Flying cars and "air taxis" seem like things off of a science fiction universe in the distant future. But at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas, Nevada, Intel showed off the flirst flying taxi, dubbed the Volocopter.
The Volocopter, more formally known as the Volocopter VC200, is a fruit of Intel's long-term partnership with German aviation startup of the same name.
The VC200 may have been described as a flying taxi, but it does not yet have the sleek look of hovercars seen in sci-fi films. Instead it consists of a cockpit driven by a large network of 18 rotors. These rotors are assembled in a neat circular network above the cockpit.
Nonetheless, it still is a flying vehicle, and key Intel people did not miss the chance to demonstrate what the flying vehicle can do at CES 2018.
Of course, being that the Volocopter VC200 plans to be a mode of human transportation, the number one issue is safety.
Intel claims that they have integrated redundant safety systems into the vehicle. Whereas damaging one component on a traditional helicopter will get passengers in trouble, VC200 relies on multiple safety backups.
For instance, the VC200 has four inertial movement units or "IMU," and these four constantly monitor the altitude and position of the plane.
The vehicle is electronically powered and the battery system is divided into nine separate packs. Each of these powers a pair of the 18 rotors. Reportedly, the vehicle can still fly even if one or two battery packs fail.
Intel's partnership with Volocopter is apparently an important one. In an exclusive report by The Verge, Intel's chief of architecture Jan Stumpf says that "what Intel sees in this technology is an enabling of a whole new market."
Stumpf also mentioned that they have other business and technology partners, but Volocopter is the "biggest and most important one" right now.
