B5
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2019
Autonomous robo taxi takes to the skies
By TOM BANSE
Northwest News Network
A drone air taxi designed
by Airbus has successfully
completed 114 test fl ights
in Pacifi c Northwest skies.
Airbus, along with its rival
Boeing and many others, is
striving to make fl ying cars
an option for your urban
commute. The enthusiasm
around the test fl ight han-
gar in Pendleton has to be
leavened, though. Industry
insiders said the technol-
ogy is running years ahead
of regulators and public
acceptance.
You can imagine living
life like “The Jetsons” car-
toon family when you stand
next to Airbus’ electric, sin-
gle-seat passenger drone.
“It’s cool and it’s real,”
said the head of fl ight test-
ing, Matt Deal, as curious
attendees from a regional
drone industry conference
admired the futuristic proto-
type in a hangar at the Pend-
leton airport.
“No crashes, no nothing.
It’s been great so far,” Deal
said. “Over 100 takeoffs and
landings, all self-piloted. So
there is no pilot either on
the ground or in the vehicle.
From the very beginning,
we were all autonomous.”
Flight testing continues
in the skies of the Pendleton
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Test Range.
Airbus
named
the
eight-rotor prototype “Vah-
ana,” an allusion to Hindu
mythology and fl ying car-
pets. The goal is to offer a
faster option for short hops
across highly congested big
cities – or from suburbs to
city centers – at a cost that
is competitive with ground
taxi fare over the same
distance.
Deal said the proto-
type has a range of around
31 miles or about 20 min-
utes of fl ight time with fully
charged batteries. He said
the battery pack makes up
almost 40% of the weight of
Tom Banse/Northwest News Network
The self-fl ying Vahana air taxi has completed 114 fl ight tests at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton.
The Boeing Passenger Air Vehicle made its fi rst fl ight at Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia
on Jan. 22.
the vehicle.
“Vahana was intended to
be a technology demonstra-
tor,” Deal said. “So from
the very beginning we just
wanted to prove the viabil-
ity of technology and we’ve
done that. From vertical
takeoff, through transition,
to a cruise speed of over
100 miles per hour, we’ve
demonstrated electrifi cation
in aviation is not only feasi-
ble, it’s feasible now.”
There was no human
on board for any of Vaha-
na’s fl ights. In Europe, the
company is fl ight-testing a
larger robo-air taxi dubbed
CityAirbus. The learnings
from both aircraft develop-
ment programs will be com-
bined into the next iteration.
Deal said Airbus is proceed-
ing methodically amid lots
of competition worldwide.
For its part, Boeing is
testing a two-seat robo-air
taxi developed by its Aurora
Flight Sciences subsidiary.
The Boeing electric ver-
tical-takeoff-and-landing
prototype made its maiden
fl ight in January. It crashed
onto a runway in June while
fl ying unmanned at the
Manassas, Virginia, airport,
suffering substantial dam-
age but causing no inju-
ries to people, according to
a preliminary report from
the National Transportation
Safety Board.
A leading Chinese com-
petitor, Ehang, recently
announced it has completed
numerous
demonstration
fl ights carrying passengers
in its two-seat electric fl y-
ing car.
So, when will you and
I get to soar over traffi c in
a fl ying Uber that we’ve
hailed with a mobile app?
That’s still hard to say.
Last week, Pendleton
High School students looked
over the Airbus drone taxi
and pronounced themselves
ready to try it out.
“I’d be fi ne fl ying in a
drone,” sophomore Dylan
McKenzie said. “I think
it would be an amazing
experience.”
“I have enough confi -
dence in the technology that
they have put into this and
the amount of development
they have going into this
machine that I trust them,”
added fellow student Tripp
Sorenson.
Consultant Renee Fell-
man of Portland was more
cautious about boarding a
pilotless air taxi.
“I love technology,” Fell-
man said. “I use technol-
ogy, but there are too many
glitches. Until I am sure,
whether it is autonomous
cars or autonomous air vehi-
cles, I’m not personally get-
ting in.”
Public acceptance and
perceptions of safety are
among many remaining hur-
dles, University of Washing-
ton researcher Don MacK-
enzie said. The engineering
professor is currently study-
ing why most people
remain wary of autonomous
vehicles.
“Our research on road
vehicle automation suggests
that people are not necessar-
ily ready,” MacKenzie said.
“At least the average person
is not necessarily ready to
trust this technology and go
all-in on it today based on
what they know today.”
MacKenzie said we have
passed “the peak of infl ated
expectations” and now
more realism and grounded
expectations prevail.
The Federal Aviation
Administration still needs to
defi ne how it will certify this
new class of passenger-car-
rying aircraft. Separately,
governments and aircraft
makers are pouring mil-
lions of dollars into air traf-
fi c control studies. One of
those trials will unfold over
the inland Northwest soon,
in partnership with defense
contractor PAE ISR.
The Airbus Vahana team
is beginning to research
noise from robo-air taxis –
yet another issue with more
questions than answers.
Civic leaders in Pendle-
ton have embraced the drone
test range at the city-owned
airport. Airbus and PAE
ISR are probably the high-
est-profi le tenants among a
variety of global aerospace
companies that have leased
all of the available hangar
space around the airfi eld.
The organizers of the
Association of Unmanned
Vehicles Systems Interna-
tional drone symposium
held in Pendleton in early
October enhanced the catch-
phrase of the city’s signature
rodeo to capture the new
industry cluster.
“Where Let’r Buck meets
Let’r Fly!” the revised slo-
gan read.
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COLUMBIAFORUM 2018-19
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