The drone that carries humans around is ready for test flights

The Ehang 184, unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, is returning to Nevada for testing.

While the 500-pound device may seem like it’s the size of a miniature airplane, it is truly a drone. Passengers get into one-seater, enter their destination, and the drone takes care of the rest. 

The eight-rotor aircraft can carry up to a 220-pound person, reach altitudes ranging between 1,000 and 11,500 feet, and fly for up to 23 minutes on a single two-hour charge.

It can fly a person to any Google Map position with the passenger simply commanding “take off” and “land” on the Microsoft Surface that serves as its console. If any problems occur while the drone is in flight, Ehang ensures that human operators housed in command centers can override the controls and safely land the aircraft.

Ehang will conduct the tests with Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems, a union consisting of state government officials and Nevada businesses and educators, which will secure the drone to receive Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval, according to The Las Vegas Review Journal .

Before the test flights can take place, Ehang will need an FAA experimental certificate to fly the drone. Additionally, they’ll need the approval to carry passengers onboard during the test flights.

If all goes according to plan, the approval will be another piece of groundbreaking news for Ehang. Last month, the company announced that it partnered with Lung Biotechnology to ferry donated organs between hospitals, and it has plans to purchase as many as 1,000 specially designed Ehang 184 drones.

Source: Mashable