AP News: Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends

TheTango@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 164 points –
Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
apnews.com
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I'll never understand the eternal hype around "flying cars". Fuckers out here can hardly drive on a 2d road. Now you want to introduce a third axis on them?

I guarantee that if the general public gets their hands on a real "flying car", it'll take about 2 weeks before some drunk idiot commits a mini 9/11.

The only way flying cars should ever get implemented is if they are 100% automatic.

  • Create automatic taxi (impossible)

  • Create flying taxi (impossible)

Okay, new plan!

  • Create automatic flying taxi (should be possible in the next 5-15 years)

Not saying it's a good idea, but a lot of the complexity surrounding automated driving is actually because you are confined to a 2D space and have to follow roads/road signs. When you can just lift off and adjust verticality to avoid objects all you really need is a way to detect and avoid obstacles and some navigation logic. Landing is probably the most difficult part to automate.

Not super easy but it is actually easier than self-driving cars (which is why almost all of a commercial flight is running on autopilot)

When you can just lift off and adjust verticality to avoid objects

You need to navigate between objects on an additional access. Also, manage speed and trajectory with a changing mass, as you exhaust fuel.

Not rocket science, but its close.

it is actually easier than self-driving cars (which is why almost all of a commercial flight is running on autopilot)

Commercial flight follows lanes of traffic with regular well-regulated flight paths.

One thing that gets helicopters and small engine aircraft pilots in trouble is that they don't have any of that.

Right? Cool, now the road goes over your house! Along with the Amazon drones.

Drink idiots hit things in cars all the time.

Make the test to acquire your license actually difficult to the skill level required instead of the "you can take two left turns and park shitty, here's your license" level of difficulty that most states use for road vehicles.

Dog if you make one mistake you can kill so many more people than in a crash. This is a horrible idea.

So require more training and certification for use?

Are you guys all seriously hung up on the word "car" here and trying to imply that eVTOLs can't just come with its own infrastructure and pilot requirements independent of what we currently have?

It doesn't have to be like cars, where the skill level of the driver can be non existent and still pass licensing.

I just can't believe I'm in the tech community of a supposedly leftist website having to argue for a technology that beyond small local airstrips (literally a grass field with charging stations and basic rest stop equipment) needs no additional ground infrastructure.

The opposition? Begin large scale rail projects that will require we carve through a lot of natural resources as well as acquire the resources to build it with.

I just have to double check to make sure I didn't fall into the wrong internet rabbit hole.

Im saying that it doesnt matter if the requirements are super high, it's still dangerous and I don't really see how the use cases are justifiable. It also doesn't scale well with a lot of people. You could easily just build rail or use a bus and make a bus lane.

I just can't believe I'm in the tech community of a supposedly leftist website having to argue for a technology that beyond small local airstrips (literally a grass field with charging stations and basic rest stop equipment) needs no additional ground infrastructure.

The opposition? Begin large scale rail projects that will require we carve through a lot of natural resources as well as acquire the resources to build it with.

🤣

I got my driver's license when I was 18, after studying for the test and practicing for several months on a learner's permit.

Now I'm 40. I've never been retested. I have completely forgotten what's on the exam. I've developed a whole bunch of bad driving habits, particularly with the advent of smart phones. And nobody is going to challenge my license renewal so long as I can pass an eye exam every 10 years.

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