bobcat
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northern Calif
Yeah, if they were to be autonomous, I would imagine that the software would direct traffic and communicate with others, under rules established by the ATC network. I don't think they would be too involved, any more than they would be concerned with people flying kites, or hang gliders.True, the motors are quiet, but the blades make a lot of noise.
If ATC doesn't manage them, something would have to — perhaps a new agency for low altitude air traffic. People wouldn't be permitted to just fly wherever they wanted with no restrictions. We'd have these manned personal drones crashing into each other! Air 'lanes' would need to be established to maintain order and safety.
Maybe we'd hop on a high-speed air expressway and at that point, the vehicle would be on auto-pilot. We'd have off ramps in the air controlled by GPS systems.
It could be a system where at no time does the operator of one of these manned personal drones have control. The pilot would simply set the destination and all the flying would be computer controlled and synched by some sort of air traffic control system. Of course, that would lend itself to the issue of somebody hacking into the system and making everybody crash, but we could deal with that when the time comes.
Perhaps they would establish a minimal ground clearance to avoid noise, and a maximum height to avoid commercial air travel. Either way, it looks like it will have to happen, because the technology is already here.


