'Manned' drones to cross the next frontier

Ehang rolls out latest model capable of carrying passenger

Chinese drone maker Ehang Inc unveiled what it calls the world's first drone capable of carrying a human passenger at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan 6.

The company said it is anticipating large-scale commercial use of its aerial vehicle. Ehang 184 takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter but with four double-propellers spinning parallel to the ground like other drones. Having the destination input, the automatic flight control system will choose the fastest, safest route to fly the passenger, who only needs to give two commands - "take off" and "land" - on a touch screen tablet.

The electric-powered drone can be fully charged in two hours at the fastest rate and fly for 23 minutes at sea level at a speed of 100 km/h, according to Ehang.

The new means of point-to-point, short flights can be applied in a wide range of areas, including urban traffic, tourism, logistics, emergency medical treatment and disaster relief, says Derrick Xiong, the company's co-founder and chief marketing officer.

He says Ehang plans to sell the drone at a price of $200,000 to $300,000 a unit.

Companies involved in vehicle rental, taxis, e-commerce and logistics approached Ehang during the CES after the drone was unveiled, Xiong says. However, he adds that the machine initially may be only used in designated places.

Ehang, which is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, aims to put the drone into practical use this year. That is likely to happen in Guangzhou or its sister city, Auckland in New Zealand, as the mayor of Auckland has shown an interest after hearing about the drone in talks with Ehang.

"We will make sure the use of the passenger-carrying drone is in line with local laws and regulations of where it flies," Xiong says. "Currently, there are no regulations that apply to such products because it is an entirely new category of technology. We're working closely with government agencies to address this big challenges to large-scale commercial use of passenger-carrying drones.

"Ehang 184 was not launched as a gimmick. We're open to all kinds of voices in the market and will keep improving the product," he adds. "Our ultimate goal is that the drone can be part of the urban traffic system, serving as a green supplement to the transportation on the ground to ease congestion."

Gao Yuanyang, director of the aviation industry research at Beihang University, says it is "too early" to talk about putting passenger-carrying drones into commercial use.

"I don't think it will be realized in the next 15 years. We need to make laws and regulations to ensure the air vehicle's safety and think about how to coordinate it with other means in the traffic system," he says. "In China there are strict restrictions on manned general aircraft operating in low-altitude airspace below 1,000 meters, let alone unmanned ones."

xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/15/2016 page29)