Dubai is about to bring an innovative new way of traveling around the city with their and world’s first driverless drone taxi service. But before the service can be started, the drone taxi’s themselves need to be tested.
That’s exactly what Dubai arranged today. The German drone firm Volocopter and RTA Dubai arranged a test of their drone taxi which is still unnamed but resembles a two-seater helicopter powered by 18 propellers.
The drone taxi has been designed to fly without any guidance from a remote control and can fly for a limited time. Currently, the company has set the maximum flight time to be 30 minutes maximum. It can reach up to 200 meters in the sky. In case of failure, they have added many safety features like backup batteries, emergency parachutes, and backup rotors.
During the testing ceremony, the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed was present. He witnessed the successful test from a nearby viewing deck and clapped in approval of the taxi as soon as it completed its test.
Although the driverless drone taxi test was a success, there is no set date when the service will be launched in Dubai.