A drone giant for the transport of persons shown at CES

The start-up Chinese Ehang unveiled the first ” passenger drone “, capable of carrying a person for about 20 minutes of battery life.

A Chinese company, Ehang, built a quadricopter that can carry people. The same company that had made the little drone Ghost showed at CES 2016 in Las Vegas a working prototype of the 184 Personal Flying Vehicle (PFV). It is an airplane the size of a small car able to transport persons of maximum 120kg for distances up to 16km or 23 minutes of battery life. It remains a bit skeptical, but it seems that the future is really arrived.

From an aesthetic point of view, 184 PFV resembles a drone giant, but from the functional is that it resembles more closely. The passenger was extremely simplified controls and can only take off, stay in the air, land, as well as decide the course direction. Will the self-checks of the drone to determine the maneuvers to be performed, while the few decisions will be communicated to the control system via, of course, a specific application for smartphones.

184 PFV does not miss his driver all amenities, such as air conditioning, a 4G data connection, a two-color light for reading and even a small trunk in which to put a backpack. To Ehang not the first personal aircraft, but it is certainly the most realistic and safe, almost commercial, among those who actually were shown to date. Ehang also has shown quite convinced of its technology to the point of wanting to strike up a command center in the future to monitor all 184 PFV in the world.

The company is also aware of the problems of a legal nature in which a device of this type must match, and knows that the authorities may have a hard time classifying a similar vehicle. Laws on drones are gradually evolving, at least in the States, however, has not yet been conceived legislation in respect of drones capable of carrying human beings of flesh and blood. Also, it is to establish the real safety on board of a device of this type, precisely view the natural inclination to severe drops in which the drones have accustomed to time.

Ehang says PFV 184 is filled with a number of safety systems that guarantee a safe landing in the event of any problems with the free-fall from the sky is a hypothesis that cannot be verified. The aircraft can reach a top speed of over 100km/h and a height of about 3,000 meters, and indeed must be extremely confident of its security system before entering and running around in the skies.

The company also announced the availability and price of its drone for personal transportation: 184 PFV will cost from 200 to 300 thousand dollars and can be purchased, according to the company’s plans, by the end of 2016.