Summary
Chinese drone maker Ehang Inc. on Wednesday unveiled what it calls the world’s first drone capable of carrying a human passenger.
The Guangzhou, China-based company pulled the cloth off the Ehang 184 at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the CES gadget show. In a company video showing it flying, it looks like a small helicopter but with four doubled propellers spinning parallel to the ground like other drones.
The electric-powered drone can be fully charged in two hours, carry up to 220 pounds and fly for 23 minutes at sea level, according to Ehang. The cabin fits one person and a small backpack and even has air conditioning and a reading light. With propellers folded up, it’s designed to fit in a single parking spot.
Analysis
The practicality of the military using one man human-flying drones may be somewhat unrealistic, but some of the properties the Chinese have developed within the drone could be abstracted and extremely useful in other applications. The drone may take up roughly that of a standard parking spot, but despite the size its ability to carry up to 220 pounds and fly for up to 23 minutes is impressive. The most important thing I pulled away from the article was that there was a predetermined route and there was only two commands needed to get the drone up and running. The fact that a vehicle is able to transport someone with two commands is extremely impressive to me, it makes me think if there are ways to take the core principles of setting a destination, “taking off”, and “landing” and applying it into other means of transport.
