[news.cnet] An Israeli company has conducted the first in a series of test flights
on the Panda, a new ducted-fan, unmanned aerial vehicle prototype that
looks kind of like a flying stretcher, bringing us closer to what could
be the ultimate medivac.
The company, Urban Aeronautics, already produces the Mule UAV and the X-Hawk,
larger versions that can be configured for front-line resupply, medical
evacuation, utility maintenance, taxi, high-rise rescue, and probably
window cleaning. (See video)
The technology is based on the "classic ducted designed pioneered in
the early 1960s," as the company Web site points out.
This model relies on two electric motors and can carry about 3 pounds
in payload, enough to deliver an organ for transplant. However, the
company’s patented quiet, "rotorless" Fancraft technology promises to
eliminate the safety hazards associated with helicopters. And the fact
that it can maintain a stable hover next to walls, slopes, electrical
wires and the like and that it’s able to land safely in tight spots
could mean you may soon have something to drive in that hereto now
neglected space between the roofs and the road. Now, if it could just
run on solar.
