Watch This Self-Flying Quadcopter Land on a Car Traveling at 50 Kilometers an Hour

Micro air vehicles have notoriously short ranges, which limits the potential of the drone delivery business. But the ability to take off and land from moving vehicles could change that.

One of the great potential applications for automated drones is parcel delivery. But their limited range makes this challenging. So one idea is to carry drones on delivery trucks and use them to make the delivery over the last half mile or so and charge them when they get back. The drone would take off from the truck carrying a parcel and return after making the drop.  

The ability to take off and land on the vehicle while it is moving would make this particularly attractive. Such a delivery truck need never stop during its round.

Taking off from a moving vehicle is straightforward—it is generally equivalent to taking off on a windy day. But landing is a different story and raises an interesting question. Is it possible for an autonomous drone to land on a moving vehicle?

Today we get an answer thanks to the work of Alexandre Borowczyk and pals at the Mobile Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory in Montreal. They've used low-cost sensors to build a simple system that allows an autonomous drone to land on a moving vehicle.

The system consists of a landing pad marked with a 2-D bar code called an AprilTag and fitted with a mobile phone that broadcasts its GPS coordinates and any changes in motion.

The quadcopter is fitted with its own GPS unit and inertial measurement unit and so has a good idea of where it is in 3-D space. It also has a gimballed camera and an onboard chip for processing the images and plotting trajectories.

The landings occur in two phases. In the first, the quadcopter plots a trajectory to the ground vehicle using its own and the vehicle's positions.

In the second phase, it uses its onboard camera to locate the bar code on the landing pad and then uses this to navigate and land on the pad on the roof of the vehicle.

The results speak for themselves. Borowczyk and co have used their system to land an autonomous quadcopter on a vehicle moving at 30 km/h, 40km/h, and even at 50 km/h (see video). "We demonstrate experimentally automatic landing of a multirotor MAV on a moving ground vehicle traveling at the highest speed to date, with successful tests carried up to a speed of 50 km/h," they say.

That's impressive work that adds yet another brick to the infrastructure that could make drone deliveries possible sooner rather than later.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1611.07329: Autonomous Landing of a Multirotor Micro Air Vehicle on a High Velocity Ground Vehicle

Source: Watch This Self-Flying Quadcopter Land on a Car Traveling at 50 Kilometers an Hour

How do you unlock Final Fantasy 15’s flying car, the Regalia Type-F?

This past summer, Square Enix surprised fans with a revelation about the Regalia, the slick car that Final Fantasy 15's band of heroes use to traverse the countryside. The company revealed in a trailer that the car wouldn't just stick to the road; it can also take off and soar through the air.

Now that the game is out and players are finally jumping in after a 10-year wait, you may be wondering how to unlock the flight capabilities of the Regalia. As it turns out, this special ability isn't available until you're deep into the game, but we've got the method figured out for you.

So step one: Complete the game. Yep, that's right. You cannot actually access the Regalia Type-F until you've seen credits roll. Don't worry, though; between your trusty, regular ground-based vehicle and a healthy dose of fast travel, you should be able to get through Final Fantasy 15 smoothly.

Once you've completed the game, you'll be asked to make a post-game save. Load that save up, go to a rest area and call Umbra in order to teleport back to Lucis. Your next step is to track down the parts you need for the Regalia Type-F. One part is rewarded for taking down each of three major Niflheim military bases. They are:

Fermouth Garrison - located in northern Leide, near the Prairie Outpost

Aracheole Stronghold - southeast of Lestallum and northwest of the Disc

Fort Vaullerey - southwest of the Old Lestallum outpost

In all likelihood, you will complete the bottom two of these bases during the main story. As far as we could tell, though, Fermouth Garrison doesn't open up until post-game, so just load that save and drive over there to kill some Imperial soldiers and collect your last car part.

Once you have all three parts, you'll receive a quest titled "Into Unknown Frontiers," asking you to speak with Cindy. Drive over to Hammerhead and show her your new parts, at which point she'll install them into the Regalia, finally giving you the Type-F upgrade and the ability to fly.

Before you try zooming off around the world, there's a few things to know. First off, the Regalia Type-F is limited to operating in the land of Lucis itself. Given that the rest of the game is much more linear and doesn't allow open-world exploration, this makes sense, but sorry to disappoint if you were hoping to travel to unseen lands.

That's not to say the Regalia Type-F is a complete waste, however. There are certain areas that you couldn't access with the regular Regalia that are now reachable. In particular there's at least one hidden dungeon found by this Reddit user. It's a long and really cool dungeon that is very worth experiencing.

Beyond that, the Regalia Type-F does allow you to take the vehicle off the roads you've been stuck on for most of the game and enjoy seeing the world from a stunning new vantage point. It's not exactly game-changing, but it's a fun little reward once you've completed the story. Enjoy it!

For more on Final Fantasy 15, check out our full review of the game.

Source: How do you unlock Final Fantasy 15's flying car, the Regalia Type-F?

Hollywood vs. the car of the future: What movieland misses with future cars

This post comes from Autoblog Open Road, our contributor network. The author is solely responsible for the content, and any opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Autoblog and its editors.

Why can't Hollywood ever get the car of the future right? With the exception of dystopian films like Mad Max, the predictions of the future mobility consistently lack relevancy. Most of the time, the cars depicted are shielded from reality under an umbrella of pseudoscience and the pretense of indescribable technologies. Is it possible for movie makers to provide a vision worth aspiring to?

When debating the feasibility of vehicles depicted in films it's necessary to suspend disbelief regarding the fundamentals of life on Earth...namely physics. Countless movies have featured the flying car that subversively mocks viewers with the deus ex machina of a world free of select physical limitations. It's flippant to suggest such a premise since the viewer is expected to believe society (and the characters) would still be burdened with minor dilemmas while capable of defying natural law. While fictional society has selectively solved physics, it still can't solve petty issues like crime. Films like Blade Runner suggest that it's possible to lift a vehicle into thin air, but impossible to have a crime rate equivalent to Switzerland in the late nineties.

Worse still are the movies where filmmakers modify existing cars with tack-on modifications to insinuate four-wheeled futurist fantasies. This technique is unfortunately very common and is usually due to lower budgets or production designers who lack creativity. To consider this unimaginative would be ignoring the most obvious problem. If the car even exists in a distant future, it should be radically different since there's plenty of room for improvement now. Can this be forgiven as an oversight in otherwise ambitious artistic endeavors? Unfortunately, it can't. In the same way that it's not accurate to have a sma rtphone in a western; it's not accurate to suggest a future flooded with facsimile designs utilizing bolt-on appendages. Futuristic films are an opportunity to articulate and visualize the potential of humankind not to highlight its vehicular shortcomings.

In spite of the reels of vehicular sins depicted on celluloid, there's one film one that stands out. That particular film is called Minority Report. When Steven Spielberg helmed the production, he took the responsibility to research what leading designers and civil engineers thought could be possible. They predicted autonomous cars with ra dically different seating arrangements and even foresaw cars scaling buildings and vertical highways. While these concepts are still considered advantageous today, they are within aspirational reach. The movie also featured more conventional cars to help balance the scenario. However, all of the cars were significantly more aesthetically daring than what the public's accustomed to.

Hollywood, it's time to dream a new dream. It can't be a blatantly tangential reality juxtaposed on antiquated belief systems and inadequacies. It should cohesively combine its elements to best convey the story...authentically. Social commentary is an ART that should be above taking shortcuts or suffering from creative blockades.

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Source: Hollywood vs. the car of the future: What movieland misses with future cars

Internet weirdos will keep entertained until my flying car comes along

When I was a kid, I read an absurd amount of science fiction, and it was oddly comforting. Growing up in the country miles away from other kids in the 1970s was fine and dandy. Why? Because I knew from the books on my shelves that by the time I turned 40, my robot chauffeur would be piloting my flying car to the teleporter that would take me to my job as president of the United States and Federated Galaxies.

Liar, liar, the future's pants are on fire. I'm in my 40s, and I see no flying car. All I have is a Hyundai that yells "RECALCULATING!" at me while remaining disappointingly Earthbound. I'm not teleporting anywhere, and don't get me started on my failed ascent to the presidency.

The future might not be all it was cracked up to be in the paperback books of the 1970s, but we do have one impressive technological achievement going for us: the internet. It's broken new ground in communication and commerce. It's given us everything from cat videos to Justin Bieber. It is simultaneously the world's greatest time-saver and time-waster.

But mostly, I love the internet for its infinite supply of weirdness.

I used to think I was a weird guy. But once you start surfing the web, you discover nearly everyone is off-center a little bit. You might do something quirky, but you always can find someone on the internet doing things a heck of a lot quirkier. I might sleep with my socks on, but that doesn't seem so bad when you discover there's a website devoted exclusively to fan-fiction stories about covering the late musician Roy Orbison in Saran Wrap.

Enjoy dressing up like a furry animal? There's a whole online subculture out there for you. Harbor a fantasy about  hypnotizing strangers? There's a website for that, too. Want to study amateur taxidermy to learn how to sew 10 dead rats together to make something called a "ratipede"? That site really exists. 

But recently, I stumbled into what might be the weirdest online subculture I've ever found, and I'm a little extra freaked out -- because I might be one of them.

Have you ever been overcome by a tingly sensation in your body when you're happy or relaxed? Kind of a euphoric goosebump-y feeling that starts in your scalp and moves down the back of your neck and upper spine? I'm pretty sure I have. Like when I'm at a concert and the lights go out, and I know I'm seconds away from seeing one of my favorite bands. Or if I'm super relaxed and someone runs their fingers through my hair. Until now, I always just dismissed this as passing goosebumps.

Well, not only is that feeling an actual thing, but there are people and websites devoted to it. It's called ASMR -- autonomous sensory meridian response -- and it's one weird world.

I was about two hours deep in a rabbit hole of binge-watching random videos on Youtube when I happened upon my first ASMR video. In it, a young woman sits in front of a camera -- and brushes her hair for seven minutes. The volume is artificially enhanced so you can hear every brush stroke. Meanwhile, she narrates the process in a voice that's barely a whisper. It was the single silliest thing I'd seen in a long while, the kind of video to which the only possible response is, "What the ...?" Welcome to the world of ASMR.

According to Wikipedia, the "tingly" sensation of ASMR usually is precipitated by some kind of trigger stimulus. A majority of folks prone to this sensation claim it can be triggered by listening to a soft-spoken whispery voice or the quiet repetitive sounds associated with mundane tasks such as turning the pages in a book, brushing hair or preparing food.

It turns out people are watching this whispering woman brushing her hair in hopes of triggering euphoric brain tingles -- and it's but one of HUNDREDS of ASMR videos out there.

It didn't take me long to find Tony Bomboni, an ASMR enthusiast known for his videos in which, among other things, he quietly scoops ice cream for 20 minutes while whispering to you. In another video, he cleans his ears with a Q-Tip for a full hour. But none of that could prepare me for the popular ASMR video creator who goes by the moniker Kluna Tik. Kluna's videos are all first-person visuals of someone eating imaginary meals -- except that the biting and chomping sounds are all highly exaggerated, and through the magic of stop-motion animation, the "meals" usually consist of things such as bricks, crayons and, yes, dirty Q-Tips (that perhaps he got from Tony Bomboni).

My instinct is to dismiss this as some kind of wacky perverted fetish, but members of the ASMR community go out of their way to insist there's nothing sexual about their hobby. Instead, they swear it's just a way to relax, experience some tingles, and go to sleep. As someone who might have experienced ASMR before, a little part of me was terrified I might see these videos, start tingling and become an ASMR junkie.

Happily, the only thing these videos triggered in me was laughter, mild revulsion and the deep satisfaction that comes from knowing I'm not as weird as I thought I was. So, have at it, friends. If listening to people whisper gives you tingles, then tingle away. The internet's a mighty big place, and we have room for all kinds of fellow weirdos.

If nothing else, it certainly gives me something to watch until the day my car starts flying.

Source: Internet weirdos will keep entertained until my flying car comes along

Power Crystals, Flying Cars, and Summons - Final Fantasy 15 in Real Life

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Source: Power Crystals, Flying Cars, and Summons - Final Fantasy 15 in Real Life

the future

Self-driving cars, ride-sharing, electric-powered vehicles: how deeply will the motoring trends of 2016 have penetrated through the city by 2026?

Where's my flying car, right? They're working on it, but even by 2026 traffic won't be ready for take-off. Cars will be more autonomous and more connected than ever before, but they won't have gained in altitude.

Instead they'll have picked up some advanced social skills. Such as, knowing where you want to go and what time you need to leave; suggesting you bus or train it instead because the traffic's bad; reminding you to pick up some milk on the way home.

The car industry will change more in the next five to 10 years than it has in the past 50, driven by the convergence of connectivity, electrification and changing customer needs says Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of General Motors. A vehicle won't be just a tool to get you to your destination, though it will still be that. It will be a "mobile rolling device", she says. And it will understand you to an extent that won't seem so uncanny by then.

Cars will be fully integrated with our digital lives and synced with our calendars and social media. They will know our plans before we get in, as well as our habits, preferred service stations, fast food outlets, taste in podcasts and even driving mood via our playlist choice. "Once you start unlocking access to the vehicle via connectivity, you get a bunch of services like never before," says George Parthimos, CEO of Connexion, a Melbourne-based company that makes software for internet-connected cars.

"Hands-off" technology will be more widely available, but cars won't be driving themselves, other than for long enough to, say, make a video call or compose an email. As Techradar reports, the latest BMW 7 series already lets you take your hands off the wheel for up to 15 seconds, and stays centred in a lane at high speeds. But it will be 10 to 20 years before you can expect a car to drive you safely from door to door, Parthimos says. Safety and security is a "massive area", and "they want to make sure they get that right. You don't want hackers to take control of your car," he says.

When integrated into the "Internet of Things" ecosystem, cars will be able to "understand the requirements of your home" and so provide individualised service. "They almost become your butler," says Parthimos.

That's another level on from apps such as Toyota Link, which gives drivers directions, weather information and real-time advice on where to find cheap fuel. It lets them search accommodation, restaurants and businesses in their area while listening to their choice of playlist through the internet music streaming service Pandora, all through the vehicle's audio unit, using Bluetooth and a compatible smartphone.

By 2026 cars will communicate with each other and share information about traffic flow, mishaps, speed and road and weather conditions. If a car stops suddenly or is in danger of hitting another vehicle, all the cars around it will instantly know. They'll be alert and alarmed, with some able to take partial control of the brakes or steering to help avoid a collision.

They'll also be connected to road infrastructure like smart highways and traffic lights, so they can not only self-correct if straying from their lanes, but propose a change of plan en route based on real-time conditions. They'll feed us information via augmented-reality, videogame-style smart displays that blur the distinction between road and screen.

And cars will also have to engage with government-imposed measures to try to address congestion.

"You can't build a city out of congestion," says Chinh Ho, a senior researcher from Sydney University's Institute of Transport and Logistic Studies. "In order to reduce congestion you have to target people who use cars at the moment and get them out of their cars. The only way is to increase the cost and provide more affordable public transport.

To this end, governments continue to examine ways in which motorists might be charged according to how far and when they travel – on all roads, not just dedicated tollways. The Turnbull government is looking at a system of road pricing for heavy vehicles, which would more closely link vehicle charges to their driving kilometres. And, ambitiously perhaps, the federal government has said it will investigate the "potential next steps of options to introduce cost-reflective road pricing for all vehicles".

There'll also be more ride-sharing, and more vehicles powered by electricity. The vehicle fleet will be a mix of combustion, electric and hybrid.

Elon Musk's Tesla Motors is basking in the caressing spotlight reserved for disruptors while burning through investors' cash. But it's the mainstream car companies that will set the future of the car over the next decade, as Bloomberg argues. VW intends spending $US11.2 billion on electric cars with the expectation that up to 25 per cent of its unit sales will be electric by 2025.

By 2026, battery life will have extended so electric vehicles can range up to 800km instead of the current 500km, and batteries will have come down in price. As that happens, the advantages over combustion engines will be more prominent: less maintenance, better air quality, smoother driving, faster acceleration. Logic will be on their side, as Bloomberg notes, because electric vehicles are a vastly superior platform for all the things we expect of cars: autonomous driving, infotainment, connected vehicle and transport-as-a-service technologies. "It simply makes no sense to have an inherently analogue power unit – vibrating, volatile-liquid-consuming, hot-polluting-exhaust-producing – at the heart of a fully digital, sensor-pervaded, solid-state-electronics-controlled system."

Source: the future

VINCheckPro Report Flying Cars Will Soar Into Reality as Early as 2017

The advent of futuristic flying cars is on the horizon as companies like PAL-V and AeroMobil begin to take orders.

