Honeywell and Volocopter sign air taxi testing deal
Honeywell and Volocopter sign air taxi testing deal
German urban air taxi manufacturer Volocopter has signed a deal with Honeywell to jointly develop new navigation and automatic landing systems.
They will be used on Volocopter’s vertical take-off and landing aircraft - perhaps as early as this year, the companies suggest.
“A key goal of our collaboration is to fly a Honeywell inertial measurement-based attitude reference system solution in one of our Volocopters in 2019,” says Jan Hendrik Boelens, chief technology officer, Volocopter.
Urban air mob
April 16, 2019
Read time: 2 mins
German urban air taxi manufacturer 8772 Volocopter has signed a deal with 3857 Honeywell to jointly develop new navigation and automatic landing systems.
They will be used on Volocopter’s vertical take-off and landing aircraft - perhaps as early as this year, the companies suggest.
“A key goal of our collaboration is to fly a Honeywell inertial measurement-based attitude reference system solution in one of our Volocopters in 2019,” says Jan Hendrik Boelens, chief technology officer, Volocopter.
Urban air mobility is seen by its supporters as having a key role to play in cities of the future. Volocopter plans to test its air taxis in %$Linker: 2Internal<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />4372140link-external Singaporefalse/categories/utc/news/volocopter-to-test-electric-air-taxis-in-singapore-in-2019/falsefalse%> later this year and has signed an agreement with authorities at %$Linker: 2Internal<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />4383150link-external Frankfurtfalse/sections/general/news/volocopter-and-fraport-to-develop-ground-infrastructure-for-air-taxis/falsefalse%> Airport to develop ground infrastructure.
“Congestion and traffic jams continue to be time killers for people in modern megacities,” Boelens says. “New time-saving, environmentally-friendly solutions are required, and air taxis will certainly be one of them. Honeywell’s wealth of experience and knowledge in the development of next-generation avionics technologies combined with our manufacturing expertise will make autonomous, on-demand air mobility a reality across the world.”
Honeywell has a range of autonomous sensing and flight technologies, such as inertial measurement units and attitude heading reference solutions.
Volocopter has joined forces with Fraport to develop concepts for the ground infrastructure required to allow air taxis at Frankfurt Airport in Germany.
Volocopter says its partnership with German airport manager Fraport will focus on integrating what it calls ‘Volocopter Ports’ into existing infrastructure.
The company believes that these could be used in the future to serve as a link between existing urban transportation junctions and provide connections to and from the airport.
The Volocopter
Volocopter will trial its air taxis in Singapore’s urban environments in the second half of 2019. The initiative is expected to lead to public demonstration flights.
The company says the eVtols, based on drone technology, can carry two passengers for a distance up to 30 km.
These air taxis can manoeuvre safely around skyscrapers to ensure a smooth ride for passengers, Volocopter adds.
Volocopter will work with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) to establish the scope of the trials