison. One thing is certain: With the exception of maybe the Gumpert, there are few supercars on Earth with as many little flourishes from air intakes to door grooves to hidden lights.

Taking orders this year, VLF is delivering a car that looks like the futuristic flying machines we were all supposed to be driving by now. And, for all intents and purposes, this will indeed be a flying car. It's just that the four wheels aren't really supposed to leave the ground. Your experience may vary.

As always, you can enjoy some additional takes on this four-wheeled bullet in the gallery below.

Photos courtesy of VLF Automotive. VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

This early sketch of the VLF Automotive Force 1 V10 show's Fisker's early work.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

Like all automakers do these days, VLF first forged this new Force 1 V10 in clay.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

This computer rendering shows the lines of the VLF Automotive Force 1 V10 before it went into production.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

From the front, the VLF Automotive Force 1 V10 has a little bit of a Mercedes-Benz SLS look to it.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

The VLF Automotive Force 1 V10 uses 21 inch wheels to put its power down.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

The back of the VLF Automotive Force 1 V10 might remind you of an F-Type Jaguar or an Aston Martin.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

The VLF Automotive Force 1 V10 uses a 745 horsepower, 8.4  liter v10 engine.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

The 745 horsepower, 8.4  liter v10 engine hides its high-tech head lights.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

The bespoke VLF Automotive Force 1 V10 will sell for a starting MSRP of $268,500.

VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

The VLF Automotive Force 1 V10 made a big splash when it debuted at a special NAIAS 2016 event.

Source: AUTOLUST | VLF Automotive Force 1 V10

Balloon condoms prankster blamed for malfunction of flying 'Egyptian Monster'

Ahram Online , Wednesday 27 Jan 2016

A photo on social media of the 'flying Egyptian Monster'

The inventor of the Egyptian Monster said his "flying amphibious car" did not simply fail in its launch at Cairo's Tahrir Square last month, but was rather sabotaged by one of two pranksters now accused of insulting policemen in a controversial "balloon condom" incident.

Self-proclaimed engineer Ahmed El-Bandary, whose four-wheeled invention is almost the size of an auto rickshaw (tuk-tuk) and has two tiny wings near the tail, did not take off when it was put through its paces. As a matter of fact, it broke down after roaming slowly near Egypt's largest roundabout. Bystanders gave it a push to help the diver restart the engine.

In the presence of police personnel and reporters who interviewed El-Bandary as he was bragging about how the vehicle can reach speeds of 400 km/h and 120 km/h in air and water respectively, young comedian Shady AbuZaid joined the crowd.

Impersonating a reporter, he made a video for well-known satire show Abla Fahita, mocking what widely came across as a hilarious hoax.

AbuZaid hit the headlines again in less than a month after going back to Tahrir, the epicentre of the 25 January Revolution, on its fifth anniversary to make another video that saw him and up-and-coming actor Ahmed Malek hand out balloons that were actually inflated condoms to policemen.

The video went viral on social media, prompting uproar among police sympathisers and support among some other activists who have few avenues to express their views.

On Tuesday, Egypt's prosecution opened an investigation into a complaint filed by a police officer following "inflated condom" prank.

Later in the day, El-Bandary defended the authenticity of his alleged flying amphibious car by saying it was the now under-fire AbuZaid who caused its failure. "The Egyptian Monster only failed in Tahrir Square because of someone," he said, phoning in during presenter Mohamed El-Gaity's show on LTC TV.

"What some people do not know is that the Egyptian Monster contains 20 electric motors … producing electricity. This vile [AbuZaid] is the one who disconnected the electricity."

"He shouldn't have malfunctioned an international work like that," El-Bandary said as El-Gaity was nodding his head in agreement.

El-Gaity, who once falsely claimed Egyptian frogmen had managed to capture the captain of an American battleship sent to Egypt in response to the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, voiced his support for the Egyptian Monster inventor.

"Remember when [renowned political satirist] Bassem Youssef poked fun at attempts of inventing a Hepatitis C cure… They have hatred for the Egyptian military," El-Gaity commented.

In February 2014, physician and military officer Major-General Ibrahim Abdel-Atti made headlines when he announced that he and his staff had invented devices to detect and treat HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, among other viruses and diseases, with a 100 percent success rate. The alleged cure, however, was never made available to the public as promised.

Short link:

Source: Balloon condoms prankster blamed for malfunction of flying 'Egyptian Monster'

Warning to drivers: Flying ice can break windshields

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —

Following the winter storm, officials are warning drivers to watch for falling ice flying off cars and trucks while driving Monday. In a video circulating online, ice goes flying off the car in front of a driver and smashes into a windshield. "We've had about 30 calls for service on collisions where ice came off a windshield or another vehicle and struck a car," Trooper John Burgin said. Channel 9 crews captured chunks of ice flying off a truck Monday. Channel 9 also watched ice flying off of cars from above Interstate 77 It didn't take long for ice to fly off a van and a truck. The problem is as the sun beats down it's melting the ice on top of your car. when you get on the highway the wind catches it and it's gone," reporter John Paul said. Paul said it can pose a very serious danger. Especially if it's big chunks of ice coming off tractor trailers hitting your windshield, That ice can come through you windshield and cause you harm as well. Of the 30 calls in Un ion County, there were no serious injuries. To prevent your windshield from being harmed a good rule of thumb is for every 10 miles per hour you drive, you need one car length in front of you. "I always stay back away from the car. I'm sure it's going to come off," driver Tim Collins said.  "I saw ice flying off cars and trucks today," Collins said. "It'll scare you it's very dangerous." Even if it's not a crime, it could hit your wallet. It's up to the insurance company who is going to be charged the fees. The best advice circulating is clear off your car and keep a safe distance from the car in front of you. 

Source: Warning to drivers: Flying ice can break windshields

This Day in History: Flying car fail

In January of 1988, Paul Moller attempted to go behind the wheels of his flying car. The test flight, however, didn't go as planned. CBSN looks back at the flying car attempt in its weekly segment, "The Way it Was."

READ MORE SEE LESS

Source: This Day in History: Flying car fail

Drones Aim to Carry Human Lives

The EHang 184 represents an electric, personal Autonomous Aerial Vehicle. Credit: PRNewsFoto/EHANG

Delivery drones have yet to begin showing up at doorsteps with packages from Amazon. But a new breed of drones could eventually begin carrying the most precious package of all in the form of human lives.

One such passenger drone resembles a giant quadcopter that can carry a single passenger on 23-minute flights at speeds of about 62 miles per hour. The Chinese startup EHang unveiled the drone, called the Ehang 184, at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January. Passengers use a tablet to set waypoints for the drone to follow and can click once for both takeoff and return, but the drone itself automatically handles the rest of the flying decisions. EHang representatives told Tech Insider and other news publications that they hope the passenger drone can hit the market starting sometime in 2016.

