'106kw (8 motor)' (200Kg net weight, 14.4 kwh total energy consumption)
Is that each or total ??

Hello John. Shopping for a new toy?
'106kw (8 motor)' (200Kg net weight, 14.4 kwh total energy consumption)
Is that each or total ??

Since the total power consumption is 14.4kwh, it would be for the 8 motors.
http://www.ehang....4/specs/

Taxi...!

Taxi...!

Since it's "point and click": Definitely an application.

There need to be controlled landing/parking zones* for these in any case. Having everyone fly around with 8 exposed rotors that can land anywhere would be a recipe for mayhem.

*And some form of automatic air traffic control/pathing that coordinates them once more than two are in the air.

Hack the control center and kidnapping people who have enough money to buy one of these becomes almost comically-easy.

Or just wait and see if the rate of successful emergency landings (i.e. those that the rider survives) is the same among people the Chinese government considers troublemakers as it is among those it considers "good citizens."

Of course, that assumes one is not experiencing a major malfunction at ~1500' while the control center is also coincidentally experiencing it's own glitch(es). It'll give a whole new meaning to the phrase "down time," especially if it happens at rush-hour.

In any case I bet the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Securitytheater is *thrilled* about the development of slow-speed, autonomous aerial vehicles capable of delivering a 220-lb. payload ~20 miles away in ~20 minutes.

I don't see the parachute pack for the unit. If this thing goes haywire in the air, I wouldn't want to be bailing out with 6 or 7 of the spinning props whizzing around me.

If this thing goes haywire in the air, I wouldn't want to be bailing out with 6 or 7 of the spinning props whizzing around me.
That's the problem with helicopters.

I don't see the parachute pack for the unit.

As they note: the thing can land (albeit hard) if at least one rotor is still working. But as long as the control units are redundant and the power units are distributed that shouldn't be a problem.

As these things travel at around 1000feet I wouldn't sweat packing a parachute in any case. By the time you notice that something is wrong, removed the safety belt, opened the door and have exited the canopy (assuming you already donned a parachute when entering) you're way too low for a parachute drop unless you're trained for this kind of thing.

(Also quadcopters without any power whatsoever aren't aerodynamically stable. Getting out of a tumbling vehicle is a lot more difficult than getting out of a plane that is taking a nosedive)

Looks really cool...

A passenger would have no controls as a backup, he said.


Nope, nevermind.

Was reading that a S A city is the helicopter capitol of the world, Sao Paulo, and that is probably going to be the first take over target for drone chops.

Wait...what?!!

"One thing that makes quad-copters safer than helicopters are its numerous propellers, Xiong said. Even if three of the four arms have their six propellers disabled, the final arm's working propellers can ensure a rough landing by spiraling toward the ground, he said."

That's mechanically impossible; one impulse source at the end of a lever and well away from the center of mass? Tthe only thing that's certain to happen during a three-spar full mechanical faliure is unconsciousness due to centripetal black-out before you die at whatever acceleration is achieved before this thing cart-wheels into the dirt. Let's hope this is a translation error.

If it's carrying a human then it isn't a drone.

After setting a flight plan, passengers only need to give two commands, "take off" and "land," each controlled by a single click on a Microsoft Surface tablet, the company said.


Evolution in action. Anyone stupid enough to fly in something with Microshaft software deserves to be eliminated from the gene pool. Never ceases to amaze how people design critical systems for radiation therapy, chemical plants, now flying "cars"...and don't consider it critical to use an OS that can manage memory properly, actually multi-task and doesn't obscure core OS code and functionality.

If it's carrying a human then it isn't a drone.


The human isn't flying it, so it's a drone. Maybe bother to look up basic definitions before promulgating your wisdumb?

lol If someone shoots my corpse into space on a rocket is that "manned space flight"?