The federal government may finally be getting out of the way of air taxis, which could alleviate traffic congestion and reduce commute times, especially in places where there are bottlenecks in the transportation system due to rivers and mountains, which air taxis could travel over even if bridges or mountain passes are jammed. Axios reports on new rules that will pave the way for electric air taxis to operate:
The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday Issued Long-Awaited Rules That Will Help Pave the Way for the Commercialization of Electric Air Taxis as Soon as Next Year…FAA Administrator Mike Whittaker announced the final regulation during a speech at a business aviation convention in Las Vegas. It includes qualifications and training requirements for pilots of these new aircraft which have characteristics of both airplanes and helicopters. The rule also addresses operational requirements, including minimum safe altitudes and required visibility. Vertical flight planes are the first new category of civil aircraft since helicopters were introduced in the 1940s. They can be used for air taxis, cargo delivery and a variety of other uses in urban and rural areas, including emergency response…..
The planes take off and land like a helicopter and then switch modes to fly like a fixed wing plane….With the new rule in place, companies like Joby and Archer aim to begin operations as early as 2025, once their aircraft have been certified.
Lambert.com argues that air taxis “have the potential to revolutionize urban mobility…With traffic congestion becoming an increasingly prevalent issue in major cities around the world, the idea of taking to the skies for daily commutes is both innovative and practical.”
Last year, China approved the world’s first flying taxi, which is unmanned. It will let passengers look down on the skyscrapers of Guangdong, a densely-populated province, reported The Economist. That flying taxi
is made by EHang, a company based in Guangdong. It resembles a scaled-up consumer drone with a passenger bubble mounted on top. Propulsion is provided by 16 small rotors, mounted on the tips of eight arms that fold away when the vehicle is not in use, allowing it to park in small spaces. EHang has already set up a factory to produce the aircraft at scale.On October 18th the city government of Hefei, in Anhui province, announced a $100m deal with EHang to provide tourist fligh…ts and other services such as deliveries and emergency response, using 100 of the machines. The company believes its eVTOLs will one day be able to offer taxi rides at a similar price to terrestrial cabs.
Scores of eVTOLs are being developed around the world. These have already attracted more than $30 billion in orders, says Robin Riedel, co-lead of the Centre for Future Mobility, a part of McKinsey. Being the first to certify one could allow China, which is keen to promote the industry, to gain valuable operating experience….EHang says its pilotless eVTOLs will be quieter than helicopters, their closest cousins, and much cheaper to operate, thanks in part to the ability to swap out an expensive pilot for a second paying passenger. Performance, though, will be limited, at least at first. The EH216-S has a range of about [18 miles], and a speed of up to [80 miles per hour]. EHang is developing a second version, the VT30, with [180 miles] of range—though it will require separate certification.
The firm thinks that doing away with pilots will make things safer too, in the same way that enthusiasts argue that self-driving cars, if they are ever widely deployed, could prove safer than human-driven ones. A computer’s attention never wavers, and its reflexes operate at the speed of silicon. And flying is, in many ways, much easier to automate than driving, for there are fewer obstacles and unexpected situations to navigate.
Doctors recently used a surgical robot to carry out incredibly complicated spinal surgery. Doctors recently did the first robotic liver transplant in America. Robots can fit in small spaces in people’s bodies that a surgeon can’t reach without cutting through living tissue, or doing other collateral damage.
A restaurant chain is now using robots to chop up kale, cheese, and other ingredients of its signature salads. Robot waiters are spreading in restaurants in Korea. The world’s first humanoid robot factory has opened.