flying through the cities The competition is fierce as vertical mobility projects are being launched in as many as 50 cities around the globe The vigorous enthusiasm displayed by legislators fuels the fantasies of drone companies for good reason without the necessary legal frameworks urban airspac es will remain off limits Lilium CEO Daniel Wiegand cau tions The technology is not our problem Rather it s the things we re not in control of ourselves such as avia tion rules and the development of the new infrastructure with takeoff and landing stations Whether local politicians environmental organi zations and residents of the droned cities share this euphoria is at least questionable The airspace in dense ly populated urban areas is particularly critical Noise pol lution and environmental protection are equally sensitive subjects as the aspect of safety Nobody wants to see con gested airspace on top of the traffic jams on the roads be low and definitely no aerial vehicles crashing over bustling neighborhoods Respondents to a survey conducted by the University of California Berkeley expressed serious concerns when asked about aspects like safety noise and invasion of privacy The thought of putting one s fate into the hands of an autonomously flying machine evokes ambivalent feelings as well Moreover the majority of the respondents felt that passenger flights with drones made more sense in interurban than urban travel Schaeffler leverages expertise In order to prevent accidents the technical re quirements to be met by the unmanned aerial vehicles are extremely high as well which is an advantage for Schaeffler We ve been active as a supplier to the aero space sector for four decades and are certified according ly says Hosenfeldt This facilitates our access to the expanding market of drones The company s experience in the Formula E electric racing series is valuable as well particularly in the area of heat development Manufactur ers struggle with this issue time and time again during test flights up to and including damage caused by fire Hosenfeldt In Formula E we ve been gathering import ant experience also in the area of thermal management because in racing the drive systems we ve co developed have to deliver maximum performance and resist the re sulting loads for extended periods of time Schaeffler is currently engaged in discussions with various manufacturers The people at the technology group can imagine supplying complete propulsion sys tems in addition to bearings electric motors and power electronics And why not let passenger or cargo boxes of the Schaeffler Mover urban and autonomous mobility concept become airborne with drones As the saying goes in the industry The sky is the limit drones or similar unmanned aerial vehicles could be produced by 2035 The numbers will massively increase by 2050 3 million and 2070 7 million flight hours worldwide urban airspaces are expected to account for this number by 2035 3 billion by 2050 and 12 billion by 2070 were cancelled at London s Gatwick airport in 2018 shortly before Christmas due to an intrusion of drones into the airspace More than 140 000 passengers were affected Source Urban Air Mobility Study Report 2019 by Horváth Partner Source Urban Air Mobility Study Report 2019 by Horváth Partner 23 000 15 million 1 000 flights THE AUTHOR When mobility and technology journalist Carsten Paulun is stuck in traffic he some times wishes a drone would pick him and his vehicle up and fly them to their desti nation Fearing that noise and costs may prove to be the greatest challenges posed by vertical mobility he wouldn t want to see an isolated jet set high society buzzing above his head outlook 85

Hinweis: Dies ist eine maschinenlesbare No-Flash Ansicht.
Klicken Sie hier um zur Online-Version zu gelangen.