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If you think that drones transporting humans in the airspace of large cities is still a distant reality, a major construction company in Miami thinks differently.
Dan Kodsi, CEO of Royal Palms Companies and developer of the Paramount Miami World Center complex in Downtown, is preparing coverage for the newly delivered luxury condominium to include a small super-drone landing spot for the transportation of its residents. “It is not a question of if, but when,” Kodsi said in an interview with the Miami Herald.
The project includes a roof completely wrapped in glass, which will also serve as an observation platform for those who want to enjoy the wonderful view of the Miami skyline from the top of the building’s 60 floors. As soon as this type of transport is authorized, in the future perhaps closer than we imagined, the platform will be equipped with a small airstrip and a lobby “in the sky” to receive passengers.
Watch the project video
NASA at an advanced stage of design for unmanned air traffic
And for those who think that Kodsi is a little “advanced”, NASA has long been developing the Unmanned Air Traffic Management System (UTM). The goal is to take advantage of new technologies to allow urban airspace to be used for unmanned aerial transport, safely. Uber, in collaboration with NASA, is developing the Elevate project. The project foresees the offer of air transport shared between suburbs and large centers and, later, within cities. Elevate plans to launch vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, or VTOL, in Los Angeles and Dallas over the next five years.