eHANG launches drone capable of carrying a human being and flying at up to 100 km/h

Drones were initially thought for military use, mainly for espionage or to carry out attacks where sending pilots is too risky. However, its domestic or recreational use is becoming increasingly popular. During CES 2016, the Chinese company eHANG presented a drone capable of carrying passengers and traveling at a speed of up to 100 km/h.

In the last year, the eHANG has been developing the eHANG 184 for the purpose of producing a gadgets capable of carrying passengers. The model is self-driving, that is, the route is pre-set before the trip starts.

O eHANG 184 can be very useful for professionals in various industries, due to the ease with which drones perform work more efficiently and accurately. In this way, photographers who previously depended on helicopters for aerial photos can buy drones and program routines for the equipment to take photos with GPS accuracy, or allow geologists to monitor geysers and volcano craters without having to climb to the top.

Recently, Amazon itself (read here) has rehearsed its express deliveries using drones. In addition to these, many people have discovered a hobby in drones, as a form of model aircraft.

Despite looking a lot like a helicopter, the eHANG 184 hold on up to 100 kg in weight and can fly at up to 101 km/h. Unfortunately the battery takes about 2 hours to be charged, for a flight range of just 23 minutes. The cabin footage makes the experience have to be a solo trip, due to the weight limit, the drone can only carry one person and without much luggage.

To control the eHANG 184, the Chinese company has coupled a tablets Microsoft Surface with software developed especially for the drone. the price of eHANG 184 is de 300 thousand dollars (more than 1,2 million reais), which may seem expensive, but not as expensive as the acquisition of a commercial helicopter, which, adding up all the licenses, costs up to 500 thousand dollars (more than 2 million reais).

In addition to the cost and challenge of convincing people to get on the drone, the company still faces the problem that in some countries the flight of drones has not yet been regulated. Therefore, the equipment can be prevented from flying. In Brazil, for example, ANAC (National Civil Aviation Agency), considers banning the use of drones within urban spaces.

You can check more details about the eHANG 184 watching the launch video shown by the company during the CES 2016: