We are funding air mobility vehicle, says firm
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian company that is designing a prototype of an air mobility vehicle is using its own funds to build it.
Aerodyne CEO Kamarul Muhamed said the prototype would cost in the region of RM500,000 and that they did not get any government funding for this.
The working prototype is expected to be ready by the end of this year, he added.
“We take this as a challenge. This is a good opportunity for Malaysia to be a player in the industry.
“To me, this is the future and I want to be part of it,” he told The Star.
Kamarul also clarified that what was displayed at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace 2019 (LIMA ’19) exhibition was a 1:10 scale model of the prototype.
He is aware of the chatter on social media regarding this, but said it was part of the process to educate the public on it.
The Vector, as it is known, will weigh 600kg, including the load of 200kg, said Kamarul.
The load will be interchangeable between cargo delivery, emergency response and passenger.
It will be an unmanned vehicle that takes the load from one point to another.
Kamarul said that eight aerospace and mechanical engineers from the company were working on the prototype.
He also clarified that this was not the Malaysian “flying car” that had been the butt of jokes lately.
He said they were in collaboration with a Japanese company that had been developing its own air mobility vehicle.
Kamarul, however, said that the prototype would not be a rebadge of technology from outside Malaysia.
“You can’t call it Malaysian technology if you bring something from outside the country.
“If Malaysia doesn’t do this, we will miss the boat. It is the future and the future is very near,” he added. The vehicle is based on drone technology.
He said there were several global companies such as Airbus, Uber, Lillium, Rolls-Royce and Skydrive which were developing their own technology, with some testing their platform for the past two years.
He said that currently 50 cities around the world were already pioneering urban air mobility programmes.