Omaha, NE, November 24, 2016 --(PR.com)-- What once was considered Jetson futuristic is soaring rapidly towards reality, as flying cars take flight as early as 2017, thanks to companies like PAL-V and AeroMobil, who have taken the concept to prototype reality and soon into the commercial market.

PAL-V One is not a concept, but a reality that is set to hit the road and air as soon as 2017. Since the prototype's successful maiden flight in 2015, the Dutch PAL-V One has been preparing for its commercial debut, which can come as early as next year in being accessible in free VIN check searches. A two-passenger seater, the PAL-V can take off and land in a space of 660 x 100 feet, taking just ten minutes to open its rotor blades and transform from three-wheeled automobile to helicopter. In the air, the PAL-V one can go from zero to 60 mph in just eight seconds. The v ehicle can fly up to 220 miles at a max speed of 112 mph, or it can traverse 750 miles on land at a top speed of 106 mph. 90 vehicles will be available starting as early as 2017 for a price tag of $600,000.

Quickly behind in the flying race is the Slovakian AeroMobil, also prepared to begin taking orders for its flying cars as soon as 2017 for delivery in 2018. The first flight occurred in 2013 and has undergone four versions leading up to the AeroMobil 3.0. The 3.0 model has wings that allow for a variable angle of attack, which allows it to take off from truncated runways and rocky terrain. Because it has wings rather than blades, the AeroMobil 3.0 does require a runway for takeoff and landing, although it has been designed specifically for taking off and landing on grass strips.

According to David Richards, the former chairman of Aston Martin who now also sits on Aeromobil's advisory board, "We have a framework that allows us to operate our vehicles right now – today. We're designing the vehicle around current roadgoing and flight regulations." Expounding upon the underlying philosophy, Richards shares, "So our view is the flexibility and freedom that our car provides will very much re-engage the 'go-somewhere-when-you-want-to' type attitude."

Other companies like Boston's Terrafugia and China's Ehang are bringing their autonomously driving and flying vehicles from concept to reality. Terrafugia's TF-X model is an automated vehicle utilizing a tilt rotor design that marries a helicopter takeoff with the flight of an airplane. The Ehang 184, on the other hand, is a completely autonomously piloted electric drone with a passenger cabin embedded above. The passenger simply needs to enter the destination address into the navigation system.

Flying cars are just on the horizon, and 2017 promises to be a soaring year as these new vehicles take flight. Moshe Ma-Yafit, director of VINCheckPro.com, added "The developme nts in the transportation space are inspiring, with tremendous progress achieved in such a rapid period of time. We're very excited to witness the industry change and are already planning to expand our VIN report services from autos to flying cars as the environment changes."

About VINCheckPro.com: A leading VIN lookup report firm, VINCheckPro.com provides tremendous value for consumers seeking to access VIN number reports at less than half the price of the competition.

Source: VINCheckPro Report Flying Cars Will Soar Into Reality as Early as 2017

COMMENTARY: Uber’s flying car vision won’t fly without NextGen

Uber's recent report outlining its vision for the potential of autonomous flying cars has captured the imagination of city dwellers and commuters worldwide. Who wouldn't enjoy care-free flying in 10 years that eliminates gridlock at 200mph?

The image of effortless, on-demand, point-to-point flight is intriguing.  While the vision of this type of transportation has been around since the Jetsons, the possible reality of such flight seems closer than ever. However, the actuality is that without significant investment in the US' Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), this futuristic vision will never get off the ground. While stories reporting Uber's plans for flying taxis said the infrastructure is in place, this couldn't be further from the truth.  But it could be within reach if Congress appropriately funds FAA.

AIA vice president for civil aviation Ali Bahrami said to CNN, "It's great to have these ideas. It forces everyone to start thinking differently. Eventually we will get to that stage.  The reality is it won't be as quick or optimistic as the paper seems to imply."

So why is NextGen so critical? It is a comprehensive suite of upgrades, technologies and procedures that improves every phase of flight and enables aircraft to move more efficiently and safely from departure to arrival. This is key.  If these airborne Uber vehicles cannot fly direct to their destinations and safely maneuver without colliding, few riders will be willing to climb aboard.

So far, with initial NextGen capabilities already in place nationwide, FAA has measured $1.6 billion in benefits to the airlines and the traveling public. They expect an additional $11.4 billion in benefits once other improvements are added over the next 15 years.  For the future of all drones to be realized, both large and small, a fully-functional NextGen system, improving the daily operations and safety of the entire air space is critical.

Full support of NextGen is tied to a number of other actions associated with FAA, but none more important than FAA reauthorization, which has been stalled for more than a year. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 expired in 2015. That legislation took Congress more than four years and 23 extensions before the bill was passed!  As a result of this last painful reauthorization experience, AIA, along with other industry associations, worked hard to reach agreement early in the process and work with Congress to achieve timely reauthorization of the FAA.  Congress must quickly act to pass the FAA reauthorization early next year so we can move forward.  Too much is at stake to keep slowing the process with further extensions and maintaining an inadequate funding profile.

In addition to Uber's vision, larger drones of all types are where the industry is rising to produce the next big thing. Drones capable of delivering all-types of goods and services, and even transporting people can become common-place once certification, see-and-avoid technologies and safe navigation are clear and ready.

So do we want new and exciting transportation options?  Do we want a future free from traffic jams and congested highways? Let's not allow a lack of investment in aviation infrastructure to bar this new reality.

NextGen specifically will allow the flexibility needed for piloted aircraft and drones to operate safely together. And, while thousands of people will again find drones under their holiday trees this season, we can look forward to larger people-carrying versions in holidays to come. 

David F. Melcher is president & CEO of Aerospace Industries Association in the US, an education and advocacy organization representing over 300 companies in the aerospace and defense industry.  Melcher develops the strategy for the association and works with member CEOs to advocate for the industry. 

Source: COMMENTARY: Uber's flying car vision won't fly without NextGen

Andreessen Talks Flying Cars and Fleeing Jobs

TechCrunch | Flickr

A quarter century ago, Marc Andreessen pioneered the web browser, and as a venture capitalist today he remains a fount of capitalist optimism. In an interview with The Verge, Andreessen says he still hears a "steady drumbeat of empowerment and opportunity coming underneath what looks like a very stressed, very angry time."

He also thinks the autonomous-vehicle-driven future may take longer to arrive than we expect — the transition will be slow and complex, as NewCo's John Battelle has argued. But flying cars might well come sooner than you think. "I don't know if they'll get them to work," he admits, but if there's a breakthrough in battery tech, get ready.

Andreessen argues that the U.S. now has two different economies — one, led by tech, where giant leaps in productivity have transformed work and driven costs down, and the other, concentrated in healthcare and education, where labor costs dominate and keep rising. Startups are beginning to tackle those industries today, and they could start transforming very quickly — or, Andreessen admits, "the other possibility is this is just pure hubris, and five years from now you're going to play this back and you'll be like, 'Aha! Dot-com bubble 2.0.' "

If a tech-driven productivity boom shakes up the service economy, what happens to all the workers? Andreessen reminds us that the economy is furiously creating and destroying jobs — more than 20 million a year, roughly — so there's more room to absorb change than we think.

Source: Andreessen Talks Flying Cars and Fleeing Jobs

10 Things ‘The Jetsons’ Correctly Predicted About the Future

Are you old enough to remember The Jetsons?

In 1962, Hanna-Barbera wowed audiences with a totally-automated, futuristic, foldable flying car, and robot-loving family that changed television.

These space-age shows weren't new, but, debuting as the first color program on ABC-TV, The Jetsons stuck with us as the quintessential image of where we surely would be headed in the 21st century.

Yet here we are in 2016, and our world today may feel closer to 1962 that it does to Orbit City. In some ways, however, The Jetsons did get things right about the future, though more so in terms of technology and devices than actual social issues. Regardless, writer Jeffrey Tucker argues, "The whole scene – which anticipated so much of the technology we have today but, strangely, not email or texting – reflected the ethos of time: a love of progress and a vision of a future that stayed on course [….] The Jetsons' world is our world: explosive technological advances, entrenched bourgeois culture, a culture of enterprise that is the very font of the good life."

Source: Warner Bros. Television Distribution

Are we living in the future?