Drones could do much more than just act as personal helicopters. The U.S. military has a strong interest in autonomous drones that could fly injured soldiers from the battlefield to a hospital for treatment. In March 2015, U.S. defense firms demonstrated how a robot helicopter called K-MAX could evacuate a dummy standing in for a wounded soldier, according to Military.com. The K-MAX unmanned cargo helicopter, developed by Lockheed Martin and built by Kaman Aerospace, has flown 1,900 combat missions while delivering cargo for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Israeli defense firm Tactical Robotics has also been working on a heavy-lifting ambulance drone capable of transporting two wounded warriors—or 1,100 pounds of cargo—during missions with a radius of about 31 miles. The unmanned aircraft, called AirMule, underwent its first autonomous, untethered flight test on Dec. 30, 2015. This year, Tactical Robotics hopes to demonstrate the AirMule's ability to fly "beyond the line of sight" of human operators and follow a path through a forested area.

Such ambulance drones make perfect sense in risky battlefield situations where helicopters and other aircraft face the possibility of being attacked or shot down by ground fire. A frontline commander might decide it's worth risking a drone to fly out a seriously wounded soldier who might otherwise die without medical attention at a hospital. It's a perfect example of using a robot to do the dangerous work that a human helicopter pilot or crew might otherwise have to do. In the case of a drone such as the K-MAX or AirMule, human operators could remotely control the unmanned aircraft from safer positions away from the battlefield.

Personal passenger drones for civilians may need different justifications for their existence. It's possible a passenger drone such as the Ehang 184 might replace the need for a piloted helicopter in some cases. But such passenger drones would first have to demonstrate fairly high standards for automated safety and backup systems to get flight approval from government regulators in civilian airspace.

Such challenges are similar to those facing companies trying to develop flying cars, except that the flying car idea almost makes more sense than a personal passenger drone. Companies such as Terrafugia envision their flying cars as being heavily automated and capable of flying themselves for the most part: effectively representing versatile robot vehicles that can both fly and drive on roads.

There is also the possible issue of trust. Most soldiers probably would not hesitate to fly aboard an ambulance drone if it meant saving their life. But ordinary citizens may not feel incredibly comfortable flying aboard an automated passenger drone with no visible human pilot. After all, many people have just begun wrapping their heads around the idea of trusting a self-driving robot car to chauffeur them around on the ground. Flying the friendly skies with no human captain in sight may require yet another leap of faith. Would you take it?

MORE ABOUT: AirMule, ambulance drone, drones, Ehang 184, medevac, passenger drone, robots, Tactical Robotics, uas, uav, unmanned aerial systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, Urban Aeronautics
Source: Drones Aim to Carry Human Lives

A History of Cars With Aircraft Engines

With all the talk of self-driving cars in the near future, it has us wondering—what happened to the flying car? The reality is, the obstacles to personal flying vehicles are great, and we may never see a mass-produced flying car. So how about a remix on the concept.

What about a car with the engine from an airplane? Sure, it's not the same as a flying car, but while we may never see flying cars any time soon, aero-engined automobiles have been around for almost 100 years.

But why would someone want to put an aircraft engine in a car? For that you'll have to look to the early days of the automobile. In the early years of the 20th Century, the automotive engine had limitations. Its peak engine speed was about 3,000 RPM, which is not very high. To try and get more power, engineers made larger and larger engines, using displacement to get the necessary power. Even with that, engines could only make about 100 horsepower.

Aircraft engines were more exotic, refined, lightweight and most importantly, more powerful than their automotive counterparts. The most popular period for this type of auto-aero mashup was the Interwar period, between WWI and WWII, automakers were shoehorning the large aviation engines into cars before the First World War.

RELATED: The History and Future of the Land Speed Record

Hispano-Suiza, Renault, and Rolls-Royce tried their hand at such vehicles, but it was Fiat's "The Beast of Turin" that is widely considered the first successful application. It called for a 1907-08 Fiat chassis to be fitted with a 28.4-liter six-cylinder engine designed for an airship. It made 300 horsepower and though it had potentially been designed as a land speed record car, it never went more than 90 mph– well short of the 125.95-mph standard set by the Blitzen Benz in 1910. Others like Sunbeam would also delved into aircraft engines in cars in pursuit of speed records before WWI.

The real era of growth for this niche was the time in between the World Wars. This era was marked by many speed-record attempts by Sunbeam. Later on they would be known for the plucky little Alpine roadster, but in the 1920s and '30s, it was vehicles like the 18.3-liter Sunbeam 350HP. Private parties would get in on the trend as well, building cars such as the Fiat Botafogo Special, using a 1917 Fiat chassis and a 21.7-liter Fiat A.12 aircraft engine.

RELATED: Learn More About the Beast of Turin

This incremental growth would continue, as chassis developed and so did engines. In 1927, the Sunbeam 1000hp, aka "The Slug," was the first car to break 200 mph. It featured a pair of 22.4-liter airliner engine. Despite the name, it made about 900 hp. Mercedes-Benz would also try its hand, using engines such as an inverted V12 that displaced 44 liters, which had been derived from the Messerschmitt bf109 fighter engine.

With the outbreak of WWII, the automotive development came to a close, but once the War was over, it was back on, and with new technologies–turbines and jet engines. Sure, there were still piston-engined aero-powered cars, but things really heated up in 1960 with the Bluebird-Proteus CN7, which used a Bristol-Siddley Proteus turboshaft gas turbine engine. It cost £1 million to make, but the cost paid off, with an output of 4,1000 and a record-setting speed of 403.1 mph.

RELATED: Check out images of the 1972 Pontiac Twin Turbo Firebird Bonneville Car

This would continue through the years, using jet engines, and even rocket engines for land speed records. The Spirit of America was a Bonneville salt flat racer that used a General Electric J47 engine that would typically power an F-86 Saber.

Jet and turbine engines were not only for land speed records. The Louts 56 competed in the 1968 Indy 500 with a Pratt & Whitney ST6 engine (a variant of the highly popular PT6 engine) behind the driver, sending power to all four wheels. The governing body of Indy eventually banned turbine cars and four-wheel drive, and so Lotus took the car to Formula 1. It would never win a race in F1, but the design of the car (minus the engine) would set the mold for F1 cars in the years to come.

Cars don't even need to race to take advantage of aircraft engines. The Tucker 48 is a favorite among automotive historians for its limited run, tumultuous existence, and the way Tucker thumbed its nose at the established automakers. At the back of the car was a large flat-six engine from the Franklin company that was also used to power a number of helicopters and small planes.

