It may still be hard to imagine but a taxi ride through the sky looks like it could become a reality. Airbus has presented a concept for an autonomously flying taxi drone. A video on the so-called Vahana outlines a future vision in which people can order the drone via an app and be transported from location to location on a per-person basis.
Future mobility
Several companies are implementing airborne traffic. On Maakindustrie.nl, for instance, we previously wrote about the Pal-V, a flying car developed by a Dutch company. Uber is also working on developing a flying car. Amazon, meanwhile, has launched a drone that delivers parcels. And now it is the turn of Airbus. In a new video about its taxi drone Vahana, the company shows what the future of mobility could look like.
Vahana is one of the components of Airbus' three-part A3 initiative, which focuses on developing future aviation projects. CEO Tom Enders indicated early this year that the aim is to present a working prototype by the end of this year. Airbus' Vahana aircraft is a hybrid drone, which takes off and lands vertically. Only when the drone reaches a certain altitude, the rotors tilt and the aircraft turns into an aeroplane. As a result, the drone does not need much space, making it possible to be deployed in crowded urban environments.
The recently launched video shows how easy it is for Deborah, a fictional passenger looking for a quick connection between San Jose and San Francisco, to order a taxi flight using the Vahana via an app. The user system Deborah uses, in which the desired pick-up time, location and destination can be specified, is akin to apps like Uber and Lyft.
Fine-tuning
Not much else is available about the project or the status of the announced prototype. Last week, Airbus did present the Vahana at the Paris Air Show, which annually showcases the biggest innovations in aerospace. There, the company indicated that steps still need to be made in the areas of automation and sense-and-avoid technology. The vehicle, in case the system fails completely, will also be equipped with a ballistic parachute that also works at low altitudes.
Incidentally, the Vahana is not the world's first taxi drone: a Chinese-made flying taxi, the Ehang 184, was already presented in Dubai in February this year.
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: Vahana/Airbus
