Flying Car News, April 28
Lilium hires Ferrari’s Head of Design for their new Electric Flying Taxi, the World Food Program starts using Drones, and more!
This week’s top Flying Car News: Lilium hires Ferarri head of design, World Food Program uses drones, Uber designing flying taxi batteries, drone mosquito release system, and more!
Flying cars will be a significant part of the future of transportation. Recent advancements in drone technology, electric VTOL aircraft, and autonomous systems have paved the way for an aerial transportation revolution. We created the Udacity Flying Car News Series, to ensure you stay up-to-date on all the latest Flying Car and Autonomous Aircraft stories!
Lilium Hires Ferrari head of Design
Flying car company Lilium has hired legendary car designer Frank Stevenson of Ferrari and Maserati as the head of product design for their electric flying taxi.
“Officially starting next month, he’ll be tasked with recruiting an entirely new design team to shape both the interior and exterior of the jet itself, as well as a design language for the company’s wider infrastructure, including landing pads and departure lounges.”
World Food Program Uses Drones
The World Food Program will start using drones for humanitarian purposes and data collection.
“The example she gave was Mozambique, where the WFP-supplied drones were able to send data to analyze flood-prone areas and allowed the government’s disaster management agency to move people in areas that will be affected by the floods before it actually reached them, greatly reducing potential loss of life.”
Uber Designing Flying Taxi Batteries
Uber is designing advanced batteries for use by its flying car hardware partners to accelerate the development of the Elevate flying taxi service.
“No packs currently exist that can both carry enough energy for a plane flight that long and also provide the burst of power required for its straight-up-and-down takeoff and landing. So Uber has decided to invent its own packs under the leadership of Tesla’s former battery guru, Celina Mikolajczak “
Drone Mosquito Release System
The International Atomic Energy Agency is partnering with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationals to utilize drones that release sterile mosquitoes, in a bid to limit the spread of diseases.
“Weighing less than 10 kilograms, the drone can carry 50,000 sterile mosquitos per flight. At 10,000 Euro per drone, its use also reduces the cost of releasing mosquitos by half.”
Drone Patents Quadruple
Drone patents have more than quadrupled in the last year as companies worldwide position themselves for the future of autonomous flight.
“Data from the World Intellectual Property Office for the 2016–17 financial year shows patents filed for technology related to drones hit a new high of 5,301 — more than quadrupling from the 1,242 the prior year.”
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