RELATED: See more images of the Tucker 48

The American Big Three even got in on it with cars like the 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car, which employed a turbine specifically designed for the application. Only 55 such vehicles were built.

We've barely scratched the surface of the shared history of automobiles and aircraft engines. Today, many of these vehicles fetch top dollar. There has been a renewed interest in aero-engined cars from the piston and jet ages, and they are fetching top-dollar at auctions–if you can find them.

RELATED: See more images of Jay Leno's EcoJet

And if you can't, just do what Jay Leno did and build one of your own. His EcoJet is a collaboration with General Motors, and features a Honeywell LTS101 gas turbine engine. It runs on biodiesel and can theoretically go 245 mph. How much is it? Well if you have to ask, you definitely can't afford it.

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Source: A History of Cars With Aircraft Engines

Texan dies after falling from moving car in domestic dispute

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) - Investigators say a West Texas man has died after falling from the hood of a moving car as he tried to stop a woman from leaving.    The Midland County Sheriff's Office says Fernando Parra was killed Friday as a result of a family violence incident. The sheriff's office says the apparent accidental death will be referred to a grand jury.    Investigators say the woman was attempting to leave when the 24-year-old Parra tried to cut the car's tires, then jumped on the vehicle.    Authorities say Parra grabbed the windshield wipers and the woman stopped the car.    Parra fell and struck the road. He died at the scene.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: Texan dies after falling from moving car in domestic dispute

Truck crashes, pushes car off wall in NW Atlanta

A tractor trailer left a trail of destruction in northwest Atlanta after crashing through a fence and pushing a car off a raised parking lot.

The crash happened around 7 a.m. Friday at the Collier Lofts apartments on Collier Road.

Atlanta Firefighters told Channel 2's Audrey Washington that the truck driver was working at a business next to the apartment complex when he lost control.

Authorities say the driver actually crashed into his personal car, sending it off the lot and onto another car.

The driver was finally able to bring the truck to a stop, but not before it got at least half way over the wall.

There were no reports of injuries.

Washington spoke to a resident whose car was parked right next to one of the cars that the other car landed on.

"We heard a loud boom and then my assistant was like, 'I hope you didn't park over there,' and I looked in and I was like, 'Oh my God, my car is down there,'" said resident Walter Burch.

Crews are still working to put together how exactly this crash happened.

Source: Truck crashes, pushes car off wall in NW Atlanta

The View from Faraway Farm: How will you get there?

Senior readers will remember this: In the 1950s when there was so much optimism in the air, folks were predicting things like flying cars. A few hearty souls even tried to bring a commercially viable flying car to market, all resulted in failure. Looking back, I'm glad they didn't catch on because it would have caused a regulatory nightmare, and the skies would rain death upon the populace. Okay, maybe the raining death part was over the top, but you know what I mean. It's bad enough that the safety record of small and experimental aircraft is rife with pilot error caused accidents. Now if we fast forward to 2016 the idea of everyone flying to work in their cars is pretty much a fantasy, but self-driving cars are not. Huh?

Global positioning satellites have changed everything, and that is part of what will guide self-driving automobiles in the future. Advances in software, electronic devices, laser technology, sensors, etc., have come together to allow the self-driving concept to actually work. The complexity seems to be getting handled rather well. Google, Uber, Ford, and Microsoft are all jumping on this bandwagon with both feet, committing millions on millions of dollars on research and development. While I can see this as a potentially viable form of transportation in the future, I am not 100 percent sold. We're already hearing about vehicles in Google's self-driving fleet having accidents, and that is understandable because the technology is still being developed; it is simply in testing mode right now.

In a free market society the true test of self-driving vehicles will rest upon the brave few who purchase the vehicles, or the brave companies that intend to launch fleets of them for our use. That's where the rubber meets the road; usage. Are you ready to buy in?

I can imagine a few scenarios where I would be tempted to take a ride in a self-driving vehicle. Slow speed rides through strange cities seems appropriate. Foreign cities? Maybe not right off, but the self-guided vehicle may circumvent language misunderstandings. I recall my daughter's time in France where a roommate's sister was planning a visit. She docked in Marseilles, asked for a ticket to Rennes, but instead of pronouncing it "Wren" she said Rennes. The confused ticket agent issued a ticket for Venice. The young lady had a lot of explaining to do when the train ended up in Italy. Would a self-guided car have done better? Quite possibly.

Some of the proposals for self-guided city cars include electric vehicles. What could possibly go wrong there? Well, just three days ago while on a business trip to New York I saw quite a few all electric Tesla's on the road. The rest areas in Connecticut had a raft of Tesla charging stations. The very next day while driving down I-91 I spotted an abandoned Tesla with enough on-board power to run the four way flashers, but obviously not enough to propel the en tire car. The nearest charging station in that scenario was 25 miles away. Good luck! AAA is probably mandatory for Tesla's.

All of this futuristic vehicular discussion is simply leading up to one of the things that I've been saying for 40 years; America needs to make a huge investment in high speed rail systems. They work, they are efficient, pollute less, and don't get lost. If we had a system like France, Japan, or even China, maybe long and short distance travel would be effortless when rail and self-driving cars are combined. At this time it is hard to say how we will get there.

Arlo Mudgett's Morning Almanac has been heard over multiple radio stations in Vermont for nearly 30 years, and can be tuned in at 92.7 WKVT Monday through Saturday mornings at 8:35 a.m.

Source: The View from Faraway Farm: How will you get there?

Car owner saves vehicle from would-be thief with flying kick

Australian police have released video of a car owner saving his vehicle from a would-be thief in a scene that looks straight out of an action movie.

The man, who left to pay for gas after filling up in a station near Darwin on Nov. 30, executed a two-footed kick through the car's passenger side window to reclaim control of his vehicle, CCTV footage shows.

Northern Territory Police say suspect Timothy Slater, 24, lurked behind cover and entered the car when its driver walked away, 9news reports.

As Slater pulled away from the gas pump, the car owner is then seen sliding through the kicked-in car window.

Slater fled the scene – but was caught Wednesday afternoon. He allegedly tried to run over a police officer before being taken into custody, Northern Territory Police Duty Superintendent Louise Jorgensen told ABC News.

Authorities had said they were looking to charge Slater with offenses ranging from aggravated assault to unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Source: Car owner saves vehicle from would-be thief with flying kick

Watch a Human-Size Drone Carry a Person

Trying out the Ehang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle

Source: Guangzhou Ehang

The video above tells a story about technology in an unusually human way. It recounts the origins of the Ehang 184, touted as the first autonomous aerial vehicle. In line with contemporary techspeak, its designers describe it as "disruptive and revolutionary," but as the video suggests, there's something more emotional going on with it, too.

