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It's about freaking time!

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  • It's about freaking time!

    We have been promised flying cars in the future for decades! Well here we are in the Future (TM) and no flying cars!

    Yet.

    Apparently Toyota is determined to give us flying cars by the 2020 olympics.

    ================================================== ==



    Toyota has joined the flying car craze by backing a group working on a drone-like vehicle that would soar 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground at speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph). The "Skydrive" is being developed by Cartivator, a startup with around 30 young volunteers working with drone expert Masafumi Miwa from Tokushima University. The aim is to get the car flying by next year and have it commercialized in time to light the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games torch.

    The 2.9 meter (9.5 foot) long SkyDrive would be the "world's smallest" flying EV, though it's worth noting that as of today, there are exactly no commercial flying cars. Cartivator's model would be able to take off from any public road and be "intuitive" and easy to control, according to its Zenmono crowdfunding page.

    Toyota chipped in around 40 million yen ($353,000) and offered the expertise of its mechanical engineers. The group has also received help from Taizo Sun, the founder of Japanese web game developer GungHo Online Entertainment, and about 2.5 million yen ($22,000) in crowdfunding pledges.

    A lot of companies, including Uber, Larry Page's Kitty Hawk startup and Chinese firm Ehang are working on flying cars, making them the tech world's fanciful product du jour.

    https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/15/...ve-flying-car/

    =======================


    So maybe we can finally have the future we were always promised.


  • #2
    Originally posted by Sparko View Post
    We have been promised flying cars in the future for decades! Well here we are in the Future (TM) and no flying cars!

    Yet.

    Apparently Toyota is determined to give us flying cars by the 2020 olympics.

    ================================================== ==



    Toyota has joined the flying car craze by backing a group working on a drone-like vehicle that would soar 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground at speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph). The "Skydrive" is being developed by Cartivator, a startup with around 30 young volunteers working with drone expert Masafumi Miwa from Tokushima University. The aim is to get the car flying by next year and have it commercialized in time to light the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games torch.

    The 2.9 meter (9.5 foot) long SkyDrive would be the "world's smallest" flying EV, though it's worth noting that as of today, there are exactly no commercial flying cars. Cartivator's model would be able to take off from any public road and be "intuitive" and easy to control, according to its Zenmono crowdfunding page.

    Toyota chipped in around 40 million yen ($353,000) and offered the expertise of its mechanical engineers. The group has also received help from Taizo Sun, the founder of Japanese web game developer GungHo Online Entertainment, and about 2.5 million yen ($22,000) in crowdfunding pledges.

    A lot of companies, including Uber, Larry Page's Kitty Hawk startup and Chinese firm Ehang are working on flying cars, making them the tech world's fanciful product du jour.

    https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/15/...ve-flying-car/

    =======================


    So maybe we can finally have the future we were always promised.
    It is not a problem of having flying cars. In fact there was one featured in a James Bond movie in The Man with a Golden Gun. The Terrafugia was successfully flown in 2009, but only two were built.

    The problem is practicality and cost. Costs in the past were a quarter of a million dollars or more.
    Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
    Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
    But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

    go with the flow the river knows . . .

    Frank

    I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by shunyadragon View Post
      It is not a problem of having flying cars. In fact there was one featured in a James Bond movie in The Man with a Golden Gun. The Terrafugia was successfully flown in 2009, but only two were built.

      The problem is practicality and cost. Costs in the past were a quarter of a million dollars or more.
      I think the bigger problem is accidents.

      People can't be trusted to fly cars. They can't even drive on the road without crashing. A crowded sky would end up being a nightmare with cars falling out of the sky as people text and fly and so on. The advent of self-driving cars is the reason why the idea of flying cars might make sense. You would have automated flying cars that worked without human intervention . Program in your destination and sit back.

      The other problem is noise pollution. These things are not quiet. Giant fans make a lot of noise. As do jet engines. There is a reason why people don't like living next to an airport.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Sparko View Post
        I think the bigger problem is accidents.

