The Aerial Transport in Urban Areas: Towards the Era of Manned VTOL-AV

The use of manned drones as an urban transport mean is related with many parameters. Those parameters must create a functional multilevel system in order to a such “manned drone use” to be considered as a key factor for the urban air mobility. Such parameters could be (but not limited to): technological, infrastructure for landing and take-off in cities, legal framework, safety issues, personal data, navigation methods, privacy problems, etc. This article analyzes those key factors, after a short “historical” presentation of “the manned drones” idea. A literature review of the models created until now is also included. In addition, an innovative and original idea for the realization of a such vehicle is also presented in our work together with a short analysis of possible impacts of the manned drones on the urban transport in a smart city.