According to Ehang CEO Huazhi Hu, the development of this aircraft is personal. In 2011, the co-founder of Ehang, Ji Chen, died in an aircraft accident, followed shortly by the death of Huazhi's helicopter-flying instructor in another crash. Shortly thereafter, Huazhi stopped work on the company's current projects to devote himself to developing what he calls an "absolutely safe" aircraft, the Ehang 184.

After a few years of quiet development, the company released the Ghostdrone in 2014, a user-friendly, camera-ready quadcopter that could be controlled by a phone app. Behind the scenes, work progressed on Huazhi's dream project.

The Ehang 184 is all-electric with eight propellers mounted on four arms. Redundancy has been built into its power system and those extra propellers for safety. The craft is almost 5 feet tall, weighs 440 pounds, and can carry 220 pounds. It's designed to fly autonomously—all the user has to do, according to Ehang's Derrick Xiong, is enter the desired coordinates in the craft's control software, press a couple of onscreen buttons, sit back, and fly. No training required. For now, the vehicle flies at about 60 mph and can travel about 10 miles.

One of the thorniest problems with autonomous aircrafts is keeping them from crashing into unexpected objects on their flight paths. While autonomous drones typically include sensors to help them avoid collisions, the Ehang 184 is designed instead to land if it senses damage to any of its parts.

There's no official launch date set yet, but the company plans to start selling the Ehang 184 in China in a few months, with the U.S. following close behind. The Ehang 184 is expected to cost between $200,000 and $300,000, in the same neighborhood as other nonautonomous flying cars being developed, such as the Terrafugia TF-X and Aeromobil.

Source: Watch a Human-Size Drone Carry a Person

The next 10 years in car tech will make the last 30 look like just a warm-up

"It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future."

Sure, it's a wry remark about the accuracy of superfluous prognostication but that doesn't stop human beings from seeking to peer past the horizon. From trying to plot a course through years of academia to sorting out what's for dinner, we're always looking expectantly to the future.

One way to qualify the passage of time is through technology eras, each hallmarked by the progression of transportation — from steam engine to internal combustion, jet propulsion, and so on. This is why flying cars and robot-piloted taxis remain a staple in science fiction narratives. But putting the Jetsons aside for a moment, what's actually in store for the automotive world in the next few years?

Related: BMW's futuristic concept helmet has a heads-up display, rearview cam

It's difficult to make predictions, but what the heck: Prognosticate with me for a bit, will you?

1 year out: 2017

Head's up: the cars of the not-so-distant future are being made today. Automakers have been hard at work testing tech that will appear in the car of tomorrow for some time, and we're seeing the results already. Ten years ago, cars with built-in Bluetooth, navigation, and parking sensors were the domain of top luxury vehicles. Now even the most affordable econo-box has these things, as options at the very least.

Next year, we can expect even more everyday technology features to come as standard equipment, notably online access. General Motors has been blazing a trail with its OnStar connectivity for decades, offering in-car connectivity for all sorts of services. This can now turn cars like the Chevrolet Camaro into a roving 4G LTE hotspot. Similarly, FCA and its vehicles access the interwebs through Uconnect for all their connectivity needs.

Related: Faraday Future's FFZERO1 isn't a car, it's a template for the future of transport

Connectivity is a major factor in making cars — our means of mobility — true mobile devices. Folks without factory installed systems can get on-board with third party services like Verizon's Hum or Vinli's OBDII port accessory. Throw in Apple Carplay and Android Auto which will be barreling towards ubiquity by 2017, and the world of connected apps you've come to rely on from your smartphone for will be available every time you get behind the wheel.

2 years out: 2018

Further along the foggy path of time, it's clear that autonomous driving will be a part of our automotive existence. We have seen grand demonstrations from Audi of RS7 sedans lapping Formula 1 courses and driving 500 miles, but these still seem like projects for the far future. What about sooner? As is turns out, many autonomous functions have crept into our lives under the label of driver-assist features: things like lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and self-braking systems.

If we've got cars that can stop, steer, and accelerate independently already, why can't we simply network these functions to work together? This thinking hasn't escaped many automakers who are working on ways to do just that. Take Tesla's autopilot system, which uses all these to operate semi-independently. Drivers still need to remain responsible behind the wheel, but it makes highway commutes easier, keeping within the chosen lane and monitoring the cars around with an array of sensors along the exterior.

Bosch has also demonstrated its ability to have all these systems communicate with its traffic jam assist technology. This system, with the help of a stereo video camera (to perceive depth the same way our two eyes allow), traffic jam assists makes the gridlock under 35 miles per hour slightly more bearable. Autonomous cars, where we push the power button, enter a destination, and then open the newspaper, will still be a challenge by 2018. But driver-assist technologies will make our cars feel like they drive themselves.

5 years out: 2021

In the year 2021, the Tokyo summer Olympics will be behind us, Sealabs will be run of the mill, and Johnny Mnemonic-style couriers who commune with cyber-dolphins will be daily business. Well, at least one of those things will be true, anyway.

Your car would sense the disabled one instantly, applying the brakes before you could even see the problem.

Even so, today's new tech will be old hat by 2021. In car connectivity? In five years, the very idea of a car without a built-in internet connection should be as absurd as buying a laptop without Wi-Fi today. And you'll speak to dumbfounded youths about songs coming on the "radio" while they remind you that cloud-based music libraries are available with a simple voice command. (You will not like this. You will lament the day music died — when Zayn Malik left One Direction to become Prime Minister.)

By 2021, the first production self-driving vehicle should be for sale. In 2014, Elon Musk said fully autonomous cars should be on the road in five to six years. And the folks at Ford, Google, and other companies have made similar projections. The challenge, of course, will be communicating to the other autonomous and human-piloted cars on the road.

Driver-assist features will have dramatically improved along with the connectivity, with plans for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, like that demonstrated by Ford. The ubiquity of networking will allow cars to sense each other, giving drivers an extended perception of what's nearby. Say the car ahead of you suddenly swerves right to avoid another vehicle that stopped short. The swerving driver had an extra split-second to perceive the imminent danger and narrowly avoid the collision — you aren't so lucky.

With a connected car network, your car would sense the disabled one instantly, applying the brakes before you could even see the problem. Ford takes the car's awareness of its surroundings even further, experimenting with LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) systems allowing the car to "see" the world around it in real time. It's sort of like how SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging) maps things with sound waves, only with light.

