Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Toyota Demos A Flying Car. It Crashes. (ap.org)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the back-to-the-drawing-board dept.

thomst shares the AP's report on Toyota's latest venture. From the article: A startup backed by the Japanese automaker has developed a test model that engineers hope will eventually develop into a tiny car with a driver who'll be able to light the Olympic torch in the 2020 Tokyo games. For now, however, the project is a concoction of aluminum framing and eight propellers that barely gets off the ground and crashes after several seconds... At a test flight Saturday in the city where the automaker is based, the gadgetry, about the size of a car and loaded with batteries and sensors, blew up a lot of sand and made a lot of noise. It managed to get up as high as eye level for several seconds before tilting and falling to the ground... After several attempts, the endeavor had to be canceled after one of the covers got detached from the frame and broke, damaging the propellers.
Project leader Tsubasa Nakamura envisions seamlessly transitioning from driving to flight like the DeLorean in Back To The Future, and his team still plans to perform their first manned flights by 2019.

3 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Why flying cars will never happen by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Think about all the idiots on the road you see every day. Now think about how much more damage they could do in a super powerful aircraft bearing down at you from 200 feet in the air.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  2. Re:Really? by wisnoskij · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have always through that these delivery companies investing into drone tech should be considering artillery style delivery. We have so much experience with delivering "things" with pin point accuracy. And parachutes, are extremely energy cheap, while catapults, trebuchets, and electromagnetic cannons are extremely efficient. A cannon built up the side of a skyscraper should be able to accelerate packages to tremendous speeds, then you just need a few parachutes and some remote controlled fins to nudge the package into alignment and you should be able to deliver packages to any rooftop or backyard in the entire city in seconds.

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
  3. Re:Really? by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A cannon built up the side of a skyscraper should be able to accelerate packages to tremendous speeds, then you just need a few parachutes and some remote controlled fins to nudge the package into alignment and you should be able to deliver packages to any rooftop or backyard in the entire city in seconds.

    And when the chute fails to open, and you deliver the package to the wrong rooftop or backyard or face?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"