Californian company Kitty Hawk announces it has been testing its electric and fully autonomous flying taxi Cora in New Zealand for the past few months. The company plans to eventually use this taxi as an alternative to planes and shared cars.
The Cora is a striking vehicle. Thanks to its wings with a wingspan of about 11 metres, the flying taxi at first glance looks like a small traditional aircraft. However, the wings are equipped with 12 propellers that allow the vehicle to take off vertically, for example from the roof of a building. This eliminates the need for a runway, meaning users are not tied to airports. Once the Cora has taken off, the vehicle switches to another propeller, which is used to propel the vehicle horizontally. Using this propeller, the vehicle can reach a maximum speed of 180 kilometres per hour in the air. The aircraft flies at an altitude of 500 to 3,000 feet, equivalent to about 150 to 900 metres.
Alternative to planes and shared cars
The company's flying taxi has a limited range of about 100 kilometres. With the Cora, Kitty Hawk, a company funded by Google founder Larry Page, aims to offer an alternative to short flights and shared cars, among others. A total of two passengers can be carried simultaneously in the vehicle.
Kitty Hawk stresses that there are risks involved in using the Cora - just like any other vehicle. However, the company points out that the Cora is equipped with several security features to minimise these risks. For instance, the vehicle is equipped with 12 propellers for both take-off and landing and one propeller for horizontal flight. These propellers are all electrically powered and can operate independently of each other. Does one of the propellers give trouble? Then this has no impact on the other propellers and the vehicle can be safely grounded. Does it still go wrong and unexpectedly all propellers fail simultaneously? Then the Cora can still land safely thanks to the presence of a parachute.
The vehicle operates fully autonomously, without passengers having to do anything. The on-board computer plays an important role here, using GPS to calculate the exact location of the vehicle, which is necessary to guide the flying taxi safely to its destination. The Cora is equipped with three on-board computers, each of which independently calculates the vehicle's location. Therefore, if one of these on-board computers gives trouble, the vehicle can continue to rely on the other two systems.
Test flights
Kitty Hawk already conducted tests with a prototype of the Cora in February 2014, with no one inside the vehicle. This test focused on switching from upward propulsion during take-off to forward propulsion in the air. The Californian company has been conducting test flights with the Cora in New Zealand since October 2017. The Californian company says it deliberately chose New Zealand as a test site in view of the country's focus on sustainable energy ecosystems. For example, 80% of the country is now powered by renewable energy. "In New Zealand, we cannot continue to use the same old methods to meet future challenges. We saw Cora's potential as a sustainable, efficient and transformational technology that can enrich people's lives. Not just in New Zealand, but ultimately across the world," said Dr Peter Crabtree of the New Zealand Ministry of Trade, Innovation and Employment.
Kitty Hawk plans to certficate the Cora in collaboration with the New Zealand aviation authorities. Thus, the fact that the New Zealand aviation authorities are internationally well regarded also played an important role in this choice. The company says the Cora will not be commercially available and will only be used as a service that is an alternative to short flights and shared cars. It is not clear when we can expect this service.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Kitty Hawk (pictured)
