It was sleek, cone-shaped, a little confusing like something Hollywood would give a sci-fi villain for a quick getaway.
It wasnt a helicopter. And it wasnt an airplane. It was a cross between the two, with a curved hull, two small wings and eight spinning rotors lined up across its nose and tail.
At the touch of a button on a computer screen under a nearby tent, it stirred to life, rising up from a grassy slope on a ranch in central California and speeding toward some cattle grazing under a tree who did not react in the slightest.
It may look like a strange beast, but it will change the way transportation happens, said Marcus Leng, the Canadian inventor who designed this aircraft, which he named BlackFly.
BlackFly is what is often called a flying car. Engineers and entrepreneurs like Leng have spent more than a decade nurturing this new breed of aircraft, electric vehicles that can take off and land without a runway.
They believe these vehicles will be cheaper and safer than helicopters, providing practically anyone with the means of speeding above crowded streets.
Our dream is to free the world from traffic, said Sebastian Thrun, another engineer at the heart of this movement.
That dream, most experts agree, is a long way from reality. But the idea is gathering steam. Dozens of companies are now building these aircraft, and three recently agreed to go public in deals that value them as high as $6 billion. For years, people like Leng and Thrun have kept their prototypes hidden from the rest of the world few people have seen them, much less flown in them but they are now beginning to lift the curtain.
Lengs company, Opener, is building a single-person aircraft for use in rural areas essentially a private flying car for the rich that could start selling this year. Others are building larger vehicles they hope to deploy as city air taxis as soon as 2024 an Uber for the skies. Some are designing vehicles that can fly without a pilot.
One of the air taxi companies, Kitty Hawk, is run by Thrun, the Stanford University computer science professor who founded Googles self-driving car project. He now says that autonomy will be far more powerful in the air than on the ground, and that it will enter our daily lives much sooner. You can fly in a straight line and you dont have the massive weight or the stop-and-go of a car on the ground, he said.
The rise of the flying car mirrors that of self-driving vehicles in ways both good and bad, from the enormous ambition to the multibillion-dollar investments to the cutthroat corporate competition, including a high-profile lawsuit alleging intellectual property theft. It also re-creates the enormous hype.
It is a risky comparison. Google and other self-driving companies did not deliver on the grand promise that robo-taxis would be zipping around our cities by now, dramatically reshaping the economy.
But that has not stopped investors and transportation companies from dumping billions more into flying cars. It has not stopped cities from striking deals they believe will create vast networks of air taxis. And it has not stopped technologists from forging full steam ahead with their plans to turn sci-fi into reality.
The spreadsheet was filled with numbers detailing the rapid progress of electric motors and rechargeable batteries, and Larry Page, Google co-founder, brought it to dinner.
It was 2009. Many startups and weekend hobbyists were building small flying drones with those motors and batteries, but as he sat down for a meal with Thrun, Page believed they could go much further.
Thrun had only just launched Googles self-driving car project that year, but his boss had an even wilder idea: cars that could fly.
When you squinted your eyes and looked at those numbers, you could see it, Thrun remembered.
The pair started meeting regularly with aerospace engineers inside an office building just down the road from Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. Pages personal chef-made meals for his guests, including a NASA engineer named Mark Moore and several aircraft designers from Stanford.
Those meetings were a free flow of ideas that eventually led to a sprawling, multibillion-dollar effort to reinvent daily transportation with flying cars. Over the past decade, the same small group of engineers and entrepreneurs fed a growing list of projects. Moore helped launch an effort at Uber, before starting his own company. Page funneled money into multiple startups, including Lengs company, Opener, and Thruns, Kitty Hawk. New companies poached countless designers from Pages many startups.
It is the Wild West of aviation, Moore said. It is a time of rapid change, big moves and big money.
The next few years will be crucial to the industry as it transitions from what Silicon Valley is known for building cutting-edge technology to something much harder: the messy details of actually getting it into the world.
BlackFly is classified by the government as an experimental ultralight vehicle, so it does not need regulatory approval before being sold. But an ultralight also cannot be flown over cities or other bustling areas.