Meet George Jetson... and every prediction the show got right!
Source: 10 Things 'The Jetsons' Correctly Predicted About the Future

Flying Robot Ambulance Finally Takes Its First Flight

What weighs 2,400 pounds, flies 100 miles per hour, and doesn't haven't a pilot? An anonymous reader writes:This week Popular Science remembers a 2007 article which discovered "an amazing machine of the future, almost like a flying car, that seemed plausible but just out of reach" -- and reports that it's now finally performed "a full, autonomous flight on a preplanned route." Designed to provide unmanned emergency evacuations, it's been described as "a hovercar-like aircraft" flown with a built-in AI-controlled flight system.

Tuesday's route was two minutes long, and "According to Urban Aeronautics, the vehicle's Flight Control System made the decision to land too early." But what's significant is there's no human pilot. "Decisions by the flight controls are checked by the craft's flight management system, like a pilot overseen by a captain...all informed by an array of sensors, including 'two laser altimeters, a radar altimeter, inertial sensors, and an electro-optic payload came ra.'"

The test brings the giant unmanned vehicle one step closer to its ultimate goal of becoming "a robot that can fly inside cities, weaving between buildings and hovering above any dangers on the ground below."
Source: Flying Robot Ambulance Finally Takes Its First Flight

2017 Bentley Flying Spur

The Bentley Flying Spur is a potent symbol of status and wealth. Even $100,000 luxosedans seem a pale imitation of the Spur's quiet opulence. Offered in V8, V8 S, W12, and the new W12 S models, the Flying Spur has as much hand-finished wood and hand-stitched leather as any vehicle on the planet--a perfect companion to its stately presence. Drive one, and it's obvious that you've arrived.

We give the Bentley Flying Spur a 7.2 out of 10 for its blend of elegant design, interior luxury, and tremendous power. (Read more about how we rate cars.)

Bentley used to badge the Flying Spur as a Continental, but in 2014 Bentley split its lineup, making the coupes and convertibles Continentals and the sedan the Flying Spur.

Compared to the Continental, the grille stands more upright, and the Spur transitions from front to back into a more crisply tailored look: the fenders flare more, the roof pillars are more angular, and the taillights are squared off. The overall design is pared down of extraneous details. For example, the oval LED headlamps have no surrounds and they are larger outboard than inboard, which is the opposite of the Conti GT. Bentley distinguishes between the 8- and 12-cylinder versions with some small differences: V-8 cars have red-backed badges, a black-finished grille, and a figure-eight exhaust tip, while the W-12 cars have oval exhaust finishers, a chromed grille, and black-background badging.

The ride and handling are tuned for a wide range of behavior thanks in part to standard adaptive dampers can alter the ride and roll stiffness. It is more plush on one end, more firm and responsive on the other. That's important because the Flying Spur needs to appeal to buyers in China, America, Russia, and Britain, among other markets.

Light, natural steering feel complements the early-warning traction signals built into the grippy Pirelli P-Zero tires. The Spur's more than willing to dive into tight corners, and setting its adaptive dampers to Sport gives it the lateral confidence to back up its promise, though it's less compliant when the road unkinks. The V-8 model is a bit more nimble, the consequence of having 300 pounds less sitting on its nose.

Two powertrains are offered, each in two states of tune. It starts with the Audi-sourced, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 with cylinder deactivation. It pushes out 500 horsepower and 487 pound-feet of torque, good for a 0 to 60 mph time quoted at 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 183 mph. In the V8 S, the 4.0 makes 521 hp and 502 lb-ft of torque, cutting the 0 to 60 mph time to 4.6 seconds and raising the top speed to 190 mph.

Executives say the 6.0-liter W-12 is the brand's hallmark. Output in the W12 model is 616 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. The new W12 S puts out 626 hp and 605 lb-ft of torque. Both versions are coupled to an 8-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive with a variable torque split set at 40/60 is standard, but Bentley says it is capable of shifting to 65 percent front or 85 percent rear as traction needs arise. Bentley quotes a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.3 seconds and an astonishing top speed of 200 mph for the W12 model; for the W12 S, those numbers are 4.2 seconds and 202 mph--all for a car that weighs almost 5,500 pounds. It reels off whiplashes of power, controlled deftly by a paddle-shifted transmission that merits wheel-mounted, heavy-gauge paddles—not the flimsy ones it's given.

The Flying Spur's interior remains a luxury paradigm: it's functionally fit, fabulously finished, and bespoke to a certain degree in its palette of trim and color choices. Quiet and tastefully rendered, the Flying Spur's cabin is filled with muted details, and studded with "B" logos. It's as much a cozy library of timeless car lines and finishes as it is a housing for Bentley's state-of-the-art infotainment technology.

A suite of infotainment services is matched to the Bentley's mission in life and to the executive levels of charm found inside. The large LCD screen can be controlled by front-seat passengers, as well as by back-seat passengers via remote control. The remote also governs the twin 10-inch flat screens embedded in the front-seat headrests, offering rear-seat passengers entertainment and in-car internet and wireless connectivity.

Numerous interior leather colors, stitching colors, and wood trims are offered—a palette that runs from sober grey to magnificent damson. A Mulliner Driving Specification adds the best flourishes: diamond-quilted seats, drilled alloy foot pedals, a knurled sports shift lever, jeweled filler cap, and 20- or 21-inch two-piece alloy wheels. An optional Naim 1,100-watt audio system is available. The cabin can be trimmed out as a four-seater with 14-way power adjustment and memory, heating and ventilation at all seating positions, or with a "plus-one" middle seat without those added controls.

A Beluga specification for the V-8 model features a unique look inside and out. The exterior gets exclusive 20-inch black and bright machined alloy wheels and a gloss black radiator with a body-color lower grille bar. Inside, it has piano black trim, knurled gear shift paddles, contrast stitching on the seats and steering wheel, pile carpet floor mats, and boot carpet with contrasting leather binding.

Pricing starts around $200,000 for the V-8 model and $220,000 for the W-12, not including the stiff $2,725 destination charge and $2,600 gas-guzzler tax.

The gas-guzzler tax is apropos; the V-8 Flying Spur manages 14 mpg city, 24 highway, 17 combined. When equipped with a W-12 those numbers drop to 12/20/15 mpg.

Source: 2017 Bentley Flying Spur

Nebraska school urges students not to fly American flags on their cars, ‘out of an abundance of caution’

Margaret Reist (Lincoln Journal Star) reports:

Concerns about student safety [stemming from potential confrontations] and potential disruptions prompted administrators at Lincoln Public Schools' Career Academy to ask welding students not to fly U.S. flags on their vehicles from holders they made in class….

The directive prohibiting displaying the flags in the school's parking lot was prompted by an incident on Friday, when a Southeast Community College student [for unknown reasons] removed one of the flags from a holder and put it in the bed of a pickup next to the vehicle flying the flag.

Seven or eight welding students had flown the flags in recognition of Veterans Day with permission of Career Academy officials, who thought it was a great ending to the students' welding project, [Career Academy Director Dan] Hohensee said….

"[O]ut of an abundance of caution" for both LPS and SCC students, Career Academy administrators asked students not to fly the flags again in the parking lot.

Hohensee said administrators worried that another such incident could result in a personal confrontation or property damage….

That's different than flying a full-sized flag, which was appropriate on Veterans Day but on other days could be misinterpreted in light of the divisive election and anxiety like that expressed by Nebraska Latinos in a recent news story, Hohensee said.

Isn't there a passage about that in the Star-Spangled Banner — "from abundance of caution was gallantly lowered"?

Fortunately, Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel has disavowed the school's request:

"We respect the rights of students to display their flags. We should not have asked our students to remove them. We believe that decision was in error and we believe this could easily and understandably have been misinterpreted as infringing on rights of freedom of expression and speech."

Yet the initial decision — which echoes a California school's prohibition some years ago on students wearing the American flag on Cinco de Mayo — remains troubling. And it's troubling also for how it bears on the debates about immigration.

I think having more legal immigration to America is important to continued American greatness. (I say this as an immigrant myself, but I think non-immigrants have reason to take the same view.) But if immigration means reduction in our rights as Americans — the right to fly American flags, whether as a sign of patriotism or as an expression of sentiments critical of immigration, the right to own guns, or other rights — then those costs to freedom may well outweigh the benefits that immigration might provide.

If our leaders make clear that they will act boldly to defend our rights, whether against threats from recent immigrants (or the children of recent immigrants) or from the native-born, then we might feel that our rights will indeed remain secure. But if their reaction is to urge people to refrain from exercising their rights, "out of an abundance of caution" — on the theory that flying our country's flags might yield "personal confrontation or property damage" because it "could be misinterpreted in light of the divisive election and anxiety like that expressed by Nebraska Latinos in a recent news story" — then we have legitimate cause to worry about the consequences of immigration for our freedoms.

