Would You Get In One Of These?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38967235
How long will it take for the first catastrophe?

[Baldric]

Er, if you don't mind I'll pass on that for a day or three!

[-SharonA-]

Is it April 1st already?? Lol.

[aelmpvw]

//one passenger weighing up to 100 kg (220 pounds)//

fortunately i'd be considered too heavy

[Buenchico]

We already trust computers to run driverless trains (on the Docklands Light Railway). Most routine operations on commercial airliners (including landing) are now carried out by computers (with many airlines having to remind pilots to turn the technology off occasionally, so that they don't forget how to do it manually). Driverless cars are on the horizon.

So perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised by the development of computer-operated passenger drones? I think that I'd be prepared to to try one once (just for the thrill of it) but I might not yet be confident enough to trust them for regular travel.

[Dinapal]

Beam me up Dotty!

[ummmm]

Not a chance!

[Canary42]

Just wait until the Boy Racers get them ;-)

[-Talbot-]

I believe the passengers will be known as Drongos

[webbo3]

Surely they are not drones if they have a passenger, they are tiny helicopters.



Dave.

[Buenchico]

^^^ The point is, Webbo3, that they're entirely controlled remotely, which is what makes them 'drones'.

[jourdain2]

NO! Just to emphasise - no!

[hc4361]

I would

[Gromit]

About 1 million people die every year in Cars - who in their right mind would buy one of those?

[OldBather]

I suppose it's OK in a dry flat sunny area,but anywhere with bad weather/hills etc could be disastrous,and being an elderly person I don't trust anything I cannot control(That includes my partner!)

[baza]

Is there room for a parachute?

[jno]

I'm looking forward to driverless cars. Yes, I think I'd try a pilotless plane, though I won't be an early adopter. At least they won't be arresting drunk pilots in the departure lounge an hour before takeoff.

[Buenchico]

>>> At least they won't be arresting drunk pilots in the departure lounge an hour before takeoff

If the drones are only going to operate on regular routes (as the trains on the Docklands Light Railay do) then they can be almost entirely controlled by a computer. However, if they're to operate in the same way that military drones do, there will still need to be a land-based pilot taking control (who could be totally pished!)

[jno]

true, or just flat-out overworked like air traffic controllers.

Still, it might be worth saying there's a difference between cars/trains and planes. It's like if you stretch a rope along the floor you can easily walk along it without falling off; stretch it across the Niagara Falls and it's suddenly a very different proposition.

[Jackdaw33]

I've never been on the DLR but 10 years ago I was on what was then the new Ligne 14 on the Paris Metro, which was driverless. A strange experience; I was unaware that it was driverless and couldn't understand why my entry to the platform was blocked by a series of glass doors which opened automatically when a train came to a stop.

[waterboatman]

It's the sort of daft thing I would do, just for the hell of it!