10 years out: 2026

What lies beyond? Short of the massive class schism predicted by Fritz Lang's Metropolis, cars should certainly still be around by 2026, but they will have certainly changed enormously. Automakers like Audi and Mercedes-Benz believe that in 10 years, fully autonomous driving will be sophisticated enough for regular use. Perhaps we'll even have the legalities and moral quandaries of self-driving cars sorted out by then.

Related: Should your self-driving car kill you to save a school bus full of kids?

If so, cars will have to be accommodating for the hands-off moments. Volvo, heavily exploring self-driving car technology, is preparing for this eventuality with ideas like its Concept 26 design study. This demonstrates how a car's cabin will be configured to change depending on the driving mode — kick back and relax, watch a film, or connect to the Internet and work in a mobile office.

This idea still seems fanciful today, despite the great leaps we've seen in recent years. Bosch's vision of autonomous driving is more realistically rooted, believing that full autonomy will be relegated to highways, with drivers needing full control only around local streets.

Perhaps we will incorporate these ideas into one: Cars with the ability to drive and compute independently, but communicating through the cloud. These vehicles will "sense" which cars are on the highway — even the ones that aren't in autopilot mode. Let's face it: Many people will still be cruising along in old-school classics like our 2008 Mustangs. Cars of the self-driving era will keep an eye on those old clunkers thanks to myriad LiDAR sensors and small camera arrays.

And with such a set up, a fully autonomous highway system built to work with our current infrastructure doesn't seem that far fetched. The future may be impossible to predict, but we're the ones making it; it's up to us to decide what we want to happen.

Except flying cars. We're never getting those.

Source: The next 10 years in car tech will make the last 30 look like just a warm-up

The highest flyer: Harriet Green talks Everest, flying cars and building a hi-tech business aged 18 with Gilo Cardozo

To tell the truth, drones don't really interest me at all – I like manned aircraft," says Gilo Cardozo, founder of aviation firm Gilo Industries. He's not being flippant – he's got an army of specialist engineers working on engines for unmanned aircraft – but someone so passionate about his work can afford to be slightly choosy.

Cardozo started the first arm of his business, Parajet, aged 18, officially founding it in 2001. "I was always interested in making things, and I loved aircraft. I wanted to make a better personal aircraft, and the best in the industry is a paramotor aircraft, because it's unregulated. I'd seen one when I was at school and, as soon as I left, I started looking at the standard models." The young entrepreneur, who set up in his family's barn, found that the market didn't offer much that was well made, so there was plenty of room to get going. "Because there are no regulations involved, it's very easy for anyone with a limited budget to build one. So that's how it all kicked off."

Paramotoring, Cardozo keenly explains, is for everyone. A flyer harnesses a motor and propeller pack to their back, with a paragliding wing above to keep them airborne. Training and equipment will set you back around £8,000-10,000 and "you only need three to four days of training in perfect conditions to fly safely – then it's just about honing your skills. Provided you avoid restricted airspace, you can fly anywhere. I absolutely love it – everybody should be flying around in one." I ask Cardozo how high a paramotor can be taken. "Usually around 6,000 feet. But then I've taken one to 24,000 feet and it was great. Cold, but fantastic."

Parajet, which provides the parajet technology and equipment to enthusiasts and would-be flyers, is now part of Gilo Industries, the core business of which is making high-spec rotary engines for extreme aviation (like UAVs). The engines are very compact, have a high power to weight ratio and are vibration free, making them ideal for vertical takeoffs. Cardozo has also applied his expertise and technology to racing bikes and his SkyQuad – a flying car, which he flew from London to Timbuktu in 2009. Subsequently, his team has built six SkyQuads for private customers.

Going all the way

The engine business came about almost by accident. In 2007, he developed a special version of the parajet to fly him and fellow adventurer Bear Grylls over Mount Everest. "We had loads of enquiries on the back of that with people wanting similar engines for different applications. That sparked the idea of setting up an engine company. The business grew through applications we weren't even aware of. The biggest players began coming to us because it was far easier than trying to do it themselves."

Now, Cardozo has almost 60 employees working out of his Semley (a tiny village near Shaftesbury, Dorset) base. Many have relocated specially – having formerly been with the biggest names in the industry. He met his business partner, Jim Edmondson, at Gillingham train station in 2008. "He recognised me from the Everest film, and we got chatting. He's turned out to be an absolutely brilliant business partner and has transformed the commercial side of the company. I'd always been looking for someone to come on and run that side of things and free me up to do more development work – to cover the things I'm useless at!"

But growing a startup aviation firm hasn't always been easy. "We jumped into an industry which is incredibly demanding on specification, quality control and a whole host of other things. A lot of the companies in this industry have been in it for years and have great track records. We promised a lot of great things to clients, and had to ensure we delivered."

One area where Cardozo has learnt the hard way is intellectual property. "I was running around trying to patent too many things early on and wasted quite a lot of money. Now, I get my head down, get out in the market as quickly as possible and make the money." For a business like Gilo Industries, IP is a very important thing – predominantly from an investment perspective. "Investors want to know that you have IP behind you – even is it's just patent pending. That makes our IP portfolio extremely valuable."

Big horizons

Seeking investment is something Cardozo has a love hate relationship with. Like any SME owner, he's painfully aware how much time it takes up. Gilo Industries has investors from all round the world – from passionate individuals to family offices. "Raising funds is ultimately a bit of a waste of time, but we have to do it. We could do with far more upfront, like any R&D firm – we know how to spend it and we've got a vision."

This year, Cardozo plans to go for more funding to finance promising new products. In addition to new engine development, there's one product in particular which Cardozo is especially excited about – but which is being kept closely under wraps. "The products we're producing are still too limited, so this is an important next stage for us."

Cardozo's main driving force is propulsion systems. "If I wasn't focusing on flying right now, I'd be looking at energy systems – energy and propulsion. There are some really interesting ideas out there." In terms of what he's working on now, all he can do is keep eyes and ears open to competition. "The last thing you want to do as a small company is find someone else has beaten you to it."

Cardozo hasn't ruled out a part exit for himself in the future – "if it was a way to help the company to grow significantly, and we could find the right people to do it." But, he adds, he could never exit fully. "It's too much part of my life, and I love it so much."

Source: The highest flyer: Harriet Green talks Everest, flying cars and building a hi-tech business aged 18 with Gilo Cardozo

Why the dream of the flying car is still grounded by reality

If you're ever bothered by the blind spots in the typical car today, then you would hate to drive a flying car.

But a new Toyota patent offers a solution to a classic flying car problem of awful blind spots and a vehicle that's too wide for roads, parking spaces and garages.

