A test flight for what it said would soon be the world’s first drone taxi service under an ambitious plan by the United Arab Emirates city to lead the Arab world in innovation, reports Reuters.
German drone firm developed the flying taxi.It is called Volocopter.It resembles a small, two-seater helicopter cabin. It is topped by a wide hoop studded with 18 propellers.
It can be flown without the guidance of remote control. With a maximum flight duration of 30 minutes. It comes with plenty of fail-safes in case of trouble: back-up batteries, rotors and, for a worst case scenario, a couple of parachutes.
Volocopter is in a race with more than a dozen well-funded European and US firms, each with its own science fiction-inspired vision for creating a new form of urban transport that is a cross between a driverless electric car and a short-haul, vertical takeoff-and-landing.