A trailblazer in Urban Air Mobility (UAM), Volocopter has announced its plans to launch air taxi services in Singapore after two years of close collaboration with the city-state’s authorities. In a collaboration with the Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), Volocopter has plans to make air taxi services a reality in Singapore within three years. This puts Singapore in pole position to be the first country in Asia to launch UAM services.

In October 2019, Volocopter completed the historic air taxi demonstration flight across the Marina Bay area of the city, giving observers the unique opportunity of savoring the elegance and efficiency of UAM services. Before the launch of this service in Singapore, the company will obtain requisite regulatory clearance from CAAS and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. To this end, Volocopter will be conducting rigorous tests, flight trials, all statutory evaluations, and certifications before approval to commence commercial air taxi operations can be granted.

In order to shore up the commercial aspects of the air taxi services, the first route is expected to transcend over the southern waters, providing breath-taking views of the Marina Bay skyline and would most likely be a tourist delight. Follow-on connections could include cross-border flights, which will further strengthen regional connectivity and provide a better travel experience to the country’s economic centers.

The Volocopter air taxis are carbon emission-free aircraft that take-off and land vertically. They are designed as an addition to urban mobility and are capable of carrying two passengers to their destinations in a seamless and quiet manner, thus offering an innovative dimension to the chaotic transportation systems that have characterized many cities.

The company Volocopter GmbH says (via) it is building what it termed the world’s first sustainable and scalable UAM business so as to bring affordable air taxi services to megacities worldwide. The company collaborates with its partners to build the necessary ecosystem that will berth urban air mobility in smart cities.

Founded in 2011, Volocopter currently has about 200 staff and so far raised about €122 million in equity. The Volocopter was first unveiled at CES 2018. It uses four inertial movement units (IMUs) that constantly measure and determine its attitude and positioning during flight. The battery system is split into nine discrete packs and each one is powering a pair of rotors ensuring that the vehicle keeps flying if one or two battery packs fail.

Then there are GPS and navigation systems which are dual-redundant. For the worst situation, there’s a ballistic parachute that will deploy and ensure that the air taxi returns to the ground with its passengers intact.

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At Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 in Las Vegas, Intel today showed off its prototype of Volocopter, which according to the company is “essentially a flying car”. However, it is basically a drone that is big enough to carry a passenger.

It is being showcased as an autonomous passenger taxi, which is powered by a battery and comes with 18-rotors. While showing off this device, Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich said:

Imagine pulling out your phone, opening up a transportation app and summoning your own personalized ride by air taxi. That sci-fi vision of the future is actually much closer than you might think.

The Volocopter is originally a product of a Germany-based company that was founded in 2012. The company first demonstrated its passenger drone in 2013 in its home country. It was brought in front of the attendees at the Monte Carlo Hotel of Park Theatre by Intel as it has entered into a partnership with the German company.

While Brian Krzanich displayed this flying car at CES that runs on battery and is thusly emission-free, don’t expect to see this working in real world anytime soon. In the keynote stream, a disclaimer popped-up which noted that the Volocopter won’t be available until it receives authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Volocopter uses four inertial movement units (IMUs) that constantly measure and determine its attitude and positioning during flight. The battery system is split into nine discrete packs and each one is powering a pair of rotors ensuring that the vehicle keeps flying if one or two battery packs fail.

Then there are GPS and navigation systems which are dual-redundant. For the worst situation, there’s a ballistic parachute that will deploy and ensure that the air taxi returns to the ground with its passengers intact.

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The Volocopter VC200 was the first such device demonstrated by the Germany-based company. Later, the company followed that with the Volocopter 2X, which is a more polished version that’s supposed to be the company’s first true production vehicle. It features 30 minutes of flight time and a maximum range of 17 miles. Volocopter says the batteries can be quickly swapped to increase the flight time until the technology improves.

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