Autonomous helicopter startup Skyryse demonstrates tech that could power urban air taxis
2Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/17/21024988/skyryse-autonomous-helicopter-technology-video-demo
Reported today in The Verge.
Autonomous helicopter startup Skyryse demonstrates tech that could power urban air taxis
Skyryse, an autonomous helicopter startup, unveiled the technology stack that it says will enable future fleets of air taxis to fly themselves over cities. It also released footage from a demonstration flight of one of its autonomous helicopters from earlier this year.
The Hawthorne, California-based company is one of many with dreams of flocks of air taxis whizzing above cities in the near future. But rather than expend a lot of energy trying to build an electric-powered vehicle from the ground up, Skyryse is using regular helicopters as a platform to demonstrate its autonomous technology. Skyryse released a video depicting a modified Robinson R-44, a Federal Aviation Administration-approved helicopter, flying itself with two pilots inside as backup.
Skyryse isn't the only company with dreams of self-flying aircraft. "Flying car" startups like Ehang and Volocotper have demonstrated their respective autonomous aircraft over the years. Two of the world's biggest aerospace companies, Airbus and Boeing, are also working on autonomous air taxi projects. Sikorsky, a 96-year-old helicopter company, let The Verge's Sean O'Kane sit in the pilot's seat of its experimental SARA (Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft) autonomous helicopter.
Skyryse is taking a more pragmatic approach by demonstrating its technology in helicopters that are in wide use today. The company refits existing consumer-grade certified aircraft and technologies with its software and hardware suite. "Each component of the system works in triplicate with airline-grade, fail-operational technology to ensure that automation functions remain operational at all times, even in the presence of equ