Your next holiday could be an adventure from the moment your taxi arrives—or lands—at your front door.
The head of Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority said unpiloted passenger-carrying flying taxis would start taking people across the city starting from July.
The pilotless drones, designed to carry a weight of 100 kg, will have a range of 30 km, and are on track to take off within months, RTA chairman Mattar al-Tayer said.
‘I am glad to inform you that hopefully we will be able to have these drones available starting July 2017,’ he said.
The drones are part of Dubai’s strategy on autonomous transportation, under which 25 per cent of all journeys within the Emirates are expected to be smart and driverless by 2030.
The service will be provided by octocopters made by Chinese drone firm Ehang. The Ehang 184 has a cruise speed of 100 km/h (54 kt) and an endurance of 23 minutes.
Passengers will summon the service with a smartphone app, entering their destination, in the same way apps are used to summon ride-sharing services.
No. Not for me thank you very much.
I don’t think I would risk my life in one of those pilotless contraptions, at least until they have demonstrated their reliability over some period of time anyway!
What’s the procedure if one motor fails?
Good question Stephen. You’d probably just have to sit there and cop whatever comes next, hence the reasoning behind my comment!
I believe that the 184 has “auto land”. It senses a problem with the motor or low battery and lands itself.
[…] year, Flight Safety Australia quoted the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority as saying the system would be carrying people across the city by […]