Airbus Vahana
This project Vahana looks forward to creating an electric VTOL aircraft that will be self-piloted. Since it will be self-piloted this will cut on the cost of hiring a trained pilot. It also means that it will be ideal to be used as a taxi since the car can automatically return to their centers for maintenance or even take up a different route depending on the current order. Engineers have also created software that enables auto piloting. In 2018, the Vahana prototype was able to rise 16 feet above the ground using the auto-piloted technology and stayed in the air for about 53 seconds. So far the Airbus as flown 50 test flights.
Aero Mobil
This VTOL is based on Slovakia and is determined to make a flying car that functions well. This company it’s on its fourth prototype. This company aims at making a hybrid flying car that is a model that can be both an aircraft as well as a vehicle. It thus requires wings and wheels and an efficient fuel system.
Volocopter 2X
This flying vehicle is designed for personal flight and it contains 18 rotors which are controlled using a single joystick and it’s powered using electric batteries. The 2X can only carry two passengers and can only fly for 30 minutes with an interval of 17 miles in between charge centers. The vehicle also contains a parachute, four sensor units that are independent and are used to control positioning and nine electric battery which are built-in redundancies.
Workhouse surely
These Autonomous flying cars are made for both commercial services and also for consumers who want a self -controlled and durable flying experience. This flying vehicle consists of eight propellers and canfly at a speed of 75mph. It doesn’t require gasoline unlike other VTOLs and it can carry between 400-650 pounds of cargo. It consists of only two controls that’s it a throttle control which is found at the pilot’s door and a joystick control which is used to control the direction. The rest of the controls are automated.
Opener blackfly
These autonomous flying cars are a combination of automatic features and personal piloting. It was designed by a Canadian. Some of the automated features include an automated return to its home function and auto landing.
Terrafugia’s transition
Like aero Mobil, the transition is also a hybrid and thus contains retractable wheels and wings and thus it’s meant to be a car and also an aircraft. It uses both electricity and gas to power the model. It has a high speed.
Zhang 184
These Autonomous flying cars are known to be safe, very comfortable and fully automated. It’s usually powered by a basic touchscreen interface.
Joby aviation’s
This is an electric air taxi that appears to look like the traditional aircraft with any propellers.
This model is yet to be tested for flying. Kitty Hawk prototype
These autonomous flying cars don’t require a pilot’s license in order to drive it. This model is to be created for off-road fun and also as an air taxi that is meant for the urban environment. It’s suitable for people who are looking for dirty flying and quick experience.
Since the autonomous flying vehicle doesn’t require a pilot then they have a specific mechanism that they use to work with. The autonomous flying car has a functional architecture that serves as an anatomy map, this may help to illustrate how these vehicles can self-drive without breaking the ethical codes. The functional architecture is divided into hardware and software. The hardware is divided into of sensors, vehicle to infrastructure and vehicle to vehicle technology and actuators. The hardware is like the physical part of the human body which interacts with stimuli outside while the software is divided according to processes that’s planning, control, and perception.
Sensors are part of the hardware and are used to understand the surroundings. They are used to take raw information from their surroundings. The main sensor is GPS, camera radar and lidar. They are like eyes in the human body. The actuators are used to control and move the autonomous flying vehicle. This is like muscles that respond to electrochemical signals from the brain. On the other hand, the V2X technology (V2V and V21 technology) enables the vehicle to communicate and receive information sent by other machine agents within the environment. The perception system which is a part of the software is used to interpret the raw information that it receives from either the sensors or the V2V components. It helps the car to distinguish the picture it’s receiving that’s if either of a pedestrian or anything else is.
The planning system is the ability of the vehicle to make a decision in order to achieve a certain goal. For example whether to slow down or to stop. The control system then converts the goals and intentions which are derived from the planning system into action. The control communicates with the actuators in order to put the inputs received into motion. For example in a scenario where the car has to decide whether to move forward if the traffic light is green. The sensors take in the information in the surroundings but they can’t interpret the information.
The traffic lights then communicate to the V2X technology that it has turned into a green color. Other cars within the surrounding also communicate their position. The perception system turns the raw information into the actual meaning and the picture information shows that there a green light and a pedestrian crossing and then the planning system combine the information from both the perception stage and the V2X and decide on how to behave. The control system translates the a decision that is not to move and then the actuators keep applying the brakes which results in the vehicle making a decision.