Electric flying vehicles: A promising approach towards multidimensional transportation

Abstract

The multidimensional transportation system provides an effective solution for solving the traffic congestion problems. Electric flying vehicles have drawn much attention towards low-altitude intelligent transportation as the promising passenger carrier, which have significant differences than conventional road vehicles or aircraft owing to their ability on multi-domain transport between land and air. Considering the integration of electrification, connection, and intelligence, the electric flying vehicles become the research hotspot, guiding the development of future scientific and technological revolution and leading the industrial change in transportation. In this article, a comprehensive in-sight review of the research progress of flying vehicles is summarized, from the view of main essential techniques, industrialization, airworthiness and access, challenges and perspectives. The main worldwide advances on aerodynamic configuration are summarized with detailed comparison, and the key techniques are discussed for directing future potential breakthrough. The electrification of flying vehicle still needs more improvement, including the high-energy-density batteries, safety, long-lifespan health management, environmental adaptability, recharging methods, thermal management and others. Moreover, the general progress of airworthiness regulation and industrialization is overviewed. The article highlights the detail panorama of flying vehicle industry, wishing it to help find out the weak in the industrial chain or new growing subject discipline. In future, the electric flying vehicles will have large-scale applications in next 10 years, but there still amounts of techniques and basic theories to explore. The article hopes to delivers a comprehensive and thorough review of current progress, to help improve the better design of new configuration products and breakthrough of essential techniques, making the flying vehicle to construct a multidimensional transportation network.