        People can't be trusted to fly cars. They can't even drive on the road without crashing. A crowded sky would end up being a nightmare with cars falling out of the sky as people text and fly and so on. The advent of self-driving cars is the reason why the idea of flying cars might make sense. You would have automated flying cars that worked without human intervention . Program in your destination and sit back.

        The other problem is noise pollution. These things are not quiet. Giant fans make a lot of noise. As do jet engines. There is a reason why people don't like living next to an airport.
        That has been the general reason given for the lack of flying cars being developed. Too many folks can barely manage to drive on a road. Now put them in the air and start counting the number of times you hear about someone plowing into the side of a building -- 6 stories up.

        I'm always still in trouble again

        "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
        "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
        "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
          That has been the general reason given for the lack of flying cars being developed. Too many folks can barely manage to drive on a road. Now put them in the air and start counting the number of times you hear about someone plowing into the side of a building -- 6 stories up.
          Actually, probably an exaggeration, because the same people that are licensed to fly airplanes would be the only ones licensed to fly flying cars. There are numerous practical, cost, and mechanical limitations for these vehicles. On problem is weight. The one in the James Bond film was not practical and very limited in its flight performance.
          Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
          Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
          But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

          go with the flow the river knows . . .

          Frank

          I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by shunyadragon View Post
            Actually, probably an exaggeration, because the same people that are licensed to fly airplanes would be the only ones licensed to fly flying cars. There are numerous practical, cost, and mechanical limitations for these vehicles. On problem is weight. The one in the James Bond film was not practical and very limited in its flight performance.
            well yeah, it was literally a car with a wing and enjine strapped on top.

            286d72a552eb3511ddc7eb8607c98f82.jpg

            I don't consider that a flying car, but just a weird airplane. I am talking about actual flying personal transports. Like the Jetsons or the car on Back to the Future. Not modified planes or hybrid cars with wings attached. Something you can park in your garage and it doesn't take a pilot's license and an airport to operate.

            The one in the OP is basically a large quad copter (drone).

            Here is another interesting one:

            Last edited by Sparko; 05-16-2017, 07:53 AM.

            Comment


            • #7
              The noise would be intolerable, the fuel consumption outrageous and like Elon Musk said at a TED talk "It wouldn't exactly be an anxiety-reducing situation... if a hubcap came off would it take off a head?"

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Leonhard View Post
                The noise would be intolerable, the fuel consumption outrageous and like Elon Musk said at a TED talk "It wouldn't exactly be an anxiety-reducing situation... if a hubcap came off would it take off a head?"
                Would a flying "car" need wheels and hubcaps though? IMO it seems like the smart thing to do would make them function like a hovercraft when they're on/close to the ground. And keep the exterior as minimalistic and free from extraneous parts as possible.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Chrawnus View Post
                  Would a flying "car" need wheels and hubcaps though? IMO it seems like the smart thing to do would make them function like a hovercraft when they're on/close to the ground. And keep the exterior as minimalistic and free from extraneous parts as possible.
                  They still have to be able to drive on the roads, and a hovercraft can't do that. I'm not walking past a line of cars, blasting out hurricane airstreams. If they don't have wheels, they're not flying cars, then they're just small helicopters.

                  And again, the noise. Over a hundred decibels easily. That's not an improvement at all! That's thousands of times more noise than normal cars produce, let alone the actual noise reduction we'll get when we inevitable switch to electric cars.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Leonhard View Post
                    They still have to be able to drive on the roads, and a hovercraft can't do that. I'm not walking past a line of cars, blasting out hurricane airstreams. If they don't have wheels, they're not flying cars, then they're just small helicopters.

                    And again, the noise. Over a hundred decibels easily. That's not an improvement at all! That's thousands of times more noise than normal cars produce, let alone the actual noise reduction we'll get when we inevitable switch to electric cars.
                    All of those issues can be solved with magic.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      The noise problem can be solved by just making sure everyone is deaf.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                        The noise problem can be solved by just making sure everyone is deaf.
                        The noise in itself will make people deaf. In other words, it's a problem that will solve itself.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Chrawnus View Post
                          The noise in itself will make people deaf. In other words, it's a problem that will solve itself.
                          Eh?

                          Comment

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