There’s a drone that was turning heads at the Western Canadian Crop Production Show in Saskatoon, largely because of a unique feature not many other drones have: a passenger seat.
Donna Dawson of Ag Drone Canada based in Nipawin, Sask., says the reaction to the eVTOL drone has been fun to watch.
“The reactions here have been amazing,” said Dawson. “Lots of ‘wows.’ ”
The eVTOL is rated to haul a 210-pound payload up to 450 metres into the air at a maximum speed of 44 m.p.h. for up to 30 minutes at a time.
It can be flown remotely, like any drone, or from onboard.
“It’s set up with dual redundancy, so if you lose one motor, you won’t fall out of the sky; you’ll still be able to fly it and put it down safely,” says Dawson.
“The flight controls have triple redundancy, and if all that fails, it also has a ballistic parachute that’s built into the frame.”
Dawson says the eVTOL is primarily for recreational use, but it also has search and rescue capabilities that may be of interest to emergency responders, with infrared cameras mounted on it. In such a scenario, the drone could be flown from its base station to rescue someone in a hard-to-reach location.
The eVTOL will have parts manufactured in both Canada and the United States, and it will be asembled in Nipawin, she added.
Cost is expected to be around US$100,000.
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