Technologies of interest – Oct.16.2019

A sampling of recent items about new robotic and aviation technologies (previous tech posts):

[ Update Oct.17: Vertical Aerospace in the UK debuts the Seraph eVTOL aircraftWorld first: Vertical Aerospace flies electric air taxi capable of carrying 250kg – Vertical Aerospace

The Seraph was built to test new technologies and systems for integration into our upcoming passenger model, due to be unveiled next year. With the Seraph we became the first company in the world to release flight footage of an eVTOL aircraft capable of carrying 250kg.

The aircraft is capable of carrying loads of up to 250kg and can reach speeds of up to 80kmph. It features a unique passive cooling system, and a customisable design, meaning the aircraft can be made larger or smaller, fitted with wheels or floats to facilitate water landings.

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** Recent Agile Robotics videos:

** Latest Boston Dynamics videos:

** Lilium is now flying its first prototype electric air taxi: Lilium’s 36-Motor Flying Taxi Takes Off for the First Time – WIRED.

** Purdue team builds robotic hummingbird:

What can fly like a bird and hover like an insect? Your friendly neighborhood hummingbird. If drones had this capability, they would be able to fly steadily through windy conditions, and get into tight spaces other drones couldn’t go. Assistant professor Xinyan Deng and her team have created a bio-inspired hummingbird robot: trained by artificial intelligence, weighing only 12 grams, and utilizing unsteady aerodynamics to hover, just like the real thing.

** The Space Show – Tue, 04/30/2019Bruno Mombrinie talked about “the Metro Hop concept and plan for a fixed wing eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) passenger and cargo commercial plane service”.

**  The Space Show – Tue, 06/25/2019Dr. Anita Sengupta talked about VTOL urban aerial mobility technology market 7 craft development, technical VTOL issues, VTOL business case and much more”. See also ASX_MobiOne_Specs2019.pdf

** Urban Aero‘s large VTOL Cormorant can do crop dusting:

** Gravity Industries organizing Jet Pack racing  – Real-Life Flying Suit Inventor Richard Browning to Launch Jetpack Racing League in 2019 – The Drive – Sept.10.2018

** Using a wing with the jet pack:

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