未来的景象似乎清晰可见。汽车能够自动驾驶；空中出租车遍布天空；智能手机都换成刘海屏，对未来的展望和趋势报告似乎让通往未来的路线图不再纷繁杂乱。是的，轻量材料、电力推进、航空控制技术的进步，让电动载人无人机的梦想近在咫尺。只需要再经过几年的研发，以及几年立法方面的博弈，然后我们就可以，起飞了。

不过，虽然许多公司都在致力于研发这种新飞机，但一家加利福尼亚的初创公司并不打算等到液压挖掘机发明之后再去追赶这次淘金热。它早已一头冲进了矿山之中，拿着锄头挖了起来。

“所有这些东西在未来的航空领域都会具有一席之地，但还需要等待相当长的时间，”SkyRyse公司CEO马克·格罗登（Mark Groden）说道。他的公司并没有停下来等电动垂直起降系统发明出来，而是正在研发一种能够减轻人类飞行员负担的工具，这种工具能够让驾驶直升机变得更为简便、安全、便宜，就像是特斯拉自动驾驶仪的空中版本一样。Uber、空客以及贝尔直升机公司（Bell Helicopter）都认为电动自动飞行器在未来会被人们普遍使用。而SkyRyse这项研发则是眼前现实和未来梦想之间的过渡。

SkyRyse刚刚获得了2500万美元的融资，它当然拥有许多雄心壮志和豪言壮语。一篇新闻稿写道，SkyRyse是“第一家在美国运营、有技术支持的空中交通公司。”格罗登说，“我们希望有一天能够成为世界上最大的交通公司。”

现在，这家公司另辟蹊径，以改装罗宾逊R44直升机为起点，采取了一条保守且务实的路线。这项服务能让短距离空中飞行更易实现。由于执法部门、应急、交通和新闻人员普遍使用的都是丰田凯美瑞车型，因此，格罗登将改装后的罗宾逊R44直升机称为“空中的丰田凯美瑞”。他的团队在这架直升飞机上安装了360度的外景摄像机、能够探测前方的雷达、处理数据的计算机、以及一面向飞行员显示相关信息的屏幕。格罗登并没有谈及太多的细节。目前，SkyRyse正在寻找感应软件方面的工程师，以及飞行控制和航空学方面的专家。而在此之前，这家公司早已招募了一些来自空客、波音以及SpaceX的航空专家，以及特斯拉、福特、美国军队的工程师。

为了验证这一概念的可行性，SkyRyse和距离硅谷60英里的加州内陆小城市特雷西（Tracy）达成了一项合作。这家公司会为警察和消防员等应急人员、以及医疗紧急事件提供航空飞行服务。只要有人求助，应急人员会联系SkyRyse，后者会派人前往机场，准备好直升机。SkyRyse分析了派遣直升机的每一步骤，力求最大程度地减少起飞前的准备时间。

“我们可以让直升机更快地驶离地面，”格罗登说。SkyRyse尚未透露更多细节，但据悉会向飞行员提供更多信息，在保障安全的前提下提高效率。例如，一般来说，一位直升机的飞行员需要进行人工检查，确保在启动旋翼之前周围无人，甚至需要打开舱门，环顾四周。而在SkyRyse摄像头的帮助下，这一切都可以在屏幕上操作，或是由系统自动完成。如果飞行过程中的能见度不理想，那么直升机雷达为会飞行员提供需要的地形信息。飞行员仍然可以全盘控制直升机，但操作和认知负担大大降低了。

特雷西是一座拥有8.9万人口的小城市，对于这座城市来说，购买及运行一架直升机，还有招募飞行员等需要花费数百万美元。在需要时呼叫空中援助服务的价格也依然昂贵。紧急呼叫直升机前往医院的一次行程会花费1万到3万美元。几年前，有一个当地的小女孩走失了，政府从海岸警卫队调了一架C130飞机来帮助寻找这名小女孩，当时的费用为每小时1万美元。

SkyRyse表示，它可以以较低的价格、更高的实用性来提供同样的服务。公司在特雷西派驻了一架直升机，随时待命，可提供广泛服务。直升机的新配置能有效提高效率，简化起飞和飞行难度。

现有的直升机，加上崭新的配置，这就是SkyRyse给我们的过渡，从能够实现的服务开始，一点一点地提高技术。SkyRyse认为，未来将会有更多的飞行任务能用自动技术解决。这一设想非常乐观，但并非无凭无据——西科斯基飞机公司（Sikorsky）以及极光飞行科学公司（Aurora Flight Sciences）现在都在研发自动飞行直升机。

“技术在联系人与人方面发挥了巨大的作用，但却只是虚拟的联系，而非现实中的联系，”格尔登说。自青年时期以来，他就一直在建造无人机和飞行器（他如今才28岁）。他想做出改变，想用一个App来召唤飞行器，就像现在的手机叫车一样。但是，他不知道是不是真的会有这种飞行器。如果有一天电动载人飞行器能够实现，这当然很好；但如果不能的话，他也会尽可能地利用好现有的技术。

Uber等公司也有同样的想法，但前所未有的飞行器，加上前所未有的飞行汽车服务，会面临重重监管阻力。而SkyRyse却从较低的阶段做起，和应急部门合作、收集数据、完善现有的技术。新型空中交通的浪潮可能会在2020年代到来，而SkyRyse或许正冲在最前。

英文版

English version

In the future, cars can automatically drive, air taxis all over the sky.

