The idea of passenger drones makes my skin crawl a little bit. But then again, I’m not a fan of flying or heights, so maybe I should just keep my feet planted on the ground. That wasn’t so much of a problem for these folks from the Chinese city of Guangzhou though, who lifted off in the world’s first passenger drone last Christmas to deliver some holiday goodness to kids.
It’s called the Ehang 184 and is named as such because it can carry one person, has eight propellers and four arms. Bloody genius.
In this video, they go through a number of drone’s features which uses a Microsoft Surface Pad, which can be removed, that shows the main control screen with a bunch of different readouts and display modes along with a map of the surrounding area.
We’re then introduced to a few of the folks behind the Ehang 184’s design and construction, which is 100% green and uses only electricity stored in a rechargeable underside battery, providing a flight time of around 20 minutes.
Soon after it’s time for takeoff and we’re treated to the vehicle in-flight, before it lands not too far away to deliver presents to the local kids. Awww.