As it works to ensure the vehicle is safe, Opener does most of its testing without anyone riding in the aircraft. But the idea is that a person will sit in the cockpit and pilot the aircraft solo over rural areas. Buyers can learn to fly via virtual reality simulations, and the aircraft will include autopilot services like a return to home button that lands the plane on command.
It has enough room for a 6-foot, 6-inch person, and it can fly for about 25 miles without recharging. The few Opener employees who have flown it describe an exhilarating rush, like driving a Tesla through the sky an analogy that will not be lost on the companys target customer.
Leng sees all this as a step toward the starry future envisioned by The Jetsons, the classic cartoon in which flying cars are commonplace. I have always had a dream that we could have unfettered three-dimensional freedom like a bird does that we can take off and just fly around, he said.
BlackFly will initially be far more expensive than your average car (perhaps costing $150,000 or more). And its combination of battery life and mileage is not yet as powerful as most anyones daily commute requires.
But Leng believes this technology will improve, prices will drop to the cost of an SUV and the world will ultimately embrace the idea of electric urban flight. By putting his vehicle into the hands of a relative few people, he argues, he can open the eyes of many more.
Others in the field are skeptical. They estimate it will be years or even decades before regulators will allow just anyone to fly such a vehicle over cities. And they say the technology is too important and transformative to remain a plaything for millionaires. So they are betting on something very different.
When Thrun watches his flying vehicle Heaviside rise up from its own grassy landing pad, he sees more than just the trees, hills and crags of the California test site. He envisions an American suburbia where his aircraft ferries people to their front doors sometime in the future.
Yes, there are regulatory hurdles and other practical matters. These planes will need landing pads, and they could have trouble navigating dense urban areas, thanks to power lines and other low-flying aircraft.
There is also the noise factor, a crucial selling point over loud combustion engine helicopters. Sitting a few hundred feet from the vehicle, Thrun boasted about how quiet the aircraft was, but when it took off, he had no choice but to stop talking. He could not be heard over the whir of the rotors.
Even so, Thrun says Kitty Hawk will build an Uber-like ride-hailing service, in part, because of simple economics. Heaviside is even more expensive than BlackFly; Thrun said it costs around $300,000 to manufacture. But with a ride-hailing service, companies can spread the cost across many riders.
Wisk Aero, a company that spun out of Kitty Hawk in 2019 with backing from Page and Boeing, sees the future in much the same way. It is already testing a two-seat vehicle, and it is building a larger autonomous air taxi that may have more seats.
Many believe this is how flying cars will ultimately operate: as a taxi, without a pilot. In the long run, they argue, finding and paying pilots would be far too expensive.
This arrangement is technically possible today. Kitty Hawk and Wisk are already testing autonomous flight. But once again, convincing regulators to sign off on this idea is far from simple. The Federal Aviation Administration has never approved electric aircraft, much less taxis that fly themselves. Companies say they are discussing new methods of certification with regulators, but it is unclear how quickly this will progress.
It is going to take longer than people think, said Ilan Kroo, a Stanford professor who has also worked closely with Page and previously served as CEO of Kitty Hawk. There is a lot to be done before regulators accept these vehicles as safe and before people accept them as safe.
No one is flying in an electric taxi this year, or even next. But some cities are making early preparations. And one company has 2024 in its sights.
In another central California field not far from where Kitty Hawk and Opener are testing their prototypes, Joby Aviation recently tested its own. Called the Joby Aircraft, this polished, pointy prototype is much bigger than Heaviside, with more space in the cabin and larger rotors along the wings.
From several hundred yards away, with a traditional helicopter flying above, observers had trouble determining how loud it was during takeoff and landing. And it flew without passengers, remotely guided from a command center trailer stuffed with screens and engineers on the ground. But Joby says that by 2024, this vehicle will be a taxi flying over a city like Los Angeles or Miami. It too is planning an Uber for the skies, though its aircraft will have a licensed pilot.
Joby believes that regulators are unlikely to approve autonomous flight anytime soon. Our approach is more like Tesla than Waymo, said executive chairperson, Paul Sciarra, using this burgeoning industrys favorite analogy. We want to get something out there on the way to full autonomy.