Flying cars are rare, but you can find a few in the wild. A handful of companies around the globe are developing them. A long list of challenges has held back flying cars since their initial creation almost a century ago. One problem is putting the wings on the side of the car, which blocks driver sight lines and makes the vehicle so wide that it's difficult to park and drive on roads.

Toyota's patent calls for stackable wings on top of a flying car.

"It's a very innovative idea," said Pete Schumacher, professor of aerodynamics at the University of North Dakota. "Will there be other problems? Yeah."

Stacking wings makes them less efficient. Wings work because the pressure is higher below than above them, which creates lift. But the high pressure beneath the top wing on Toyota's patent will interfere with the desired low pressure below the second highest wing.

"It's incredibly inefficient," said John Brown, a project manager at Carplane, a German company developing its own flying car. "And it may actually be too inefficient. You'd have to put it in a wind tunnel and see just how efficient it is."

Early planes such as the Wright Flyer had two wings. But as materials become stronger, the bi-wing approach was abandoned because of the efficiency advantages of a single wing.

Toyota did not respond to requests for comment.

While automakers such as Toyota are exploring new mobility services, car analysts don't expect flying cars to be on the market anytime soon.

"Flying cars are certainly an interesting concept, but are further away from realization than many of these concepts, for example autonomous vehicle sharing," said Thilo Koslowski, an automobile analyst at Gartner, a technology research firm.

Toyota has long invested in research and development. In November, it announced plans to invest $1 billion over five years in artificial intelligence, which could prove invaluable as autonomous vehicles arise. It's also bet on hydrogen fuel-cell cars as an alternative to internal combustion engines and once invested in Tesla Motors. Additionally, Toyota has ventured into nontraditional businesses such as home building.

There are other big challenges that would be issues for a flying car with wings on its roof. Melding two transportation forms - a car and a plane - creates problems.

"When I started out I thought, 'pretty simple problem, an automobile has an engine, an airplane has an engine. An automobile has a body, an airplane has a body,' " said K.P. Rice, a flying car developer and retired Marine pilot who has been devoted to the field for 35 years. "In the end, it gets to be quite a problem."

A car needs weight on its front and back wheels so that it can turn safely. But a plane needs its weight on its back wheels so it can take off and land safely.

Aircraft engines are air cooled, so they can't sit in traffic without overheating, whereas car engines are water cooled, which adds weight that's prohibitive to flying.

Flying cars are generally too wide for roads and can have stability issues while driving on highways because of crosswinds.

Rice is developing a flying car where the plane components detach and can be towed by the vehicle when driving on roads.

While work continues on the perfect form for a flying car, another huge issue comes up: price. Flying cars can cost 10 times as much as a traditional vehicle.

"One might argue that flight is the only solution to congestion," said Roger Lanctot, an auto analyst at Strategy Analytics. "But I think we can safely call this a niche market."

While Toyota's patent seems to solve the parking problem for flying cars, a lot of other questions remain before these vehicles really get off the ground.

Source: Why the dream of the flying car is still grounded by reality

First Flying Car Revealed! Human-Carrying Drone Coolest Thing at CES 2016

Ehang 184

Drones have been in the news for past few years, either as cameras or for delivering objects. However this Chinese company has pushed the envelope and how!

It has showcased the innovative human carrying drone–Ehang 184, at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this year. This makes EHang the first ever creator of passenger drones. Ehang 184 boasts of a comfortable cabin environment and offers a stable flight experience. Its dynamic balance and wind resistance ensures a bump-free flight even in windy conditions.

Weighing at 200 kgs, Ehang 184 can carry a maximum load of 100 kgs while offering an average speed of 100 km/hr. It requires a minimum 2 hour charging time and once fully charged, can offer a 23 minute flight at sea level. Sydney Morning Herald quotes the company executives saying that after setting the flight plan, passengers only need to give two commands: "take off" and "land." These instructions are controlled on a Microsoft Surface tablet.

China-based EHang, Inc. is a technology oriented company specializing in smart drone research, development, manufacturing and sales. The company claims to develop the easiest drones to fly in the world and are hoping to make drones accessible to everyone.

EHang was founded 2 years back in 2014 and has offices across China and one in San Francisco. It has already raised $10 million series A and $42 million series B funding and is rated one of the top 50 innovative Chinese companies in 2014. Their drones can be adapted to the requirements of different industries and can be used for filming, landscape mapping, news gathering, energy resource survey, search & rescue, investigation & monitoring, logistics and so on.

But there is still time before we actually see people travelling in the air. According to techradar, it is not clear how passenger drones will be received (by authorities and law makers). This is because, the idea of a human travelling inside a drone only complicates matters when it comes to drone policy. This means that it will take years for Ehang 184 to go in full production.

Source: First Flying Car Revealed! Human-Carrying Drone Coolest Thing at CES 2016

Is This the Autonomous Flying Taxi of Our Dreams?

Is the world of autonomous single-passenger drones just over the horizon? Will you be commuting like George Jetson next year? Today, a Chinese company called EHang made a splashy announcement at CES promising just that. But consider us skeptical.

The company says its 440-pound pilotless vehicle, called the 184, will hit the market at some unspecified date in the near future. The estimated cost? Anywhere from $300,000 to $400,000.

"After we launch it at CES, the goal is to do the commercialization within three to four months," EHang CFO Shang Hsaio told Wired. The definition of "commercialization" is never made clear, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

All EHang needs now is FAA approval, a vast network of air-traffic control monitors, and a way to figure out how to make the thing land safely after just 23 minutes in the air. Oh, we didn't mention that? Yeah, its battery lasts a rather humble 23 minutes, or about 10 miles. For a bit of perspective, that wouldn't even get you halfway from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. Also, the drone doesn't have any manual controls, so if the thing fails mid-flight it seems you're out of luck. (To extend our LA example, you'd be crashing somewhere around Culver City.)

http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/1923-envisions...

EHang is better known for making hobby drones like the Ghost Drone, but that doesn't make us any more optimistic that this thing will ever make it to market in the United States.

The latest trend in flying car vaporware seems to be producing tiny drones as "prototype" vehicles and claiming that your full-sized product is just waiting for FAA approval. Flying car companies like Moller International and Terrafugia have done just that. But just because you can make a small drone doesn't mean you can make something that A) flies safely enough to produce for the commercial market and B) will be granted FAA certification.

We have a century of similar promises about flying cars under our belt. So while we're rooting for EHang, even if it's ultimately just a toy for the rich, we're still not convinced that this thing will hit the US market anytime soon. In fact, I'd like to re-up my wager that if this thing hits the market in the next year or two, I'll literally eat the sun.