Source: Nebraska school urges students not to fly American flags on their cars, 'out of an abundance of caution'

Electric VTOL aviation brings Jetsons-style flying cars closer to reality

NSFW    AMERICA — Ever since the Jetson's, we've all looked forward to the promise of flying cars. But it's not just a Hollywood dream anymore.

Several companies hope to bring electric VTOL vehicles to the skies. That's V - T - O - L … for vertical take-off and landing.

Imagine leaving the office after a long day's work. You go to your VTOL vehicle parked on the roof of your office. Within minutes, you're soaring above skyscrapers and busy commuter traffic.

There are no traffic jams for you. A half hour later, you're at your luxury villa by the beach. Sound far fetched?

It's not if you're Google co-founder Larry Page. Page is backing Zee.Areo, which is developing an electric VTOL vehicle.

Lilium Jet is another electric VTOL craft aimed at the masses. Lilium Aviation, based in Germany, is planning a VTOL with 36 electric fans in the wings. Its aircraft would reach a maximum cruising speed of 180 miles per hour.

The S2 from Joby Aviation will get you there in style. California-based Joby says the two-seater could reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour.

Even ride-sharing service Uber thinks one day passengers will take VTOLs to work.

Funding is also coming from DARPA, which is supporting several VTOL concepts like the Phantom Swift from Boeing. The Phantom Swift will initially use a General Electric CT7-8 engine, but there are plans to switch to an all-electric drive.

Experts caution it could be decades before VTOL aviation is fully developed. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer. The Jetsons envisioned flying cars more than 50 years ago.

Source: Electric VTOL aviation brings Jetsons-style flying cars closer to reality

L.A. Auto Show 2016 live updates: Mercedes exec says human drivers will bully robot cars

Morning commute got you down? Imagine flying over the worst parts of traffic, making a smooth landing and cruising into work or home.

That's the sort of future Dezso Molnar, a rocket scientist and inventor of several flying car models, is working to create.

His latest model, the Molnar GT, has the speed and agility for road travel and the lightweight materials needed to help the vehicle soar.

As the population continues to grow, Molnar sees flying cars as an alternative travel option in densely populated areas.

"In the future, there's not going to be any gas," Molnar said at his L.A. Auto Show chat. "Congestion is only on the upswing."

The flying car is not new. Molnar estimates that there have been about 100 flying cars throughout history.

In 2017, he will debut the flying car race, which will convene teams and their vehicles to compete, by air and by ground, between El Mirage Dry Lake and Border City, Nev. Molnar said he believes th e competition will generate new ideas and future development, but for now you'll have to keep enduring that L.A. commute.

Check out Molnar's team testing another model, the Molnar G2, below:

Source: L.A. Auto Show 2016 live updates: Mercedes exec says human drivers will bully robot cars

The Time the Flying Car and Inventions Around Us by Aleksandr Anufriyev

About The Time the Flying Car and Inventions Around Us by Aleksandr Anufriyev:

3 books in 1.Is it even possible?!To travel in time?If you don't know how to explain to your kids, your friends or your students about what Time means, then in this book you will find the answers.Book about the Time.Book about the Flying Car.Book about Inventions around us.

Buy the book, and follow the author on social media:Buy the Book On Amazon.Visit the Facebook Fan Page.Visit the Twitter page.

Author Bio:Aleksandr Anufriyev grew up in Balakovo, Russia, and graduated from Saratov Polytechnic Institute.His major speciality is electromechanical engineering.Now he lives in Lansing, Michigan, USA.He wants to be a writer.His first book was " The Flying car".The second one was "Inventions Around Us".Lastly, his third book was called "Time".He loves to read good books.And he wants to write good books.

Source: The Time the Flying Car and Inventions Around Us by Aleksandr Anufriyev

Flying Cars: The Drive for Personal Commuter Aircraft

Airbus aims to fly a full-size prototype of the Vahana, an autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for personal use, before the end of 2017. Image via Airbus

APEX Insight: Airbus and Uber are veering toward autonomous vertical takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft, but must first perfect their use of ultralight materials and artificial intelligence, and obtain regulatory approval.

A March 1926 Popular Science article titled "Folks Who Fly Their Own Airplanes" discussed the private use of aircraft for daily personal journeys. The notion of the flying car – or, more accurately, very small personal aircraft – has been around for a long time, and the sci-fi dream is now within reach.

Yesterday's Dream of Tomorrow

Sky Innovations, made up of some forward-thinking Boeing employees, unveiled the Sky Commuter prototype in 1990. Evoking the stylings of early Battlestar Galactica, the Sky Commuter had everything but an engine. Alas, Sky Innovations burned brightly yet briefly, leaving only a prototype behind as it vanished into the footnotes of aviation history. That Sky Commuter prototype sold at auction for just over $70,000 last year.

Drone technology is nudging the notion of the flying car closer to reality, though: distributing lift between multiple rotors makes it easier to fly via electric power. Efficiency is key for commuting aircraft, so they don't just flop down onto the patio, disrupting your late-morning coffee.

As batteries are getting lighter and more capacious, materials technology is also improving. The stuff from which we build both the interior and exterior of an aircraft is getting lighter and stronger. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is getting smarter. When whizzing through the cityscape, obstacle detection and avoidance have to be on point. This is a key blocker between us and a Jetsons-style future: Flying cars can only become viable once we've reliably solved the self-driving conundrum.

Airbus' "Air Car"

Through its A³ subsidiary, Airbus is designing an autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for personal use.  Unlike the Harrier jets of yore, the Vahana is an octocopter. As Rodin Layoff, CEO of Airbus' subsidiary A³, wrote in a blog post, the team is going full throttle: "The aircraft we're building doesn't need a runway, is self-piloted, and can automatically detect and avoid obstacles and other aircraft. Designed to carry a single passenger or cargo, we're aiming to make it the first certified passenger aircraft without a pilot. We aim to fly a full-size prototype before the end of 2017, and to have a productizable demonstrator by 2020."

"We aim to fly a full-size prototype before the end of 2017, and to have a productizable demonstrator by 2020." – Rodin Layoff, A³

Meanwhile, Germany's e-volo scoffs at a mere eight rotors, arguing that 18 is the magic number. At any rate, Tesla is proving that the vehicle is nothing without the infrastructure to support it.

Making an Uber-Convincing Case for Personal VTOL

In a 99-page white paper titled "Elevate," Uber lays out the case for flying cars, especially in traffic-choked metropolitan areas like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sydney: "Just as skyscrapers allowed cities to use limited land more efficiently, urban air transportation will use three-dimensional airspace to alleviate transportation congestion on the ground."

In a 99-page white paper titled "Elevate," Uber envisions a future where on-demand urban air transportation is a reality. Image via Uber

A network of landing pads and charging stations would be far less infrastructure-intensive than a network of roads, but the management of urban airspace as well as vehicle parameters is a major impediment to launch. Considering the FAA's inability to pass drone regulations before drones themselves evolved into smaller and more nimble forms – even as regulatory bodies embrace UAVs – expecting quick regulation around swarms of flying cars would be unrealistic. After all, the FAA is yet to certify a single civilian VTOL aircraft, never mind a network of them. Still, the FAA sees on-demand VTOL on the horizon, and has teamed up with NASA to explore it.

Jordan Yerman

Jordan juggles deadlines across various time zones as he writes about travel, culture, entertainment, and technology.

Source: Flying Cars: The Drive for Personal Commuter Aircraft

The Missing Ingredient That Can Help Cars Fly

Echodyne – the Bellevue-based startup company backed by investors like Bill Gates, Lux Capital, Madrona Venture Group, The Kresge Foundation, and Vulcan Capital — has just announced that they have successfully tested their detect-and-avoid radar. Mounting their radar on a small commercial drone, they were able to show that their technology is capable of ensuring a safe flight for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) even if it is already outside the operator's line of sight.

In a video published on YouTube a couple of days ago, Echodyne showed actual footage of their first air-to-air radar test using their patented Metamaterial Electronically Scanning Array (MESA) radar mounted on a small octocopter drone. Once in the air, the radar was able to detect 2 barbed wire fences, an important feat because it implies the radar can see power lines which are a major threat that drones will have to avoid.

The radar was also able to see trees and other structures. When the second drone (a simulation of what is supposedly a Cessna-sized object) was launched, the radar was immediately able to pick it out from the surrounding clutter and track its course successfully to avoid colliding with it, before eventually descending and landing back on the ground.

