How to achieve a level of safety equivalent to that of an aircraft
──However, in order to fully commercialize flying cars, we must clear I hear there are a lot of issues. What exactly are the bottlenecks?
Mr. Fukuzawa: First, regarding the aircraft, we must ensure the same level of safety as the aircraft and helicopters that are widely used today. In addition, it is necessary to properly obtain certification from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and overseas regulatory authorities. I think it's a pretty high hurdle to take to this point. The larger the aircraft, the more difficult it is to ensure stability, and there is room for improvement in terms of noise generated by propellers and battery capacity. We still don't have the same flight experience and know-how as existing aircraft, so how to improve the perfection of the aircraft is a big issue.
Ship: If I had to mention one more thing, it would be the problem of where to fly the aircraft. At NEC, as the first step toward building a management platform for flying cars, we conducted a levitation experiment with a prototype, but this also requires permission, so we can't fly it anywhere. Therefore, we set up a new dedicated testing site within our company's Abiko Plant, with an area of 20m square and 10m high surrounded by fences.
Yamashita: In the commercialization of flying cars, the creation of infrastructure and management bases that support operation will also be a major issue. Various aircraft such as manned aircraft and drones are already flying in the sky, so in order to coexist with these, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the utilization of airspace while relating it to safety. I have. In addition, in terms of flight safety, cyber security measures should also become an important point.
Senko: There is a big difference in the flight method between existing manned aircraft and flying cars. Aircraft basically fly according to instructions from air traffic control, but since many flying cars fly in a narrow airspace, it is not enough to receive instructions from air traffic control.
Considering the characteristics of each aircraft, it is necessary to control this aircraft over there and another aircraft over there in real time. We conducted the levitation test this time because we thought it was necessary to have a deep knowledge of the flight control of the aircraft itself in order to create a proper operation management infrastructure.
Mr. Fukuzawa: Recently, the self-driving function of cars has been a hot topic, but unlike cars that can only move forward, backward, left and right, flying cars perform three-dimensional movements. There is no end if each of these is controlled individually, so it can be said that a management infrastructure that controls the entire airspace is indispensable for full-scale practical use.