[Wired]

Photos via Associated Press

Source: Is This the Autonomous Flying Taxi of Our Dreams?

Indian scientists envision flying cars, virtual courts and e-sensing

Narendra Modi has come a long way from claiming that an elephant's head was fitted on a human body by Indian plastic surgeons in the ancient past. The Indian prime minister, who is now well-guarded about what he says, cannot afford to make similar statements at a science gathering.

This was evident when Modi unveiled "Technology Vision 2035" at the 103rd Indian Science Congress (ISC) in the southern city of Mysuru, formerly Mysore, near India's tech capital Bangalore.

Indian scientists are envisioning a range of future technologies from flying cars to virtual courtrooms to e-sensing to thorium-based reactors, riding piggyback on Modi's flagship "Make in India" initiative.

A state-run think tank for technology has released the document – with the foreword penned by Modi himself – listing the country's ambitious goals for the next two decades. The text states: "This is not a vision of technologies available in 2035 per se; rather, it is a vision where our country and compatriots should be in 2035 and how technology would bring this vision to fruition."

Health and education

The paper outlines the roadmap for India's key sectors including health, education, energy, and transportation. The think tank, Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (Tifac), which operates under the ministry of science and technology, had come out with a similar document in 1996 setting the goals for 2020.

Modi in his foreword writes: "The trajectories delineated as part of this 'Technology Vision 2035' along with its actualisation would not only lead to the desired quality of life for citizens but also boost our comprehensive national power."

The theme of the five-day science gathering, attended by dozens of scientists from across the world, is "science and technology for indigenous development in India", mirroring Modi's right-wing government, which swears by nationalist views and policies.

While addressing the delegates at the conference, Modi said: "It is also about integrating science and technology into the choices we make and the strategies we pursue. We will try to increase the level of resources for science, and deploy them in accordance with our strategic priorities. We will make it easier to do science and research in India, improve science administration, and expand the supply and improve the quality of science education and research in India."

The Modi-led government has been placing strong emphasis on excavating traditional knowledge from the past. At times, some of the key ministers, including the prime minister himself, have invited ridicule for making bizarre claims on the pretext of trumpeting India's ancient science. One of these was Modi's claim that Indian physicians must have performed plastic surgery to join an elephant's head to a human torso to create the mythical elephant-headed god, Ganesha.

Source: Indian scientists envision flying cars, virtual courts and e-sensing

Things to celebrate, like dreams of flying cars

In Star Wars, Han Solo's Millennium Falcon did the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs; in real life, all the Falcon 9 has done so far is land at Cape Canaveral without falling over or exploding. Yet I, like many nerds, was thrilled by that achievement, in part because it reinforced my growing optimism about the direction technology seems to be taking — a direction that may end up saving the world.

OK, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, the Falcon 9 is Elon Musk's reusable rocket, which is supposed to boost a payload into space, then return to where it can be launched again. If the concept works, it could drastically reduce the cost of putting stuff into orbit. And that successful landing was a milestone. We're still a very long way from space colonies and zero-gravity hotels, let alone galactic empires. But space technology is moving forward after decades of stagnation.

And to my amateur eye, this seems to be part of a broader trend, which is making me more hopeful for the future than I've been in a while.

You see, I got my Ph.D. in 1977, the year of the first Star Wars movie, which means that I have basically spent my whole professional life in an era of technological disappointment.

Until the 1970s, almost everyone believed that advancing technology would do in the future what it had done in the past: produce rapid, unmistakable improvement in just about every aspect of life. But it didn't. And while social factors — above all, soaring inequality — have played an important role in that disappointment, it's also true that in most respects technology has fallen short of expectations.

The most obvious example is travel, where cars and planes are no faster than they were when I was a student, and actual travel times have gone up, thanks to congestion and security lines. More generally, there has just been less progress in our command over the physical world — our ability to produce and deliver things — than almost anyone expected.

Now, there has been striking progress in our ability to process and transmit information. But while I like cat and concert videos as much as anyone, we're still talking about a limited slice of life: We are still living in a material world, and pushing information around can do only so much. The famous gibe by investor Peter Thiel ("We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.") is unfair but contains a large kernel of truth.

Over the past five or six years, however — or at least this is how it seems to me — technology has been getting physical again; once again, we're making progress in the world of things, not just information. And that's important.

Progress in rocketry is fun to watch, but the really big news is on energy, a field of truly immense disappointment until recently. For decades, unconventional energy technologies kept falling short of expectations, and it seemed as if nothing could end our dependence on oil and coal — bad news in the short run because of the prominence it gave to the Middle East; worse news in the long run because of global warming.

But now we're witnessing a revolution on multiple fronts. The biggest effects so far have come from fracking, which has ended fears about peak oil and could, if properly regulated, be some help on climate change: Fracked gas is still fossil fuel, but burning it generates a lot less greenhouse emissions than burning coal. The bigger revolution looking forward, however, is in renewable energy, where costs of wind and especially solar have dropped incredibly fast.

Why does this matter? Everyone who isn't ignorant or a Republican realizes that climate change is by far the biggest threat humanity faces. But how much will we have to sacrifice to meet that threat?

Well, you still hear claims, mostly from the right but also from a few people on the left, that we can't take effective action on climate without bringing an end to economic growth. Marco Rubio, for example, insists that trying to control emissions would "destroy our economy." This was never reasonable, but those of us asserting that protecting the environment was consistent with growth used to be somewhat vague about the details, simply asserting that given the right incentives the private sector would find a way.

But now we can see the shape of a sustainable, low-emission future quite clearly — basically an electrified economy with, yes, nuclear power playing some role, but sun and wind front and center. Of course, it doesn't have to happen. But if it doesn't, the problem will be politics, not technology.

True, I'm still waiting for flying cars, not to mention hyperdrive. But we have made enough progress in the technology of things that saving the world has suddenly become much more plausible. And that's reason to celebrate.

(Paul Krugman writes a syndicated column for the New York Times.)

Source: Things to celebrate, like dreams of flying cars

Despite Toyota Patent, Flying Cars, Though Technically Possible, Have A Long Way To Go Before They're Ready For The Masses

Toyota's recent "Aerocar" patent has thrust the subject of flying cars into the spotlight. The Japanese automaker's so called stackable wing seems to resolve one of the major challenges of flying-car design. Instead of wings stretching out from the sides of the vehicle, making it too wide for conventional roads, Toyota envisions a stack of multiple wings on top of the vehicle to provide the necessary aerodynamic lift.

That the patent was filed by the world's top automaker offers considerable legitimacy to the idea of a sky filled with high-flying commuters. But before you start making references to the flying taxis and police spinners of Hollywood fame, keep in mind that even existing prototypes shopped around by a small number of startups look more like hobbyist aircraft for people who can afford $300,000 toys. We're nowhere near the days of mass-producing flying Toyota Camrys.

