A growing number of companies are looking at the viability of airborne, autonomous taxis as a way to ease urban congestion and transportation woes, but the city of Dubai could leapfrog those with a plan to deploy a passenger-carrying drone as early as this summer. Uber, Airbus and others are still talking about creating test vehicles that would begin transporting cargo first, but Dubai’s Roads & Transportation Agency lead announced (via Mashable) at the World Government Summit in the city that they’re going to begin operating passenger service along predetermined routes starting in July, using the Ehang 184 autonomous quad-opener electric drone to ferry people through the air. The Ehang 184 is a drone that can carry one passenger with a max weight of 220 pounds, for a distance of 31 miles on one charge and at a top speed of 100 mph. It’s plenty enough for short haul trips across a busy urban landscape. Dubai officials will remotely monitor the drones, and pilot them from a centralized command center, and the city says it’s already started test flying the vehicle in Dubai skies, so this isn’t just pure bluster.

Dubai has proven a wellspring of opportunity for people looking to push the limits of transportation technology. Hyperloop One looks likely to deploy the first active hyperloop transportation system in the city, with a route to Abu Dhabi, for instance, and it’s also piloting a number of self-driving shuttle projects.If you believe the advertisements, passenger drones may be making their debut this summer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In a recently released video, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority showed off an “autonomous aerial vehicle”—an urban multi-rotor taxi drone that can carry a single passenger weighing up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and a “small suitcase.” The aircraft, which can launch and land vertically and travel up to 50 kilometers (31 miles), according to the RTA, flies completely autonomously. The passenger simply locks the vehicle’s door, inputs a destination using the onboard interface, then fastens a multi-point restraint. While the Dubai passenger drone would prove a first—assuming it works, and holds to that ambitious schedule—others will be close on its heels. 

Rideshare company Uber, for one, has said it would like a fleet of its own. Israel’s Urban Aeronautics has been testing its Cormorant for urban taxi and ambulance services. Even if the Dubai drone doesn’t take off this summer, the world is sure to see this concept become real eventually, considering the technical advancements made possible by research sponsored by DARPA and others. Passenger drones face big challenges, however: taking off and landing vertically in a crowded city, navigating congested skies autonomously, keeping down noise so as not to irritate the neighbors, low speed, and a host of safety issues for both passengers and people on the ground. The Dubai RTA is putting its faith in the Chinese-built Ehang 184 “AAV” or Autonomous Aerial Vehicle. Equipped with electric motors and computers with GPS and other types of navigation, the Ehang 184 lifts off, flies, and lands relatively quietly. It can stay aloft for up to 30 minutes at a time. According to Ehang’s data sheet for the 184, it launches and lands at pre-designated locations marked with a logo, and has cameras that help it navigate safely and with precision.

The 184 is technically an X-8 multi-rotor, meaning that it has four points of thrust, each consisting of two motor-propellers, coaxially aligned—one “tractor” propeller and one “pusher.” black hornet drone costThis means that if any one of the motors dies, or a propeller disintegrates, the aircraft won’t flip and crash to the ground, although it would need to land rather quickly. parrot ar drone set upThe concept has never been tried in an operational passenger service, however, and some feel that without further safety enhancements the drone taxi idea is a disaster waiting to happen.ar drone 3 full power edition limitée Another issue, particularly for Dubai in the summer, is that rotor systems don’t work very efficiently in hot air, which can dramatically reduce an aircraft’s payload capacity and flight time from its specifications on paper.parrot ar drone chicago

If the Ehang works out flawlessly, it will begin operation this July; that would be a world first, a major leap in applied technology, and a giant feather in the cap of a nation trying hard to compete with giants on the world stage. ar drone 2 nzThat outcome, however, seems unlikely: Though Ehang makes a small smartphone-controlled hobbyist drone, the Ghost, regulations for vehicles carrying passengers are much more stringent. commercial uav drone for saleVideos of the Ehang 84 show unpiloted test flights, but offer no evidence that it has yet carried people. ar drone 2 thailand(In response to queries, the company wrote in an email that “Many details about Ehang 184 haven’t been released yet.”) We look forward to hearing more about it, but count us as skeptics for now.

The RE-ACT team during the final live presentation of the UAE AI & Robotics Award for Good The 4Front Robotics entry in the UAE Drones for Good Final One of the national entrants perform their live presentation Both children and adults taking part in one of the Finals workshops A peek at some of the innovative technology behind the entries Drones for Good to the rescue! The Waterloop team preparing their live presentation A Drones for Good competitor Semi-Finalist: Drones for Rural Development One of the many group workshop sessions at the event The Finals venue in Dubai’s Internet City MIT’s robot entry shows off its impressive strength The semi-finals on the evening of day two at the Dubai Internet City venue A young spectator learns about the history of Robotics The Reef Rover team demonstrate their subterranean drone The crowd watch the live presentations Judges Manahel Thabet and Mohsen Al Awadhi examine the entries