The drone debate continues to rage on as issues of privacy cloud the future of these publicly-available aircrafts.
Chinese drone maker Ehang Inc. made the debate all the more interesting Wednesday when they revealed the world's first drone capable of carrying a human passenger.
The Ehang 184 was shown to the masses at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the most recent CES gadget show. In looks similar to a helicopter; instead of one propeller on top, it has four doubled propellers spinning parallel to the ground like other drones.
It’s fully electric-powered, and can fly for about 23 minutes on full charge. It can carry one person (up to 220lbs), and has a couple of amenities including A/C, and a reading light.
The controls are simple enough, so you don’t need a helicopter license to fly this bad boy. After inputting a flight plan, passengers only need to give two commands: "take off" and "land," each controlled by a single click on a Microsoft Surface tablet.
Ehang co-founder and Chief Financial Officer Shang Hsiao said the company hopes to sell the device for $200,000 to $300,000.
He’d like to start selling to the public this year, but recognizes the aforementioned legal logistics: "The whole world never had something like this before," he said.
Chinese drone maker Ehang Inc. made the debate all the more interesting Wednesday when they revealed the world's first drone capable of carrying a human passenger.
The Ehang 184 was shown to the masses at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the most recent CES gadget show. In looks similar to a helicopter; instead of one propeller on top, it has four doubled propellers spinning parallel to the ground like other drones.
It’s fully electric-powered, and can fly for about 23 minutes on full charge. It can carry one person (up to 220lbs), and has a couple of amenities including A/C, and a reading light.
The controls are simple enough, so you don’t need a helicopter license to fly this bad boy. After inputting a flight plan, passengers only need to give two commands: "take off" and "land," each controlled by a single click on a Microsoft Surface tablet.
Ehang co-founder and Chief Financial Officer Shang Hsiao said the company hopes to sell the device for $200,000 to $300,000.
He’d like to start selling to the public this year, but recognizes the aforementioned legal logistics: "The whole world never had something like this before," he said.