The Boeing aviation company presented the prototype of the eVTOL drone, which carries loads up to almost 230 kg. This is a quantum leap towards autonomous air logistics.
The American aircraft manufacturer has created a “unmanned electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) cargo air vehicle (CAV) prototype” that can lift a 500-pound (226 kg) load. As the company emphasizes, it will be a precursor to the development of autonomous air logistics, and eVTOL is just the beginning.
Boeing’s Drone-Beast
The device was built by the Boeing engineers in three months and tested in the air giant’s laboratory in Missouri, USA. EVTOL is 4.57 m long, 5.49 m wide and 1.2 m high. It weighs over 339 kg. The “Beast” is equipped with eight electric motors. Some batteries have been specially designed for this project. Boeing, however, does not provide information about the device’s battery power.
Is a revolution in transport coming?
Deliveries using drones are not some imaginary future but reality. Just over a year ago, Amazon in Great Britain delivered the first package using a flying device. For the e-commerce giant, drone transport would be an excellent solution, which the company plans to patent.
Drones would deliver shipments from trains, trucks, ships or other vehicles equipped with a special system. It would allow for one or several parcels to be loaded onto a drone which would then be launched.
Photo: Wikimedia/SimonWaldherr CCA-SA 4.0