To aid in these plans, it has partnered with Toyota to manufacture aircraft and acquired Uber Elevate, the air taxi project Moore helped create inside the ride-hailing giant. In the coming months, Joby plans to merge with a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that will take it public at a $6.6 billion valuation. Two other companies, California-based Archer and Germany-based Lilium, have struck similar deals.
The SPAC deals allow the companies to advertise ambitious business projections, something the Securities and Exchange Commission otherwise prohibits in initial public offerings. In an investor presentation, Joby touted a trillion-dollar market opportunity.
After launching in one city, the company says, it will quickly expand to others, bringing in $2 billion in revenue and more than $1 billion in gross profit within two years, according to its investor presentation. Until then, it will lose more than $150 million each year.
Reid Hoffman, venture capitalist and LinkedIn co-founder, is an investor behind the SPAC that is merging with Joby. He admires the vehicles cool factor. Its like Uber meets Tesla in the air, he said, taking venture capitalist speak to the skies. But he was most attracted to the companys potential to redefine cities, commutes and gridlock for a broad group of people.
Of the three going public, Joby is the only one whose prototype is now flying. And both its rivals are facing questions over their technology. One has been sued by Wisk, accused of intellectual property theft after poaching several engineers, and the other recently abandoned a prototype because of a battery fire.
Some believe that even with pilots in the cockpit, these companies will be hard pressed to launch services by 2024. There is a big gap between flying an aircraft and being ready for revenue, said Dan Patt, who worked on similar technology at the Department of Defense.
Flying cars may reach the market over the next several years. But they will not look or operate like the flying cars in The Jetsons. More likely, they will operate like helicopters, with pilots flying people from landing pad to landing pad for a fee.
They will be greener than helicopters and require less maintenance. They will be quieter, at least a little. And they may eventually be cheaper. One day, they could even fly on their own.
Can we do this tomorrow morning? Probably not, Thrun said. But if you squint your eyes and look at one of these prototypes, he added, you can see it happen.
Read the original here:
What is a flying car? - The Indian Express
- Technology | Define Technology at Dictionary.com [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2016]
- Technology | Definition of Technology by Merriam-Webster [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2016]
- Technology | Define Technology at Dictionary.com [Last Updated On: March 26th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 26th, 2016]
- Technology | Definition of Technology by Merriam-Webster [Last Updated On: March 26th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 26th, 2016]
- Technology Synonyms, Technology Antonyms | Thesaurus.com [Last Updated On: March 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 27th, 2016]
- Technology News | Reuters.com [Last Updated On: March 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 27th, 2016]
- Information technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: March 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: March 27th, 2016]
- Technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2016]
- Technology Org - Science and technology news [Last Updated On: July 5th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 5th, 2016]
- Technology - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: August 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 27th, 2016]
- NOAA Ocean Explorer: Technology [Last Updated On: August 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 27th, 2016]
- History of technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: August 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 27th, 2016]
- Technology - Blue Sky Innovation - Chicago Tribune [Last Updated On: August 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 27th, 2016]
- Technology - Northern Illinois University [Last Updated On: August 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 27th, 2016]
- Technology Jobs - Monster.com [Last Updated On: August 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 27th, 2016]
- Urban Dictionary: technology [Last Updated On: January 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 5th, 2017]
- IHS Technology The Source for Critical Information and ... [Last Updated On: January 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 5th, 2017]
- Technology | NFL Football Operations [Last Updated On: January 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 5th, 2017]
- Legaltech News - Law Technology News [Last Updated On: January 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 5th, 2017]
- Reddit: Technology [Last Updated On: January 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 14th, 2017]
- National Education Technology Plan - Office of Educational ... [Last Updated On: January 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 22nd, 2017]
- Technology: Industries: PwC [Last Updated On: January 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 22nd, 2017]
- Israeli technology let Super Bowl fans see plays at face mask level - Jerusalem Post Israel News [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Toyota, Suzuki to work together in green, safety technology - The Japan Times [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Aston Martin's architect on how to make technology beautiful - The Verge [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- How the New Fox Show APB Approaches Police Technology - Slate Magazine [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Prosthetic arm technology detects spinal nerve signals - Science Daily [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- In This Year's Super Bowl Of Technology, Intel Led The Way With A Sky Full Of Drones - Forbes [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Learning From Last Year: Technology Funding Outlooks For 2017 - Forbes [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Technology - The New York Times [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Texas transportation leaders scramble to keep up with car technology - Fort Worth Star Telegram [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- What the Tech: Neuro-Bio Monitor Technology - KFDX [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- How Powerful AI Technology Can Lead to Unforeseen Disasters - Fortune [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Microsoft's AI group debuts customizable speech-to-text technology, rapidly expanding 'cognitive services' for ... - GeekWire [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- How 3-D technology helped surgeons separate conjoined twins - CNN [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- These Four Black Women Inventors Reimagined the Technology of the Home - Smithsonian [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Broadcaster dangles new technology for Winter Olympics - Reuters [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- A flare for self-destruction: How technology is the means, not the cause, of our demise - National Post [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- How 3D and Self-Design Will Change Technology - Huffington Post [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Republicans Aim to Kill Election Technology Standards Agency - Gizmodo [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Sean Spicer: Coal will be one of the cleanest uses of technology that we have - The Independent [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Is technology getting in the way of togetherness? - Las Vegas Weekly (blog) [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Panera surges to record as Wall Street eyes payoff from technology - Reuters [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Coming technology will likely destroy millions of jobs. Is Trump ready? - Washington Post [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- How Technology Transforms Dreamers Into Economic Powerhouses - Forbes [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Technology Trends That Will Shape 2017 and Boost Your Company's UX - Entrepreneur [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- United Airlines Experiences Another Technology Glitch - Wall Street Journal [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- A growing concern: Technology and transportation - Florida Today [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Aberdeen Oil and Gas Technology centre due to open - BBC News [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Opinion: Ethics should be front and center with technology but isn't always - The Mercury News [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Yes, there's a job creation argument for automation and technology - The Hill (blog) [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Nasdaq plans venture arm to invest in financial technology: sources ... - Reuters [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Volvo melds technology and luxury in the XC90 T8 hybrid - Engadget [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Our seas have become a plastic graveyard - but can technology turn the tide? - Telegraph.co.uk [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Technology identifying fastest checkout lanes comes to metro - KCCI Des Moines [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- This Technology Could Be a Game-Changer for the Marijuana Industry - Fox Business [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Small cell technology is large endeavor for state - Crain's Cleveland Business [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Grapevine: Technology at any age - Jerusalem Post Israel News [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Feeling Tied to Technology? Neuroscientist Offers Tips to Focus and Recharge Your Brain - whotv.com [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- The technology fixing Britain's parking problem - The Independent [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- DHS Developing Technology to Identify Terrorist Travelers - Breitbart News [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- New technology has display designers thinking outside the rectangle - The Japan Times [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Graph Technology A Data Standby By For Every Fortune 500 Company - Computer Business Review [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Tesla obtains patent for charging metal-air battery technology that could enable longer range - Electrek [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Tim Cook: Augmented Reality is as big of a technology as the smartphone - BGR [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Franklin County's 911 centers sharing technology to receive texts - Columbus Dispatch [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- A New Angel Investing Platform Connects Deep Technology And Science Startups With Capital - Forbes [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- How technology is encouraging society to be stupid - The Next Web [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Technology puts 'touch' into long-distance relationships - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- VW plans to use Mobileye sensing and localization technology - Automotive News (subscription) (blog) [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- How dangerous is technology? - OUPblog (blog) [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Valentine's day: what's your secret technology crush? - Naked Security [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Johnston educators among presenters at technology conference - News & Observer [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Is Magic Leap Lying About Its Acid Trip Technology? - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- A look at North Korea's missile launches and technology - ABC News [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Parents and technology How much is too much? - WGBA-TV [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Apple's Eddy Cue says technology companies have a responsibility to combat fake news - Recode [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Statistical agencies looking to C-suite, new digital tools to address biggest challenges - FederalNewsRadio.com [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Even Indian technology entrepreneurs think they are living in a bubble - Quartz [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Is Hyperloop transportation technology coming to India? - YourStory.com [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]