With drones being such a commodity these days, it’s easy to see why they’re of interest to companies that are trying to fill the niches. Apart from your everyday just-for-fun drones that can buzz around and record video from high up in the air, drones are also used for other things. One such example would be Amazon’s endeavor to one day offer a drone-based package delivery service.
But apart from these drones, which are all relatively small and compact and designed for light weight carry, a new type of drone being created for transporting human beings for short distances has been unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show for 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It’s called the EHANG184 and it’s being made by a Chinese company dubbed Ehang, Inc. The life-sized drone can reported carry up to 220 pounds, which is enough to lift up from the ground with a light-to-medium body build human being.
The EHANG184 can fly up to 11,500 feet high and move more than 60 miles per hour, but it’s probably better to stay closer to the ground because the device’s batteries are only capable of lasting a maximum of 23 minutes before it needs to be re-charged again. Fortunately, a full re-charge is just 2 hours away.
The drone itself has its own cabin, complete with relaxing air conditioning and internal lights. The flight process is autonomous, meaning that the passenger doesn’t have to be skilled enough to fly a drone to ride inside. Instead, computers and gyroscopes handle everything for the passenger.
Is it safe? – the company thinks so, and claims that it’s been tested enough times to be able to stand behind its product. On the other hand, there are laws regarding drones that may or may not impact the legalities of where riding in such a drone, even one of life-size like this one, would be allowed.
The company feels that the product would be safer than a helicopter, seeing as how the drone has more than one propeller and would be able to called an "absolutely safe" aerial vehicle.
You can watch out the company’s teaser video on the EHANG184 below:
