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It's for Uber Elevate (flying taxis) and they plan to use Dallas as an initial test city. Supposedly they're going to start testing next year but it's a little

It's for Uber Elevate (flying taxis) and they plan to use Dallas as an initial test city. Supposedly they're going to start testing next year but it's a little hard to imagine they'll hit that deadline.

mrweasel 7y ago
How are they even able to fund flying taxis and self driving cars? Even if it’s part of their plan to avoid the cost of the drivers, there’s no way that investors can or will keep funding them for the next 15 to 20 years while they get the technology ready.
- Judgmentality 7y ago
  The self-driving car play is basically an existential threat to Uber. Travis Kalanick publicly stated, multiple times, that Uber cannot work without self-driving cars. The problem is, in my opinion as someone with extensive robotics experience, self-driving cars are very far from being reality (basically everything right now is demoware). Flying taxis are actually a lot less crazy of an idea, although it is still very difficult technology that will cost a lot of money. Kitty Hawk's Cora is going to act like a sky shuttle for tourist locations in New Zealand and plans to begin testing soon (it will probably be delayed, but the technological viability is there). There are obviously technological challenges to be solved in that space, but the biggest one is probably noise. Kitty Hawk also has the Heaviside which is very quiet (only unmanned tests so far, but it's legit). But this is a single-person short-range toy for rich people. There is also the Lilium "jet" which is an industry favorite, and the Opener Blackfly. Fun fact: Larry Page owns most of the companies I just listed and is kind of obsessed with flying cars. People have run the numbers. You can build an eVTOL aircraft with enough range to work for something like Uber Elevate is designing. But they are ignoring noise, and I believe that is going to be the chasm they cannot cross because the public will not allow that much noise pollution (they are really fucking loud - if you live somewhere with helicopters imagine them lower, whinier, and all the time). I think flying taxis are technologically sound but will never get approval from the public, which is actually why we don't have supersonic flight (yep - the main barrier is actually it's too fucking loud for people to allow it and many laws have been written making it illegal to fly over anything but the ocean, although there were other problems with the Concorde as well). Uber Elevate is meant to be a carrot to convince investors they are onto something big to float the stock price. It's much more viable than self-driving cars within the next decade, but I would not count on anything happening in the US within the next 5 years apart from aircraft testing. Blah blah blah, it's mostly smoke and mirrors.
  - jandrese 7y ago
    Those human size autonomous quadcopter companies are all so optimistic about the future that they don't even realize how pie in the sky they are. Holy shit the business model on those is so crazy. Fly out to the suburbs and land autonomously in your back yard. Then it flies out and lands on the roof of your office, or at the airport, or wherever you want to go all controlled by your smartphone. Like these things are going to be flying in areas where only expert pilots would even consider in aircraft that are horrendously unstable and light and in close proximity to obstructions. The videos always show some guy in a business suit flying some laser straight path right to the building, not being buffeted around by the wind reflected off of the buildings and one engine out from a pigeon that got sucked into the motor.
    - CydeWeys 7y ago
      These things would have to be at least as safe as cars, and I just don't see how that's possible. They can't glide like an unpowered plane; anything goes wrong and you're immediately plummeting to your death.
      - jandrese 7y ago
        At least one company includes a built-in automatically deploying parachute for whenever something goes wrong. Probably all of them will have to do that in the end.
        CydeWeys 7y ago
        That will help reduce fatalities but definitely won't eliminate them. Also you're gonna see a lot of people in drones strung up in trees/powerlines and in need of rescuing.
        Judgmentality 7y ago
        I'd be more concerned about these crashing on a street and causing a road accident.

mrweasel 7y ago

How are they even able to fund flying taxis and self driving cars? Even if it’s part of their plan to avoid the cost of the drivers, there’s no way that investors can or will keep funding them for the next 15 to 20 years while they get the technology ready.

Judgmentality 7y ago
The self-driving car play is basically an existential threat to Uber. Travis Kalanick publicly stated, multiple times, that Uber cannot work without self-driving cars. The problem is, in my opinion as someone with extensive robotics experience, self-driving cars are very far from being reality (basically everything right now is demoware). Flying taxis are actually a lot less crazy of an idea, although it is still very difficult technology that will cost a lot of money. Kitty Hawk's Cora is going to act like a sky shuttle for tourist locations in New Zealand and plans to begin testing soon (it will probably be delayed, but the technological viability is there). There are obviously technological challenges to be solved in that space, but the biggest one is probably noise. Kitty Hawk also has the Heaviside which is very quiet (only unmanned tests so far, but it's legit). But this is a single-person short-range toy for rich people. There is also the Lilium "jet" which is an industry favorite, and the Opener Blackfly. Fun fact: Larry Page owns most of the companies I just listed and is kind of obsessed with flying cars. People have run the numbers. You can build an eVTOL aircraft with enough range to work for something like Uber Elevate is designing. But they are ignoring noise, and I believe that is going to be the chasm they cannot cross because the public will not allow that much noise pollution (they are really fucking loud - if you live somewhere with helicopters imagine them lower, whinier, and all the time). I think flying taxis are technologically sound but will never get approval from the public, which is actually why we don't have supersonic flight (yep - the main barrier is actually it's too fucking loud for people to allow it and many laws have been written making it illegal to fly over anything but the ocean, although there were other problems with the Concorde as well). Uber Elevate is meant to be a carrot to convince investors they are onto something big to float the stock price. It's much more viable than self-driving cars within the next decade, but I would not count on anything happening in the US within the next 5 years apart from aircraft testing. Blah blah blah, it's mostly smoke and mirrors.
- jandrese 7y ago
  Those human size autonomous quadcopter companies are all so optimistic about the future that they don't even realize how pie in the sky they are. Holy shit the business model on those is so crazy. Fly out to the suburbs and land autonomously in your back yard. Then it flies out and lands on the roof of your office, or at the airport, or wherever you want to go all controlled by your smartphone. Like these things are going to be flying in areas where only expert pilots would even consider in aircraft that are horrendously unstable and light and in close proximity to obstructions. The videos always show some guy in a business suit flying some laser straight path right to the building, not being buffeted around by the wind reflected off of the buildings and one engine out from a pigeon that got sucked into the motor.
  - CydeWeys 7y ago
    These things would have to be at least as safe as cars, and I just don't see how that's possible. They can't glide like an unpowered plane; anything goes wrong and you're immediately plummeting to your death.
    - jandrese 7y ago
      At least one company includes a built-in automatically deploying parachute for whenever something goes wrong. Probably all of them will have to do that in the end.
      - CydeWeys 7y ago
        That will help reduce fatalities but definitely won't eliminate them. Also you're gonna see a lot of people in drones strung up in trees/powerlines and in need of rescuing.
        Judgmentality 7y ago
        I'd be more concerned about these crashing on a street and causing a road accident.