Lifeboat Foundation

Coventry, a city in the United Kingdom, will play host to the world’s first airport for electric flying cars and delivery drones. Urban Air Port will build the Air One transport hub next to the city’s Ricoh Arena and will open later this year. It’ll be used to transport cargo and hopefully even people later across cities.

The city was specifically chosen by the company for its relatively central location and also because it’s a historically prominent location for both the aerospace and automobile industries. The project received a £1.2 million grant after winning the Government’s Future Flight Challenge, and the city is now in an urban air mobility partnership that’s backed by the UK Government.

“Cars need roads. Trains need rails. Planes need airports. eVTOLs will need Urban Air Ports. Over 100 years ago, the world’s first commercial flight took off, creating the modern connected world. Urban Air Port will improve connectivity across our cities, boost productivity and help the UK take the lead in a whole new clean global economy. Flying cars used to be a futuristic flight of fancy. Air-One will bring clean urban air transport to the masses and unleash a new airborne world of zero-emission mobility,” said Ricky Sandhu, Urban Air Port’s founder and executive chairman.

Urban Air Port has chosen to build its first Air-One transport hub for autonomous delivery drones and electric flying cars next to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, UK. The futuristic facility will launch later this year. It will support delivery drone and air taxi technology and eventually transport cargo and people across cities.

Circa 2014

Better we rely on death-proof drones than human tornado-chasers.

Circa 2010

About 48 kilometers off the eastern coast of the United States, scientists from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, peered over the side of a small research vessel, the Arabella. They had just launched RU27, a 2-meter-long oceanographic probe shaped like a torpedo with wings. Although it sported a bright yellow paint job for good visibility, it was unclear whether anyone would ever see this underwater robot again. Its mission, simply put, was to cross the Atlantic before its batteries gave out.

Unlike other underwater drones, RU27 and its kin are able to travel without the aid of a propeller. Instead, they move up and down through the top 100 to 200 meters of seawater by adjusting their buoyancy while gliding forward using their swept-back wings. With this strategy, they can go a remarkably long way on a remarkably small amount of energy.

Continue reading “Remotely Piloted Underwater Glider Crosses the Atlantic” »

Researchers have published a study revealing their successful approach to designing much quieter propellers.

The Australian research team used machine learning to design their propellers, then 3D printed several of the most promising prototypes for experimental acoustic testing at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s specialized ‘echo-free’ chamber.

Results now published in Aerospace Research Central show the prototypes made around 15dB less noise than commercially available propellers, validating the team’s design methodology.

The legal rights of robots have expanded, at least in Pennsylvania. There, autonomous delivery drones will be allowed to maneuver on sidewalks and paths as well as roadways and will now technically be considered “pedestrians.” It’s the latest change in the evolving relationship between autonomous vehicles and humans.

Scientists are creating drones that fly in sync with each other.

And here we have the fruit pickers of the future. Hovering drones. 😃

This fleet of drones will pick fruit for you! Fruit production has exploded over the past few years, but so has food waste! Increased demand sometimes means unpi… See More.

Founded by Google veterans and backed by $340 million from major VCs, Skydio is creating drones that seem straight out of science fiction—and they could be flying around your neighborhood soon.