Echodyne says this was not the first successful test they've done. Prior to this, they also got similar results when they did air to air test tracking of a Beechcraft Bonanza and an ultralight aircraft.

Advancement in radar systems is nothing new. It's the idea that with such a radar system, what many have been imagining about for so long may finally become a reality. We're talking about autonomous flying vehicles, of course. And many companies have been experimenting with this concept for some time.

There's Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) who has been dreaming about package delivering drones. There's Uber who has been fantasizing about bringing their transport service to the air literally through flying Uber taxis. There's Airbus, the aerospace giant from Europe whose secret project is no longer secret as everybody now knows that what they refer to as Vahana is a single-manned self-flying aircraft. And then there's Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Specifically, one of its co-founders, Larry Page, has reportedly invested in a couple of start-ups — Zee.Aero in 2010 and Kitty Hawk last year – both of which are devoted to making flying cars a reality.

Right now, rules on commercial drones say that a drone should always remain within its operator's line of sight – in other words, the operator should be able to see the drone the whole time it is flying, mainly due to safety reasons. The operator should be able to see where the drone is going to avoid any collision.

With the results of Echodyne's tests proving that a radar, provided it is the right kind of radar, can be used to ensure a collision-free UAV flight, Echodyne is hoping that their technology will be allowed to develop into its full potential and not be hampered by restrictive rules.

Everyone else that can potentially benefit from this technology are probably rooting for Echodyne too. Because if everything plays out well, it might just be possible that you will receive your first ever drone-delivered package next year. And soon after, you might be seeing something like those flying cars in "Back to the Future" passing by your window.

Source: The Missing Ingredient That Can Help Cars Fly

The SKYJET has landed: Is this the flying car of the future?

A FUTURISTIC concept car has been unveiled - which could mean a quicker commute for decades to come.

Published 12th November 2016

PH

SKYJET: A single-seat pursuit flying craft,

And it could drastically change how we do the weekly food shop.

The concept car will feature in new blockbuster movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – starring Cara Delevingne and Dane Dehaan.

The film will be the largest-budget European motion picture ever and is hoping to amaze fans with its imagining of the future.

PH

STAR POWER: Dane Dehaan and Cara Delevingne star in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

The SKYJET's aerodynamic shape and definition is based on the 2018 Lexus LC coupe, which has similar "spindle" grilles and headlights.

And the creators are sure the new design will offer "the most amazing experiences imaginable".

David Nordstrom, Global Branding Department General Manager at Lexus said the SKYJET is like something movie fans will have never seen before.

PH

FLYING HIGH: The aerodynamic shape and definition bases itself on the 2018 Lexus LC coupe

He said: "As fans of films and Luc's previous work, Lexus is privileged to help bring Luc's dream to life.

"We enjoyed the challenge of bringing Lexus' design philosophy and technology innovations to this project"

David Nordstrom

"We enjoyed the challenge of bringing Lexus' design philosophy and technology innovations to this project.

"We look forward to developing our partnership with EuropaCorp as we strive to give audiences the most amazing experiences imaginable in the coming years."

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While movie director Luc Besson added: "For this partnership we were looking for a brand that's pioneering in innovation and technology, who is focused on the future more than the past."

PH

BIG BUDGET: The movie will be the largest-budget European motion picture ever The hottest concepts and supercars of 2016 Thursday, 16th June 2016

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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets features an all-star cast including Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, Rihanna, and Kris Wu.

It is due for release in July 2017.

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Source: The SKYJET has landed: Is this the flying car of the future?

Inspector robot: Panther is a driving, flying drone

What, exactly, is the best body for a robot? Flying is energy intensive, and most commercial drones can only go about 20 minutes on battery power. Driving on wheels is more energy-efficient, but limits the robot purely to what it can find on the ground. The Panther drone, by Advanced Tactics, combines both into one tidy package.

It drives:

And can do it all in high winds, and while carrying a maximum of 15 pounds. Its makers boast that it is ideal for pipeline inspection, and with the ability to travel almost 60 miles on the ground, as well as hopping over small obstacles, it's certainly nimble enough for some field work.

Advanced Tactics first tested a version of the Panther in 2012, and last week released a video of the new, commercial model driving and flying as part of a presale promotion. The Panther is an interesting, novel drone design, but it's also a test case for Advanced Tactics far more interesting vehicle: the larger, human-carrying Black Knight Transformer. With a similar wheels-and-rotors configuration, the Transformer was floated in 2014 as a possible medical evacuation vehicle for the military.

For now, Advanced Tactics appears to focus on the Panther. If the little drone takes off, maybe someday the larger, drone-inspired flying truck will, too.

Source: Inspector robot: Panther is a driving, flying drone

Drone-delivery network in Singapore could pave the way for flying taxis

NSFW    PARIS/SINGAPORE — Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is set to trial a drone delivery service which, if successful, could potentially lead to tests of flying taxis for passengers.

The technology to be tested in Singapore next year will see drones being used to deliver parcels, according to an article in FORUM, the Airbus Group corporate magazine. During the trial, drones will navigate a network of delivery and pick-up points across the National University of Singapore campus.

These drones, also known as octocopters because of their eight blades, will fly automated on routes along interconnecting sky corridors throughout the campus. Upon arrival, the drone will unload the parcel automatically, and its recipient will be sent a delivery notification.

Airbus says that if testing shows drones to be safe, this may increase the chances of passenger flight testing being accepted in Singapore.

"If the team is able to demonstrate the safe operation of Skyways over NUS, this could help shape the regulatory framework for unmanned aircraft system operations in Singapore and potentially increase acceptance for passenger flight testing, thus giving a boost to urban air vehicle projects," an excerpt from the FORUM article explains.

The company has been developing a electric flying vehicle named CityAirbus for several years, with the aim of reducing traffic congestion in cities. Airbus believes that in the future, people will use such vehicles, which could be operated via transport apps such as Uber.

Source: Drone-delivery network in Singapore could pave the way for flying taxis

This Is the Radar System That Could Bring Us Flying Cars

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Source: This Is the Radar System That Could Bring Us Flying Cars

Hovering aircraft raises suspicion that it's Google co-founder's flying car

Even from a few hundred yards away, the aircraft made a noise strikingly different from the roar of a typical plane.

"It sounded like an electric motor running, just a high-pitched whine," said Steve Eggleston, assistant manager at an airplane-parts company with offices bordering the Hollister Municipal Airport.

But it wasn't only the sound that caught the attention of Eggleston and his co-workers at DK Turbines. It was what the aircraft was doing.

"What the heck's that?" saleswoman Brittany Rodriguez thought to herself. "It's just hovering."

That, apparently, was a flying car, or perhaps a prototype of another sort of aircraft under development by a mysterious startup called Zee.Aero. The company, one of two reportedly funded by Google co-founder Larry Page to develop revolutionary forms of transportation, has set up shop in rural Hollister, far from its Mountain View headquarters and the prying eyes of tech-obsessed Silicon Valley.

The secretive company, in its quest for privacy, has found allies in the small San Benito County town.

"Can I help you?" a woman from the airport's administration office said, after popping out to investigate when a reporter and photographer came looking for staff at the Zee.Aero building next door. "They're not here," she said curtly. Asked when they were typically around, she snapped, "That's private."

In Hollister, population 40,000, the first rule about Zee.Aero is you don't talk about Zee.Aero.

"It was known they wanted their privacy," said Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez, who declined to provide much information about Zee.Aero and its plans. "I just believe in people's privacy."

For a while, staff at one airport business said, a guard was posted outside the Zee.Aero building, telling people who approached too closely to back off. When Eggleston first attempted to take photos of the aircraft being towed, its handlers took action, he said.

"They pulled a truck right in front of me," Eggleston said.

The company has issued no public statements about its work. Bloomberg in June reported that Page had invested more than $100 million in the startup but had tried to keep his involvement secret. Zee.Aero's sparse website refers to "a revolutionary new form of transportation." In a May letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the firm said it was building "an entirely new aircraft that will change personal aviation."

A Zee.Aero spokeswoman said the firm is "currently not discussing (its) plans publicly."

However, a Zee.Aero patent issued in 2013 describes in some detail an aircraft capable of the hovering seen by people working at the airport. And the drawings showcase a vision of the future in which flying cars park in lots just like their terrestrial, less-evolved cousins.

