CES 2018: Volocopter's air taxi flies in US
Amongst other aerial devices, Intel's volocopter became a star attraction.
Flying around in a private vehicle is definitely something fancy to wish for. But thanks to the rapid growth of technology, this wish of yours can now be fulfilled.
The keynote address by Intel saw the brand launching two aerial devices, a drone called Shooting Star Mini and an 18-rotor air taxi prototype known as the ‘Volocopter VC200’.
Intel has been working with Volocopter, a 50-person aviation startup from Germany for some time now and it is the first time that the two sides are publicizing the partnership at CES 2018.
The Volocopter isn’t really a new kid on the block. The company has uploaded several videos in the last few years of the demos of the Volocopter VC200. Then came Volocopter 2X, an upgraded version which is the company’s first true production vehicle. The 2X has a flight time of 30 minutes and a maximum range of 17 miles, though the brand says that the batteries can be quickly swapped until the tech improves.
Anil Nanduri, the drone group’s vice president and general manager said, “Intel works on and with myriad drones, but it saw in Volocopter a way to test that technology on a much bigger scale. When you’re talking about scaling this technology up to flying transportation, you are now looking at sensors that need to processes huge amounts of data. But what’s most important, it needs to be safe.” Nanduri added, “It’s so easy that I could fly it, a comment I’m still trying not to be offended by. It is so intuitive to fly that you could put a 5-year-old in here, without any explanation, and it will know how to manoeuvres this vehicle.”
Jan Stumpf, the chief of architecture for Intel’s drone group commented about their latest product and said, “What Intel sees in this technology is an enabling of a whole new market, with different segments and different partners. But Volocopter is of course now our biggest and most important one.”
The air taxi market, which has big names like Uber and Airbus, Volocopter’s partnership with Intel is the only way which will help it make a mark.