原创 Flying cars: Soon a reality?

I was originally alerted to this video by my chum Arthur Smith in the UK. Once my blog had posted, I emailed Arthur to tell him about it, and he responded by saying:

Hi Max, thank you for the mention in your great blog. With this kind of control it becomes feasible to deliver a lot of stuff by drone. Engine and battery capabilities are still too weak for human flight, as far as I know, but I would not be too surprised if this does happen in the not-so-distant future as it would be very useful.

Well, you could blow me down with a feather because, shortly after I read Arthur's message, I received an email from Nathaniel Berman pointing me at this article and this video and asking if I'd heard that E-Volo's Semi-Autonomous Volocopter had successfully completed its first flight.

This film shows the prototype 2-seater VC200 and product concepts based on the Volocopter platform. Now, if you've only ever flown one of the smaller, simpler drones, you may feel a tad wary with respect to trusting your precious body in a larger version. My first drone-flying experience didn’t end so well to the extent that the little scamp disappeared into the distance, never to be seen again.

But things are changing so fast in this area -- the combination of extremely accurate sensors and sophisticated control algorithms removes much of the complexity involved in flying these little beauties. One of the guys in my office has a DJI Phantom 3 Standard Quadcopter. He says you can fly it to a particular location in 3D space, take your hands off the controls, and it will remain exactly where you left it, even in gusting winds.

Similar technology involving myriad sensors and networked microprocessors in the VC200 means that the pilot can use very simple controls to express his or her desires, and the processors do all of the hard work to control the 18 rotors in such a way as to achieve rock-steady realization of the pilot's wishes. If you take your hands away from the controls, the VC200 maintains its current position as if it were "pegged to the sky."

Now, I have to admit that the 2-seater VC200 does look very, very tasty. For myself, however, I would LOVE one of the 1-seater VC100s, which also makes an appearance in the above video. I can so imagine myself flying to work in the morning...