Article

2025-03-23 Science & Technology

Radical new tech brings flying cars closer to reality

[FoxNews] CycloTech, an Austrian aviation company, is turning heads with its BlackBird demonstrator, an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL) designed to showcase a game-changing propulsion system.

Could this be the technology that finally makes flying cars a practical reality?

WHAT MAKES BLACKBIRD SPECIAL?

CycloTech isn't just building another eVTOL. It's hinging its vision on unique CycloRotor technology. What's so special about it? Well, the BlackBird demonstrator is designed to test the seventh generation of CycloTech's 360-degree thrust vectoring propulsion system.

CycloTech claims that its CycloRotor technology is the only propulsion system that can fully control the thrust vector in strength and direction throughout a complete 360-degree path. This allows the Blackbird demonstrator to have unmatched maneuverability; imagine a vehicle that can take off and land vertically, move sideways, brake mid-air and even parallel park. With six CycloRotors, the BlackBird is designed to do just that.

Also, the BlackBird's design aims to decouple the flight path from the aircraft's orientation, promising a smooth and comfortable ride even in less-than-ideal conditions without needing to bank or tilt. When it comes to safety, the Blackbird has it covered with its six CycloRotors, providing redundancy in the event of an engine failure, allowing the aircraft to continue to fly in a controlled manner. CycloTech CEO Hans-Georg Kinsky notes, "With our BlackBird, we are showing how this innovative technology will open up the market for flying cars."

Posted by Skidmark 2025-03-23 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11143 views ] Top

#1 "Or perhaps, after a lifetime of waiting for your flying car, you scrawl your signature on the clipboard held by a smiling delivery robot, ease behind the wheel... and are promptly locked in and autodriven straight to Lubyanka as you mouth mute protests to passing pigeons."

AI update to Gulag catalog of arrests.

Posted by Pancho Poodle8452 2025-03-23 08:27|| 2025-03-23 08:27|| Front Page Top

#2 ^ This is why SteveS' First Law of Robotics is "All machines must have an off switch".
It stops events like the above, as well as preventing various Terminator-like scenarios.

Posted by SteveS 2025-03-23 11:46|| 2025-03-23 11:46|| Front Page Top

#3 What the article call "CycloRotors" actually reminded me of a "Voith-Schneider propellers". Lookig further, i find that "CycloRotors" is actually an old conceptfirst used in 1928 and is used nowadays in many applications, including the CycloTech concept.

So "radical new tech", I think not.

Posted by Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2025-03-23 14:08|| 2025-03-23 14:08|| Front Page Top

#4 Thinking about this, I realized tat the cyclorotor concept would be great on the Osprey, replacing the dangerous 'gyroscopic propellers.

Add a third cyclorotor to the rear to help with 'center of gravity' issues.

Posted by Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2025-03-23 19:57|| 2025-03-23 19:57|| Front Page Top

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