Flying Car News, November 25
Uber and Nasa Collaborate
This week’s top Flying Car News: A new Uber and Nasa collaboration, flying police motorcycles in Abu Dhabi, the future of life-saving drones, 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!
NASA
Nasa calls for market study on Urban Air Mobility (UAM) to create a safe and efficient system for air passenger and cargo transportation within an urban area.
“NASA has the knowledge and the expertise to help make urban air mobility happen,” said Jaiwon Shin, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics.
Uber Elevate
Uber’s flying car project “Elevate” partners with Nasa to test aerial taxis in Los Angeles, Dallas Fort-Worth, and Dubai by 2020.
“The agreement won’t involve any money transfers, but it will allow Uber and NASA to trade technology and expertise. The ride-hail company already poached Mark Moore, a NASA veteran and VTOL expert, to help run its Elevate project.”
Future of Transportation
Techcrunch provides a snapshot of the current flying car ecosystem and analyzes the future of transportation.
“Detailing funding statistics, flying-car startups have raised $310.7 million to date from all branches of the venture capital ecosystem: typical VCs (e.g. Atomico), corporates (Daimler, Toyota, Tencent) and notable angels (Larry Page).”
Law Enforcement
Police in Abu Dhabi may soon incorporate flying motorcycles into their fleet of police vehicles.
“Could self-steering vehicles that sail above road traffic be the answer to the country’s frequent traffic jams and reckless driving problems?”
Health
Recent advances in the autonomous drone technology are proving that drones can deliver potentially life-saving support to communities in need. Will federal regulators take notice?
“In Rwanda, where the government partnered with Zipline, another Silicon Valley-based company, drones are already providing new possibilities for health care facilities, which are now better equipped to deliver life-saving services to their patients.”
If you are interested in joining the pioneering generation of engineers who will build the smart transportation systems of the future, discover Udacity’s Flying Car Nanodegree Program today!
And stay tuned for more Flying Car News!
