Any flying machine, whether it’s a big commercial jet or a small Cessna, needs the ability to sense what the craft is doing in the real world. On a typical plane, onboard sensors measure variables like the plane’s speed, altitude, and how much it might be banking left or right, and instrument panels in the cockpit relay that essential information to the pilots.
Air taxis, however, are different from typical planes. These little electric vehicles take off and land vertically, and transport people over short distances. While their flying styles are different, the vehicles still need to collect data about what they’re doing, too, in order to safely operate.
Bosch has previously made sensors for cars and motorcycles, but now it’s throwing itself into the air-taxi arena with a sensor array that plugs into the crafts. Called the universal control unit, the package will be able to measure actions like acceleration, compass direction, and altitude. Part of the reason that the company says that it thinks that it can produce parts for this field is because of the high cost of traditional aviation sensors, and their experience making units that go into ground vehicles. In short: with multiple companies working on flying-machine projects meant to whisk people around, some of them may be interested in putting affordable sensors in them.
Of course, the companies that make the flying machines will decide for themselves what type of sensors and other technology to use on board. For example, earlier this month, a five-seater electric plane took off for the first time. Made by a German company called Lilium, it can hover and cruise thanks to 36 engines—jet-like motors called ducted fans—that attach to its two wings and swivel to point down or back. The craft is exciting because it should theoretically be able to travel 186 miles, a long distance for this category of vehicle. “We're not providing any detail on whose technology we're using at the moment,” a spokesperson for the company said via email.This new box full of sensors could help more flying machines get off the ground.Measuring air speed, altitude, and the craft’s orientation in space is both crucial and complex. In the clouds or at night, for instance, if pilots cannot see the real horizon, they’ll need to rely on an instrument called an artificial horizon that’s located in a part of the cockpit called the primary flight display. Instruments like these must be completely reliable for the plane to stay safe. And redundancy is an important principle in aviation—a plane should have multiple ways of knowing what it’s doing.