With traffic congestion costing the U.S. economy more than $120 billion annually and Americans collectively spending 8 billion hours a year stuck in traffic, according to transportation research firm Inrix, lifting off and cruising above snarled roadways has considerable appeal.

Zee.Aero envisions our means of escape from the bounds of gravity as "safe, quiet, and efficient, as well as easy to control, (and) highly compact," according to the patent submission from Ilan Kroo, a Stanford University professor of aeronautics and Zee.Aero's founding CEO and principal scientist. Kroo brought in more than 100 aerospace engineers to work on the flying cars, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The patent depicts a car-sized aircraft, wings at the nose and tail, and along the top eight propellers, driven by eight motors, for vertical lift. Two other propellers on the rear wing would provide forward thrust. The aircraft seen at the Hollister airport appears to showcase a change in design but retains some features described and shown in the patent.

Last week, an aircraft was spotted being towed down the runway on two consecutive days, although no hovering or flying was observed by witnesses. Dual propellers in the rear fit with the description and drawings from the patent, but the aircraft appeared to have a single main wing, with pod-like structures beneath it, rather than the smaller wings at the front and rear shown in the drawings. The means for vertical takeoff were not visible from a distance, but Eggleston and his colleagues said this was the same craft they'd seen hovering.

In May, the city of Hollister approved a 34-year lease with Zee.Aero for just under an acre of land near the intersection of the municipal airport's two landing strips. According to city documents, the company plans to build a 14,000-square-foot hangar and office building, plus nearly 10,000 square feet of employee parking and 16,000 square feet of paved area for aircraft parking and movement.

During both Zee.Aero flights witnessed by DK Turbines staff from several hundred yards away in September and October, the aircraft hovered about 25 feet off the ground, and landed rapidly, straight down, according to the witnesses. "My initial thought was it was some kind of experiment," said Saul Gomez, who works in inventory and sales, and described the hovering craft as white, slightly smaller than a Cessna and "like something out of a movie."

Zee.Aero has built nine aircraft and registered them with the Federal Aviation Administration, according to FAA records. Two are electric-powered gliders. Two are piston-powered, fixed-wing, kit-built planes. The five remaining most closely match Zee.Aero's patent for a "personal aircraft" with multiple motors - two of them are eight-motor "rotorcraft" and three are dual-motor, fixed-wing aircraft. But these aircraft are in fact electric-powered drones weighing 55 pounds or less and may be the company's reported prototypes.

Hollister Councilman Victor Gomez, who commutes to work in the Bay Area, would like to see Zee.Aero succeed.

"Oh, man, how much I would love to find another route other than Highway 101 to get to work," Gomez said. "It's exciting to see something that's so innovative. I'm thrilled about the concept. It is something to be expected from Larry Page and people in that area."

Explore further: Google co-founder fuels flying car labs: report

©2016 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Source: Hovering aircraft raises suspicion that it's Google co-founder's flying car

Airbus to Manufacture Driverless Flying Taxis in 4 Years

Civilization has dreamed of flying cars since the 1920s and tech companies from Google to Uber have recently said they want to make quick, accessible air transport available to commuters.

Airbus has joined the chorus of tech titans calling for flying cars with Project Vahana, an autonomous Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicle. Since they don't need a runway to take-off, VTOLs are more like helicopters than flying cars — but they can work as taxis all the same.

Project Vahana director Zach Lovering says the Airbus VTOL will be a single passenger all-electric aircraft that'll be ready for production a short four years away in 2020.

"There's a much bigger focus here on actual productization and getting this thing out there," Lovering said, according to Business Insider, "rather than focusing on developing really cool technology."

Lovering also says the VTOL will be equipped with the staples of self-driving cars — lidar, radar, and cameras — so it can self-pilot.

The Project Vahana VTOL concept. Image Credit: Airbus

Project Vahana wants to provide a service similar to Uber with their flying taxis. Uber, though, has their own ambitions and has authored a 98-page white paper detailing their plans to have customers in cities flying about.

But the companies racing to bring flying taxis to the world face a massive amount of regulations and needed approvals from the FAA. They'll need to work together to make the business a reality.

"There are just huge regulatory hurdles, air traffic management hurdles, structural hurdles," Lovering said, according to Business Insider. "That certainly will require not just Airbus and one other company, but probably half a dozen to a dozen companies working together to solve this problem."

Image Credit: Airbus

Airbus envisions a future where personal flight is commonplace in mega-cities around the year 2030, according to an Airbus Group report. Silicon Valley is one metropolis where flying would appeal to commuters, the report says.

"A taxi ride through a new city is a nice experience as it is, but flying over that city would be much more thrilling," said Marius Bebesel, head of helicopter demonstrators, in the report.

Source: Airbus to Manufacture Driverless Flying Taxis in 4 Years

The flying car nightmare

© Matt Midori

The personal flying car is a marvel of the 21st century. It enables the masses to travel far above terra firma and seemingly solves all of their earthly dilemmas. The problem is, that it doesn't exist...and likely never will. Unfortunately, for mere mortals, this level of technological advancement has been quite evasive. To date, it's only been possible via sci-if fantasy and pseudoscience. It's not that flight is impossible...or the automobile. It's that the combination contradicts the constructs created by enabling both technologies to exist...simply by default. Yet, automotive enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike continue to dream of a reality above the clouds of rationality.

It's naive to dream of a future that ignores both the present and the past. On one side, there's the sky of the future rife with stamped metal dream machines soaring through the spring air. While on the other, there's a vision of a swarming mechanical grid that blots out the sun. Is there a middle ground or is it best to keep ones feet (or wheels wheels) on the ground? To answer that, it's necessary to analyze some hard truths.

Technological capability:

Any goal is possible in the imagination without the tangible means to accomplish it. However, in regard to the automobile, after one-hundred years there's plenty to consider already. Mankind harnessed the power of stamped metal, rubber, electricity, plastics and combustible fluids to their fullest practical potential by the introduction of the 12volt automotive electrical systems in the fifties. Arguably, with few exceptions, the technology hasn't advanced much since then. By 1960 there had already been fuel injection, direct injection, fairly widespread use of composites (fiberglass) and much of the technology used to make a functional vehicle today. Beyond that, it's mostly been refinements. Yet, in the past fifty-six years there's been far too little investment in making these machines flight-worthy. This is fact. Beyond the superficial, there's little to suggest that it would be any easier for a vehicle from 1960 to take flight than a vehicle from 2016. Truth be told, due to m anufacturers inexperience with aerodynamics at the time...cars from the earlier era are actually at an advantage in regards to lifting off the ground. This could potentially be viewed as a step in the wrong direction.

© Provided by AOL Inc.

[The second-generation Dodge Charger is the most advanced flying car to date]

Moreover, the progress of the motorcar has already necessitated the development of an infrastructure and culture that inherently limits sky-bound ambitions. Everything from to the congested skyline of the average industrialized metropolis to the notable lack of established methods of safe, reliable transportation...there's seemingly a bounty of unaddressed issues. Would it be reasonable to expect concrete solutions to road travel before endeavoring to those that are skyward bound?

While the terrestrial problems of today aren't insurmountable, they are formidable. It's impossible to mention the future of mass automotive transit without considering safety. The safety issues of today are magnified once projected to "the flying car". This is highlighted by the fact that manufacturers and safety institutions (I.E.: the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, etc) have sanctioned specific tests to determine the crash-worthiness of contemporary vehicles. A ground vehicle is designed to manage impacts much differently than impacts encountered by an aircraft. Would it be possible to create structures with the capability to manage flight stresses and the average street collision? Possibly, but certainly not without compromise. Of course, it would necessitate new crash test methods. Would the new criteria demand drop tests...from five-thousand feet? Ten thousand? Would the mortality rates be on par with those of plane crashes? Not to mention, the current automotive lan dscape is littered with minor imperfections like grand theft auto and manufacturer recalls. How society has chosen to deal with theses occurrences also hinders automotive flights of fancy.

Recalls, unfortunately, are rarely issued before there is a widespread safety concern. The average recall that would render a conventional car immobile on the streets could spell disaster if a similar gremlin happened mid-flight. Surely, the result would be masses of encased electronics and powertrains (likely accompanied by a combustible and/or explosive energy source) falling from the sky. The problem is, that in spite of advances, there's still a safety risk associated with the world's current vehicles traveling the roads. In fact, the NHTSA's (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) recently released data from 2015 indicates the trend of traffic related deaths actually increasing 7.2% from the prior year. The death toll was 35,092 people. If even a quarter of those deaths were single-occupant, "single-flying vehicle" related...that's a grim 8,773 vehicles (with their operators) hurtling from the sky. Remember, the statistics are understood to be based on human error, n ot vehicle defects.

