Human Carrying Drone Displayed By Ehang Inc, Chinese Drone Company

Ehang Inc, a Chinese drone making company, has built one of the world's first drone that is capable of carrying a human passenger. The Ehang 184 human sized drone was presented at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the CES gadget show, according to a news release.

The human carrying drone seems more like a small helicopter that has four doubled propellers spinning parallel to the ground like other drones. The Ehang 184 drone is electrically powered and it can be fully charged within two hours. The drone can carry 220 pounds and fly for 23 minutes at sea level and its cabin can hold one human passenger along with a small backpack. The cabin contains an air conditioning system along with a reading light. The drone's propellers can fold up, thus it can fit into a single parking lot.

When a flight is ready, passenger give only two commands, "take off" and "land." Each of these commands are controlled by a single click on a Microsoft Surface tablet. The Ehang 184 drone can fly between 1,000 and 1,650 feet off the ground at a maximum altitude 11,500 feet at a speed of 63 miles per hour.

The company intends to sell the drone for $200,000 to $300,000 from the start of this year, however, there is still legal "grey area" regarding the use of drones, especially a human carrying drone.

The drone has been flown over 100 times at low altitudes with a human passenger on several occasions. Passengers would have no control as a backup, if the drone should experience any glitches, the company has a remote control center that will take control of the device and making that it has safe landing. 

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