Filipino entrepreneur builds passenger drone for traffic-plagued cities (video)
A Philippine inventor has constructed a large drone suitable for passenger transport and found a partner for mass production in Australia.
Former dancer and camera operator Kyxz Mendiola unveiled what he calls a “flying sports car” that represented for him the future of transport, riding it out of a warehouse on September 23 in the Philippine province of Batangas towards a cheering crowd, Reuters reported.
The drone flew and hovered for a few minutes in a single-passenger contraption powered by the “multicopter” technology commonly used in small unmanned drones. The passenger drone is officially called the “Koncepto Milenya.” It can fly as high as six meters and as fast as 60 km/h. Its initial public test flight lasted a little over ten minutes.
The passenger drone has 16 rotary motors and can keep flying even if two of those rotors would fail, according to the inventor. Mendiola said it took a long time to save up the funds for the components of the single-seater powered by six lithium-ion batteries whose passenger steers with a portable radio frequency controller.
The drone can carry up to 100 kilogrammes and could potentially save hours on trips in busy and traffic-clogged cities like Manila, he added.
Since a video of the drone went viral on social media channels, Australian company Star8 is now partnering with Mendiola. Star8 CEO Jacob Maimon has plans to mass produce the drone and start selling it in Australia, Europe and Hong Kong. He said that the company could help Mendiola and that they “will get there very fast now.”
A Philippine inventor has constructed a large drone suitable for passenger transport and found a partner for mass production in Australia. Former dancer and camera operator Kyxz Mendiola unveiled what he calls a “flying sports car” that represented for him the future of transport, riding it out of a warehouse on September 23 in the Philippine province of Batangas towards a cheering crowd, Reuters reported. The drone flew and hovered for a few minutes in a single-passenger contraption powered by the “multicopter” technology commonly used in small unmanned drones. The passenger drone is officially called the "Koncepto Milenya." It can...
A Philippine inventor has constructed a large drone suitable for passenger transport and found a partner for mass production in Australia.
Former dancer and camera operator Kyxz Mendiola unveiled what he calls a “flying sports car” that represented for him the future of transport, riding it out of a warehouse on September 23 in the Philippine province of Batangas towards a cheering crowd, Reuters reported.
The drone flew and hovered for a few minutes in a single-passenger contraption powered by the “multicopter” technology commonly used in small unmanned drones. The passenger drone is officially called the “Koncepto Milenya.” It can fly as high as six meters and as fast as 60 km/h. Its initial public test flight lasted a little over ten minutes.
The passenger drone has 16 rotary motors and can keep flying even if two of those rotors would fail, according to the inventor. Mendiola said it took a long time to save up the funds for the components of the single-seater powered by six lithium-ion batteries whose passenger steers with a portable radio frequency controller.
The drone can carry up to 100 kilogrammes and could potentially save hours on trips in busy and traffic-clogged cities like Manila, he added.
Since a video of the drone went viral on social media channels, Australian company Star8 is now partnering with Mendiola. Star8 CEO Jacob Maimon has plans to mass produce the drone and start selling it in Australia, Europe and Hong Kong. He said that the company could help Mendiola and that they “will get there very fast now.”
