Imagine flying around an airborne track in big electric carbon-fibre drones made in Australia, with greater thrust-to-weight ratios than a fighter jet. AMT Editor Paul Hellard watches from below.
The future of Motorsport will be fast, high-powered, and using cutting-edge tech. But what we didn’t see coming was that the future of Motorsport would be electric, airborne, even faster, and using locally-built, remotely piloted vehicles, smacking it out for pole position on a huge 3D virtual track. In mid-October, a landmark moment occurred in the story of motorsport and the beginnings of the flying car mobility revolution, way out on the salt flats of South Australia.
The Alauda Aeronautics company is also getting set to build the world’s first flying electric car factory in the upcoming Australian Space Park in Adelaide.
They are joining other local aerospace industry manufacturing companies, including Fleet Space, at this South Australian industrial park. Industry leaders such as Airbus and a host of other industry providers are also in line. They are also embarking on one of the most original racing concepts ever, having now completed over 250 test flights with their Airspeeder vehicle with a carbon-fibre chassis. Built entirely inhouse in Australia, this milestone in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) industry is proof that racing these craft will rapidly accelerate a mobility industry that will be worth $1.5Tn by 2040, as quoted by Morgan Stanley.
The major airframe structural components of the vehicle are designed and manufactured here in Australia. Most components of the Flight Management System (FMS) and the Electric Propulsion Systems (EPS) are sourced from the best international suppliers. The Race Management System (RMS), which includes the Race Control Station (RCS), Pilot Control Station (PCS), Flight Engineer Station (FES), and the virtual, augmented reality racetrack, are all developed locally in close cooperation with their technology partner, Telstra Purple. All Airspeeders are designed, manufactured, assembled and ground-tested, and flown in South Australia.
The company has already been running infield experiments for the last two years in the South Australian desert, including tests at speeds exceeding 100kmph. Airspeeder built Race Control Stations, a Pilot Control Station akin to that seen in elite traditional motor racing, set up a dedicated 5G network, an AR Sky Track, and a full suite of safety, logistics, and race management protocols. The technology developed here is a snapshot of what our cities will be using in the next decade to underpin the emergence of eVTOL as a viable means of passenger transport.
Matt Pearson is the owner of Alauda and the Airspeeder racing championship. He hopes to transition the company to provide later versions of these amazing aircraft for private use. “In 2019, we set about an ambitious mission to hasten the electric flying car revolution by going racing,” Pearson said. “Since then, a remarkable team of designers, engineers, and technicians have made giant leaps forward, enabled by our partners, among them some of the most celebrated names in technology, motorsport, and even the luxury industry. In completing our 250th test, we prove that racing is not only a practical and accelerative test bed and a viable and fast route to commercialisation. For an industry predicted to be worth $1.5Tn by 2040, we are proving the application of this truly world-changing technology. This is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to introduce the world to this true next-generation motorsport through 2022.”
“This follows a proven path from the luxury and performance automotive world,” said another spokesperson from Alauda. “Companies like Ferrari established their legends on the racetrack and then built road-going supercars to satisfy the demand for private performance machines. These machines have a greater thrust-to-weight ratio than a fighter jet, allowing maximum maneuverability at high speed.”
The weight limit of the vehicle is 150kg. This is the upper limit for the Medium Remote Pilot Aircraft (RPA) category defined by CASA. Safety is Alauda’s main goal, and weight is their worst enemy. “We are using the best materials we can afford for the structure and bodywork on the Mk3C vehicle,” said the spokesperson.
The four existing vehicles are identical and designed to have interchangeable parts. The airframe is made from high-modulus carbon fibre, optimised for torsional rigidity and general bending. Mounting points within the vehicle are made from aerospace-grade billet aluminium.
The flight management system software and hardware have been designed and manufactured by Alauda. Another key feature has been designed and manufactured by Alauda to allow performance, lowest weight, and quick pit stop change: the electrical batteries.
Some readers may be thinking, what does this mean for transport generally? Well, feel free to turn your mind to the Jetsons, please. But seriously, the sensors at the edges of the aerial race track watching, logging, and sending fine logistical data about each vehicle inflight, are also collecting the combined data to a central point, all designed to make sure no one collides with anything else. In the future, this may watch for vehicle health, wind strength, and landscape proximity, just like radar and air traffic are supposed to today, but autonomously. Making sure nothing bad can happen.
Race ready
In mid-October, in a mix of landmarks, motorsport racing and the flying car mobility revolution became a headline together when Airspeeder pilot Zeph Walsh beat fellow competitor Fabio Tischler in a tense and close inaugural EXA remotely piloted race in the salt flats of Lake Lochiel in South Australia.
This was such a tight race, the two racers overtook each other three times in the first lap. In the last lap, Walsh made his move just one metre below his track buddy, to secure the winning spot in the final few turns. The two craft were racing at close quarters for a lot of the race, exhibiting F1 car turning ability and using the unique vertical maneuverability available third dimension. “It was really about trying to find the edge of the flight envelope for this vehicle,” Walsh described after the race, “and [then] riding that edge.”
The partners in the AirSpeeder EXA Series of air races include Telstra Purple, DHL, Acronis, Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, and IWC Schaffhausen. An Alauda spokesperson noted that remote pilots are allowed to plot their own flight path to win the race. “The drag-race format was chosen as a pure demonstration of the performance and safety technologies that underpin the sport,” they said. “In particular, the ‘Virtual Forcefield’ suite of LiDAR and RADAR-powered safety systems that deliver close but ultimately safe racing. This will be heavily relied upon for full-grid circuit racing.”
Relying on these LiDAR and RADAR-powered safety systems, these craft deliver amazing, spectacular racing opportunities that are quite safe. Described as a Virtual Forcefield suite of craft control, this is a pure demonstration of the performance and safety technologies that underpin the sport.
F1 driver Bruno Senna has been signed up as a remote pilot for the Alauda vehicles in a future race, planned for the speeders to be flown at ten metres above the ground. He will commentate on the first races.
This is the first of a series of EXA remotely piloted races that will serve as development for the Airspeeder fully crewed Grand Prix series starting in 2024. The craft is part of a fleet being constructed at the Space Park for future racing like nothing seen before. Digital sky-tracks and a very light approach to infrastructure means these races can take place literally anywhere.
airspeeder.com