#Flying car blueprint license

'It will be up to regulators and managing Government bodies around the world to work out what licensing category it fits into it-because currently there isn't one.'įlying cars also bring technical challenges such as battery life, particularly how many times it can be recharged before the battery duration starts to decline. But if we want to make them more accessible, then we need to bring the licensing requirements down,' says Dr. 'If we take a closer look at some of the flying cars in development, they are flown by highly trained and qualified pilots.

#Flying car blueprint license

She says even though future flying car models could be autonomous, users may need much more experience than a simple driver's license to get behind the wheel of one. 'There's also an appetite from industry to make them pilotless or remotely piloted.' 'There's a lot of work going into developing collision avoidance systems, particularly focusing on how these vehicles are going to communicate with each other to make real-time decisions on things such as right of way,' says Dr. Similar to commercial flights, flying cars will need traffic control rules, corridors and flight paths to establish right of way to avoid any potential collisions. Some of the challenges the industry is looking to solve are around regulation and traffic control. Slow down-flying cars won't take off just yet. 'And that's why we're calling them flying cars because they resemble the type of travel we would do with cars.' This makes the mechanics much more complex than a helicopter which primarily has vertical propulsion,' says Dr. 'The underlying technology that's so important with flying cars is the ability to both take off and land vertically and fly horizontally as well. While it probably won't get someone from Sydney to Melbourne on one battery charge, flying cars could potentially travel up to 250 kilometers in one ride.

They can fly a few hundred to a few thousand meters above the ground, occupying the air space above where you'd expect to see drones flying but below standard flying commercial aircrafts. 'Some early adopters of this technology include rideshare companies and emergency services, given some vehicles are being designed to be more versatile than traditional aircraft and helicopters.'įlying cars resemble a cross between a drone and a small aircraft, so most will have wings and typically include between four to eight rotors. 'We're starting to see an emergence of flying car variants in development around the world, and even here in Australia, as more companies are investing in these vehicles. 'Long-term, flying cars will offer us another means for short and personalized travel,' she says. Sonya Brown from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, says the aim of these vehicles is to eventually provide another means of urban air mobility to help reduce congestion on the road. Companies around the world are reaching new heights to develop flying cars that could one day be flown by commuters to work or even over longer distances for leisure travel.