Obviously, no matter the car, theft remains a constant variable that has yet to be solved or consistently prevented. The unsavory implications of that needs no further explanation. However, it's widely accepted that stolen cars are often "repurposed" for parts or utilized in high-speed pursuits to evade authorities. Transfer that to the skies, and it's a recipe for chaos. Too much chaos to control effectively using known methods. Needless to say, in regards to theft, cannibalized componentry installed by a novice would surely result in matters much worse than property damage.

Today, most consumers and accident victims rely on the legal system for justice. Even by ignoring detractors, it's easy to view the process as costly and inefficient. With flying cars, the number of citizens suing each other, citizens suing manufacturers and the endless cycle of scandal and discord would render every party legally impotent. The legal system would buckle and break under the skyrocketing toll of litigation, protocol and accountability. Frankly, it would eventually corrode the nature and resilience of the human spirit. Burdened with the necessity to manage the populace at large (excluding auto-related incidents)...while achieving objective justice for all parties involved in vehicular incidents would be impossible for any jury...or any judge.

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With the weight of the world weighing down the flying car's lofty promises of the future...is there any hope? Any practical use? Surely, there has to be some grey area in the clouds.

Indeed, there is. The "flying car" simply needs to be redefined and repurposed. It's not a matter of creating a safe, fast mass-transit system from scratch. The Shinkansen trains in Japan have already accomplished that. They currently achieve upwards of 150mph on their daily routes and even boast an impeccable safety record. In fact, there hasn't been a single passenger fatality on those trains since their introduction in 1964. It doesn't even that mean flights have to be reinvented since plane travel is only getting safer and more efficient. What it does mean is that humankind can harness the power of invention and ingenuity to create a new, purpose-built method of transport that saves lives on mass rather than jeopardize them. What the future presents is a more efficient and affordable means for trained pilots or operators to use vehicles based on today's evolving technologies and manufacturing processes.

Currently, there are more vehicles on the road which utilize lightweight materials like carbon fiber and aluminum than ever before. The methods to produce them (including 3D printing) are becoming more affordable and accessible as well. These advances are unprecedented. By bringing the manufacturing costs down, the resultant vehicles will cost less as well. In addition, advanced, un-manned vehicle technology is currently available to the average teenager. When these elements combine it could mean a future where every fire station or hospital has the ability to purchase and utilize (potentially multiple) flying vehicles (vertical take-off and landing: VTOLs) to save lives. They can quickly deliver supplies and emergency services to those in need. They can perform search and rescue operations that previously would imperil even the rescuers. They can transcend traffic jams in order to save lives when minutes matter. These are real solutions that are faithful to the human ethos of exi stence. These aren't floating, isolation pods of delusion and self-indulgence. The dream of the flying car can exist and endure. In fact, it could very well embody this generation's legacy of harmonizing technology with responsibility.

Source: The flying car nightmare

Uber plans for the arrival of flying cars

FOR decades, when asked to imagine the technology of the future, the stock answer has been flying cars. In reality, the passage of time has brought us innovations of a sort we never foresaw: the ability to send information instantaneously to the other side of the world, to look up any known fact with the click of a button, and to swap faces with a cat. Meanwhile, cars have remained earthbound and transportation technology—planes, trains and automobiles—has retained its familiar form.

Until now, perhaps. Last week Uber, a ride-hailing app, released a 97-page white paper. Its title was "Fast-Forwarding to a Future of On-Demand Urban Air Transportation", and it proposed a programme called Elevate. But the two words that everyone took away from the report were the same ones that have always come to mind when the future is mentioned: flying cars.

Within the next decade, Uber aims to launch a network of flying cars that will turn a two-hour road trip into a 15-minute flight. And it claims that flying over the traffic will cost substantially less than a traditional Uber ride does now.

A promise to bring such a revolution to the way we travel might have been met with scepticism had it not come from a company that has been at the forefront of other big changes. Uber has already transformed urban and even intercity travel with its ride-hailing app. It is also taking the lead in the push for self-driving cars, introducing autonomous vehicles in one American city and aiming to make them the norm before long.

The flying cars wouldn't exactly be cars. Uber refers to them, clunkily, as VTOLs, for vertical takeoff and landing (pictured). They work like helicopters, disembarking from the equivalent of helipads, which Uber calls "vertiports" (with several landing pads and charging stations, since they will be electrically powered) and "vertistops" (with a single pad and little to no infrastructure). Uber claims that there are already plenty of helipads, parking lots and vacant plots of land that can be used for these purposes.

The bigger challenges will be navigational and regulatory. Before these things take to the air, there needs to be a system for making sure they don't crash into each other, or into buildings or planes. And any such system will need the government's consent. These hurdles are not small, and they make Uber's timeframe of a decade look rather ambitious.

What is more, Uber doesn't plan on developing the VTOLs and the accompanying technology itself. Instead, it hopes to work with private-sector and government partners who will do the heavy technological lifting, while Uber will create and run the platform to connect pilots and passengers. That, again, means a multitude of factors outside the firm's control.

But if, or when, Elevate does get off the ground, there is no doubt that it would be transformational, particularly if it works as efficiently as the company claims. Traffic is no object when you can rise above it and zoom past at 150 miles per hour. Uber predicts that the trip between its hometown of San Francisco and the Silicon Valley hub of San Jose—57 miles and an hour and 40 minutes by car now—would take just 15 minutes. Moreover, whereas an UberX currently costs about $111, the company says an Elevate trip would initially be $129, but that would drop to $43 in the "near term" and $20 in the "long term".

Gulliver will believe that when he sees it. But he will also gladly pay an extra $18, or far more, if it shaves an hour and a half off the trip.

The impacts of this technology are hard to overstate. For business travellers, an Elevate-like programme would make it possible to schedule meetings in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC in a single day; or to hit San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose and then take the afternoon off. The effect on cities could also be transformative. At first, flying cars (and yes, Gulliver does feel a little odd writing that seriously) would help alleviate urban traffic and make navigating cities far more efficient and pleasant. But in the long run, they could also prompt a migration to the suburbs of the sort effected by the adoption of the automobile in the 1950s, as the well-off opt for extra space and quiet without having to endure brutal commutes. 

Then again, it is probably too soon to be contemplating all this. Uber's proposed timeframe notwithstanding, we are still talking about flying cars—the same innovation we've dreamed of idly for more than half a century. Let's see if and how they actually develop before assessing whether the future of business travel and the allure of cities will be fundamentally altered.

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Source: Uber plans for the arrival of flying cars

This Battery Power Helicopter Could Kickstart Uber's Flying Car

Martine Rothblatt has invented a flying machine that could help transform the ride-sharing industry. Working with Tier 1 Engineering, the team has produced the world's first battery-powered helicopter, a breakthrough that could help the likes of Uber produce clean, energy efficient vehicles for short flights.

"This was a proof of concept," Rothblatt said in an interview published Monday. "Everyone told me this was impossible."

Innovations like these are exactly what Uber will need for its vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) ride-sharing service. Part of the company's 96-page plan involves using electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions during operation. When taking off around congested urban areas, cutting fuel consumption will be critical.

Rothblatt's helicopter itself is not suitable for Uber's purposes. The company is avoiding traditional helicopters as they are harder to control when taking off in windy conditions surrounded by buildings. However, Rothblatt's team has overcome a major hurdle with battery powered flying machines. Before now, the batteries were thought to be too heavy for operations.

From here, the team intends to build a design better suited to its power usage. The current helicopter can fly for around 20 minutes. The team is also interested in licensing the tech to others.

Battery power will become a key area of interest in the coming years. Smartphones have pushed for longer running times through more efficient processors, but slimmer bodies have pushed batteries to smaller sizes. Advancements in charging speed have helped, but consumer demands are increasing and there may be a greater push towards increasing battery life itself.

Tesla plans to fully open its gigafactory in 2018, and when it launches it'll be the world's largest battery factory. CEO Elon Musk sees this as crucial to helping fight climate change, as renewable energy sources will be able to store the generated power for when conditions shut off generation, like when it's night time, for solar power. This drive for better batteries may help increase research funding, and if Rothblatt's creation is anything to go by, there are still plenty of areas battery tech can revolutionize daily life.

Photos via Tier 1 Engineering/YouTube (1, 2)

Source: This Battery Power Helicopter Could Kickstart Uber's Flying Car