In the face of increasingly congested urban traffic, Airbus is hoping to solve it by developing drones. According to Janet Stoschek, head of the ATV Advanced Technology Laboratory’s automated driving system, Airbus has launched a project called “Vahana†that will develop a driverless electric tilt-rotor aircraft that can be used in helicopters. Fields take off and land.
Arne Stoschek, who heads the Airbus A3 Advanced Technology Laboratory's automated driving system, said on Tuesday that Airbus hopes to develop autonomous aircraft to solve the city's traffic congestion problem. Airbus has launched a project code-named "Vahana".
Stoschke gave a speech at the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. Traffic congestion in urban areas has become a global issue. This not only wastes a lot of time for commuters, it also reduces the overall productivity of the society, creates pollution, and consumes a lot of energy. For this kind of problem, the plan for urban planners is to build more roads. However, this does not solve the problem, and many roads only have the morning and evening peaks to play a role.
Stosek said: "We must use the third dimension." Based on Uber's data, Stoschek pointed out that the journey from San Francisco to San Jose is 56.9 miles (about 91.6 kilometers), which usually takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. If you use a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, then the flight mileage is 43.3 miles (about 69.7 kilometers), and it takes only 15 minutes. Uber also expects that such a one-way cost in the near future will be only 43 US dollars, while the long-term cost will be reduced to 20 US dollars.
Vahana will be an electric tilt-rotor aircraft that can take off and land in the heliport. Such aircraft can carry 1 to 2 passengers. Airbus engineers have designed specifications for this type of air traffic based on existing technologies. Based on battery power, Vahana aircraft can fly 60 miles (about 96 kilometers) at a speed of 140 miles per hour (about 225 kilometers). In the coming years, with the advancement of battery technology, Vahana's cruising range will also increase.
Stosek said Vahana will launch a full range of flight tests by the end of this year.
According to Airbus, such drones will carry cameras, radars, and lidars so they can sense the 360-degree environment. Similar to driverless cars, computers will process sensor data to identify obstacles on the flight line. Stosek pointed out that unlike cars, aircraft do not need braking. The computer will determine how to avoid obstacles such as birds and other aircraft. In addition, drones can communicate with each other and negotiate flight lines that do not interfere with each other.
Stoscheek demonstrated in his speech how Airbus’s technology identifies a flock of birds at a distance.
At the same time, he also said that there is still a need for more powerful computers than the current one to meet the driverless requirements of similar Vahana platforms. However, he also believes that by 2020, advances in hardware and software will mean Vahana can become a reality, and this will greatly change the way people travel.
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