Toyota has patented a "stacked wing" for an "aerocar." Last year a Toyota official said the company was exploring how to get a car to hover above the road to reduce friction. Photo: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

"It's incredibly inefficient," John Brown, a project manager at Carplane, a German company working on its own flying car, told the Washington Post about Toyota's stackable wing design. "And it may actually be too inefficient. You'd have to put it in a wind tunnel and see just how efficient it is."

Toyota has pointed out it's not working on full-fledged flying cars, but rather something akin to hovercraft. Speaking at a technology event in San Francisco last summer, Toyota official Hiroyoshi Yoshiki said his company is exploring how to get cars "a little bit away" from the road to reduce friction. No known prototype of the Toyota's design exists and like many patents, the stackable wing design may never be built.

A working protoype of a flying car from Terrafugia. The folding wings solves one problem for road-ready aircraft. Photo: Terrafugia

The idea of merging motor cars with airplanes has been around since the days of 19th century sci-fi writer Jules Verne, whose land-air-sea vehicle, the "Terror," was the subject of his short story "Master of the World," published in 1904. While the technology exists to build vehicles that can drive and fly, bigger challenges persist.

For one thing, unlike autonomous driving vehicles, flying cars would require considerable changes to infrastructure. Like airplanes, flying cars as they're being designed would need ample runway space for taking off and landing.

"Such a system would only succeed if infrastructure – air traffic control, landing space and so on – was set aside," wrote John Preston and Ben Waterson of the University of Southampton's Transportation Research Group in the Guardian late last year. "While flying cars could technically operate from airport to airport, what's the point? Until there are sufficient numbers to set aside pieces of land or roads for takeoff we won't achieve any of the benefits."

Other problems include more practical matters, such vehicle safety standards. Aircraft are by nature designed to be light while vehicles require considerable structural integrity to meet basic crash-safety standards. How to build an aircraft that would meet both requirements would be a design challenge.

Aeromobil's flying car concept has wings that retract wasp-like. Photo: Aeromobil

Bowing to pressure from flying car startups like Terrafugia, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in 2012 created a new classification to accommodate the vehicles, known as light-sport.

"The FAA coordinated with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration for the Terrafugia to determine the clear responsibility between the requirements for road operations and air operations," the FAA said in a statement to the New York Times in 2012.

The light-sport classification allows developers to build aircraft that are road ready, but that don't require the more stringent safety requirements of a typical car. For example, the road-ready light-sport aircraft can use motorcycle wheels and tires, and polycarbonate plastic windows instead of automotive glass that can shatter in bird strikes. Pilots can acquire licenses to drive the vehicle with just 20 hours of instruction, about a third of what required for a U.S. private pilot's license.

But nothing we've seen from the small number of startups would indicate a mass embrace of flying cars. For one thing, the price is prohibitive. Terrafugia says its flying car would start at $300,000. Flying cars from rivals AeroMobil, Moller International and PAL-V will cost about the same. So even if the infrastructure existed to accommodate a mass embrace of flying-car technology, the costs will keep it from filling the skies.

Source: Despite Toyota Patent, Flying Cars, Though Technically Possible, Have A Long Way To Go Before They're Ready For The Masses

Why the dream of the flying car hasn’t panned out

If you're ever bothered by the blind spots in the typical car today, then you would hate to drive a flying car.

But a new Toyota patent offers a solution to a classic flying car problem — awful blind spots and a vehicle that's too wide for roads, parking spaces and garages.

Flying cars are rare, but you can find a few in the wild. A handful of companies around the globe are developing them. A long list of challenges has held back flying cars since their initial creation almost a century ago. One problem is putting the wings on the side of the car, which blocks driver sight lines and makes the vehicle so wide that it's difficult to park and drive on roads.

Toyota's patent calls for stackable wings on top of a flying car.

"It's a very innovative idea," said Pete Schumacher, professor of aerodynamics at the University of North Dakota. "Will there be other problems? Yeah."

Stacking wings makes them less efficient. Wings work because the pressure is higher below than above them, which creates lift. But the high pressure beneath the top wing on Toyota's patent will interfere with the desired low pressure below the second highest wing.

"It's incredibly inefficient," said John Brown, a project manager at Carplane, a German company developing its own flying car. "And it may actually be too inefficient. You'd have to put it in a wind tunnel and see just how efficient it is."

Early planes such as the Wright Flyer had two wings. But as materials become stronger, the bi-wing approach was abandoned because of the efficiency advantages of a single wing.

Toyota did not respond to requests for comment.

While automakers such as Toyota are exploring new mobility services, car analysts don't expect flying cars to be on the market anytime soon.

"Flying cars are certainly an interesting concept, but are further away from realization than many of these concepts, for example autonomous vehicle sharing," said Thilo Koslowski, an automobile analyst at Gartner, a technology research firm.

Toyota has long invested in research and development. In November, it announced plans to invest $1 billion over five years in artificial intelligence, which could prove invaluable as autonomous vehicles arise. It's also bet on hydrogen fuel-cell cars as an alternative to internal combustion engines and once invested in Tesla Motors. Additionally, Toyota has ventured into nontraditional businesses such as home building.

There are other big challenges that would be issues for a flying car with wings on its roof. Melding two transportation forms — a car and a plane — creates problems.

"When I started out I thought, 'pretty simple problem, an automobile has an engine, an airplane has an engine. An automobile has a body, an airplane has a body,' " said K.P. Rice, a flying car developer and retired Marine pilot who has been devoted to the field for 35 years. "In the end, it gets to be quite a problem."

A car needs weight on its front and back wheels so that it can turn safely. But a plane needs its weight on its back wheels so it can take off and land safely.

Aircraft engines are air cooled, so they can't sit in traffic without overheating, whereas car engines are water cooled, which adds weight that's prohibitive to flying.

Flying cars are generally too wide for roads and can have stability issues while driving on highways because of crosswinds.

Rice is developing a flying car where the plane components detach and can be towed by the vehicle when driving on roads.

Here's a look at Rice's plan for a flying car. (Volante)

While work continues on the perfect form for a flying car, another huge issue comes up: price. Flying cars can cost 10 times as much as a traditional vehicle.

"One might argue that flight is the only solution to congestion," said Roger Lanctot, an auto analyst at Strategy Analytics. "But I think we can safely call this a niche market."

While Toyota's patent seems to solve the parking problem for flying cars, a lot of other questions remain before these vehicles really get off the ground.

Source: Why the dream of the flying car hasn't panned out