Most Read This Week: Flying Taxi Startup Cleared for Mass Production

Here are the most-read stories in IoT World Today this week:

Flying Taxi Startup Cleared for Mass Production; Pilotless Travel

Chinese electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle maker, EHang Holdings, has received governmental approval to mass produce its passenger-carrying pilotless vehicles.

The company’s EHE16-S electric aerial vehicle (EAV) previously received a standard airworthiness certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the first of its kind globally for an EAV.

EHang recently hosted a flight demonstration in Costa Rica, showcasing the EAV’s suitability for aerial tourism. With the new approval, the company is now authorized for mass production.

See EHang’s flying vehicle in action >>>

Connectivity, Robotics Take Center Stage at Embedded World 2024

Embedded World 2024 took place this week, April 9-11 in Nuremberg, Germany. 

This year’s event showcased the latest innovations in embedded systems, incorporating software and hardware updates with a particular focus on IoT technologies, AI and machine-to-machine communication tech.

The event featured approximately 1,000 exhibitors including BlackBerry, AWS, Microsoft and Texas Instruments.

Visitors could see BlackBerry’s surgical robotic arm, powered by the latest iteration of its operating system for embedded tech, Microsoft Azure’s multi-access edge compute tech and AWS’ AI-enabled robotic arms and virtual cockpit.

Related:Most Read This Week: Flying Car Startup Sells 100 Vehicles to Dubai Company

Read more about the tech on display at this year’s event >>>

Musk Says Tesla Self-Driving Taxi Coming in August

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed in a post on X that his company plans to commercialize a self-driving taxi by this summer. 

“Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8,” Musk wrote.  

Few other details were shared, though the post came after Musk responded to a report by Reuters that Tesla was set to ditch its plan to develop a low-cost, $25,000 EV.

“Reuters is lying (again),” Musk wrote.

Subsequent activity from Musk on X provided no real clues, other than reaffirming Tesla’s belief that autonomy is achievable and will have game-changing consequences.

Read more details here >>>

If Robots Could Fly … Boston Dynamics Pranks Customers

Boston Dynamics tricked customers this April Fools’ Day, with a post on social media announcing its collaboration with jet pack developer Gravity Industries to give its bipedal robot Atlas the power to fly. 

According to the spoof post, possible applications for flying robots include lost balloon rescue, window washing, in-air traffic controls and wildfire monitoring. 

“Trials of the new technology are already underway, with test flights commencing over Boston Harbor,” the company wrote. “As part of the research and development phase, Atlas will begin participating in Gravity’s new racing series alongside human athletes.”

See the prank post >>>

BlackBerry Launches Next-Gen Robotic Systems, Embedded World 2024

BlackBerry announced a new collaboration with AMD at this year’s Embedded World.

The partners are set to create a new generation of robotics systems, which they said would “revolutionize” the industrial and healthcare industries by offering real-time performance, low latency and scalability.

The new platform will combine BlackBerry’s QNX operating system and the QNX Software Development Platform, with hardware solutions powered by AMD’s Kria robotics starter kit. 

Read more about the partnership >>>