![\"John](\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/09\/John-Bourneuf-1.png\" "\\"John")
Bourneuf is a mechanical engineering consultant who’s worked with Belcan Engineering, GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Wyatt-Gordon and Terrafugia.<\/span><\/span>One such person who\u2019s seen this work is John Bourneuf, a mechanical engineering consultant with years of experience in industry. He recently worked with Terrafugia, a company in Massachusetts working to develop a practical flying car. <\/P><\/p>\nIn the first part of the series, I spoke with him about how flying cars could be part of transportation\u2019s future<\/A>. Bourneuf conveyed the nature of the flying cars buzz that has grown over the past year, and the fascination that we all have with being able to fly away from that traffic jam we face each day to and from work. The big unanswered question, though, is when this will happen.<\/P><\/p>\n As the OEMs told Terrafugia after a presentation to the Center for Automotive Research, \u201cwe love it [flying cars], we think it\u2019s going to happen (not sure when), but we have so much going on with electric and autonomy that we can\u2019t really accommodate the flying car, so come back to us in some period of time and let\u2019s talk further.\u201d<\/P><\/p>\n It seems that at least one OEM is going beyond just talking and investing in flying cars: China\u2019s Zhejiang Geely, which owns Volvo and Lotus, has agreed to buy Terrafugia<\/A>. So the future of flying cars just may be getting closer.<\/P><\/p>\n Keep in mind that there are different levels or types of flying cars in the works. For the Terrafugia Transition<\/A>, a pilot\u2019s license and runway will be required as it\u2019s a fixed wing aircraft. Terrafugia is planning the TF-X flying car<\/A> that will have vertical take-off capability, so no runway will be required and ultimately will be autonomous. Air taxis, not actually flying cars, which would shuttle you through the air with vertical takeoff capability, are in development by Airbus Vahanna<\/A> and Volocopter<\/A>, among others. These air taxis will be testing soon and may be at our service early in the next decade.<\/P><\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s not the technology that will hold flying cars back, but getting all the required regulations in place before a car we drive can get off the ground. Here, we discuss the role government could play in ensuring autonomous flying cars are safe for use. <\/P> ED BERNARDON: With land-based autonomous cars, there is an interesting coupling of government to the development efforts of startups. Certainly, government\u2019s role is regulation, but it can also provide infrastructure \u2013 for instance, information from traffic lights, or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication<\/A> that will make it easier to develop autonomous ground cars.<\/STRONG><\/P><\/p>\n How do you think startups for flying cars have to work together with the government or municipalities to start developing this infrastructure, so that someday, we\u2019ll have what you see in Star Wars<\/EM>, where rows and rows of flying cars are traveling perfectly aligned and safely? <\/STRONG><\/P><\/p>\n JOHN BOURNEUF:<\/STRONG> I think you\u2019re right on the money.I did go to work in this space with Terrafugia, a 10-year-old \u201cearly stage\u201d startup. <\/P><\/p>\n I was amazed at the smarts and wisdom of the leadership of the company [in] saying that we can\u2019t [say] \u201cDarn with torpedoes, full-speed ahead, we\u2019re going there with or without you.\u201d They said we have to work with NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, we have to work with the FAA. We can\u2019t work despite them because that\u2019s not going to work. And I think Airbus is doing that<\/A>. I think Uber<\/A>, I think Zee.Aero<\/A> \u2014 they\u2019re all doing it.<\/P><\/p>\n I was talking with somebody at a conference [recently] who reiterated that yeah, there is a lot more space above us and a lack of infrastructure, so it\u2019s a lot more sensible to think about autonomous vehicles in the air and flying cars than it is to think of autonomous vehicles on the ground. Except, if there\u2019s an incident, you\u2019ll probably come out of an incident on the ground, but you probably won\u2019t if there\u2019s an incident in the air. And so that really does speak to the conservative nature of the FAA.<\/P><\/p>\n But the FAA is working on the NextGen architecture<\/A> to capitalize on all of the GPS systems so as to minimize air traffic control problems [and] minimize disruption in flight schedules. They see it [and] they get it. You\u2019ve got to work within that, because if you think that you\u2019re just going to drive a vehicle down the end of your cul-de-sac and just launch it into the air \u2014 it\u2019s not going to happen. Look at all of the consternation around drones.<\/P><\/p>\n I think drone technology is hugely supported, but in the event that it leads to accidents, loss of life in the ultimate, it\u2019s a formula for disaster. So it\u2019s inevitable that anybody that is going to drive the flying car space has got to work with the regulators.<\/P><\/p>\n So if you try to go [at] it alone, I think it\u2019s a formula for failure.<\/P><\/p>\n
\n![\"Terrafugia](\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/09\/Terrafugia-Flying-Car-1-1.jpg\" "\\"Terrafugia")
Perhaps it isn’t the technology that will keep autonomous flying cars on the ground, but gaining all required approvals and regulations.<\/span><\/span><\/P>
\n![\"Autonomous](\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/09\/Autonomous-Flying-Cars_2-1.png\" "\\"Autonomous")
Before autonomous flying cars leave the ground, anyone in the flying car space must work closely with regulators to ensure the technology, and the vehicle, are safe.<\/span><\/span>And you know, reflecting on my time at Terrafugia, that was a badge of courage; and, some actual experience that made the launch of that vehicle, [and what\u2019s] likely to make the launch of that vehicle most successful, is having worked with the FAA to get exemptions<\/A>. And, you know, a flying car has to have those, depending upon the nature of it, as well as the necessary exemptions from NHTSA.<\/P><\/p>\n