The future looks clear. Cars can drive themselves; taxis are flying all over the sky; smartphones are switching to bangs, and future prospects and trend reports seem to make the road map to the future less confusing. Yes, the advances in lightweight materials, electric propulsion, and aeronautical control technology have brought the dream of an electric manned UAV close at hand. It only takes a few more years of research and development, and a few years of legislative gambling, and then we can take off.

But while many companies are working on the new aircraft, a California startup isn't going to wait until hydraulic excavators are invented to catch up with the gold rush. It has rushed into the mine and dug up with a hoe.

"All of these things will have a place in future aviation, but it will take a long time to wait," said Mark Groden, CEO of SkyRyse. Instead of waiting for the electric vertical takeoff and landing system to be invented, his company is developing a tool that can ease the burden on human pilots, making helicopter driving easier, safer, and cheaper, just like the air version of the Tesla Autopilot. Uber, Airbus and Bell Helicopter all believe that electric automatic vehicles will be widely used in the future. The development of SkyRyse is the transition between immediate reality and future dreams.

SkyRyse has just got $25 million in financing, and of course it has many ambitions and rhetoric. SkyRyse is "the first air transport company operating in the United States with technical support," a press release said. "We hope to become the largest transport company in the world someday," Groton said.

Now, the company has taken a conservative and pragmatic approach by refitting the Robinson R44 helicopter. This service can make short distance air flight easier to achieve. Because the Toyota Camry is widely used by law enforcement, emergency, transportation and journalists, Groden calls the modified Robinson R44 the Toyota Camry in the air. His team installed 360-degree field cameras on the helicopter, radars that detect the front, computers that process data, and screens that display information to pilots. Groton did not talk about too many details. SkyRyse is currently looking for engineers in sensing software, as well as experts in flight control and aeronautics. Before that, the company had already recruited aviation experts from Airbus, Boeing and SpaceX, as well as engineers from Tesla, Ford and the U.S. Army.

To test the concept, Sky Ryse and Tracy, a small California inland city 60 miles from Silicon Valley, have struck a partnership. The company will provide aviation services for emergency personnel such as police and firefighters, as well as medical emergencies. As soon as someone asks for help, emergency personnel contact SkyRyse, who sends someone to the airport to prepare the helicopter. Sky Ryse analyzed each step of dispatching the helicopter in an effort to minimize the lead time before takeoff.

"We can get the helicopter off the ground faster," Groton said. SkyRyse has yet to reveal more details, but it is understood to provide pilots with more information to improve efficiency while ensuring safety. In general, for example, a helicopter pilot needs to be manually inspected to make sure nobody is around before starting the rotor, or even to open the hatch and look around. With the help of SkyRyse cameras, this can be done on the screen or automatically by the system. If the visibility during flight is not ideal, Helicopter Radar provides the required terrain information for the pilots. Pilots can still control helicopters, but the burden of operation and cognition is greatly reduced.

Tracy is a small city of 89,000 people. It costs millions of dollars to buy and run a helicopter and to recruit pilots. The price of calling air assistance services is still expensive when needed. An emergency call helicopter will cost 10 thousand to 30 thousand dollars for a trip to the hospital. A few years ago, a local girl was lost, and the government sent a C130 plane from the Coast Guard to help find the girl at a cost of $10,000 an hour.

SkyRyse says it can offer the same services at a lower price and higher practicality. The company stationed a helicopter at Tracey, ready to stand, providing extensive services. The new configuration of the helicopter can effectively improve efficiency and simplify takeoff and flight difficulty.

Existing helicopters, with new configurations, are the transition SkyRyse has given us, starting with the services that can be implemented, and improving technology bit by bit. SkyRyse believes that more flying missions will be solved by automatic technology in the future. The idea is very optimistic, but it's not groundless - Sikorsky and Aurora Flight Sciences are now developing automatic flight helicopters.

"Technology plays a huge role in connecting people, but it's just a virtual connection, not a real connection," says Gelden. He has been building UAVs and aircraft since his youth (he is only 28 now). He wanted to make a change and call a App to call the aircraft, just like the mobile phone now calls a car. But he didn't know if there would be such a vehicle. It would be nice if an electric manned vehicle could one day, but if not, he would make the best use of existing technology.

Uber and other companies have the same idea, but unprecedented aircraft, coupled with unprecedented flight vehicle services, will face a lot of regulatory resistance. SkyRyse, on the other hand, started at a lower level, working with the emergency department to collect data and refine existing technologies. The new wave of air traffic may arrive in 2020s, and SkyRyse may be at the forefront.

（文来源：飞行汽车feiauto）www.feiauto.com

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