Hey everyone! Hope you all are safe and sound. I hope that you've read my previous post regarding my new project. Since this post acts as a progress update for that project, I suggest you to read the previous post titled 'A New Beginning' first to gain some context. For those of you who have read it, lets proceed!
In order to create a company and essentially, an industry, that makes eVTOL aircraft, the software systems, ground vertiports etc, we have to overcome multiple hurdles. And by multiple, I mean a LOT. So here's a brief list of the hurdles that come to my mind at this stage -
Being a computer engineer and software developer, I have to gain enough knowledge about mechanical engineering, aeronautics, electrical systems, along with business fundamentals (stuff they teach in an MBA program), all this while working full time as a developer at my current job. This is a huge and diverse list, and its easy for someone to get overwhelmed by this list. But I'm confident that with constant motivation and perseverance, I will be able to overcome this hurdle.
Batteries! They're everywhere. From your smart watches, wireless earbuds, phones to probably your car, everything is powered by batteries. Lithium Ion batteries to be precise, as this type of battery is currently the best in holding power for a long time. But as we continue to rely more and more on Li-Ion batteries, several problems arise. To begin with, lithium is a non-renewable, finite resource, just like petrol. So what happens when we run out of it? Also, we have seen that as batteries age, they deteriorate and their ability to hold power decreases. Electric vehicles have been given a big push due to Tesla. Everyone is flocking to buy the latest Tesla models. But, since Tesla is a relatively new company, has anyone experienced how to Tesla vehicles age after 10 - 15 years? What's the performance of the battery like? Can any amount of the battery be recycled to make brand new batteries with the expected amount of charge hold capacity? I am an optimistic guy, but there's a very high chance that the responses to the above questions would be negative. That's why I think, on a side note, in the long run, Tesla is a bubble. That's why they position themselves as a tech company rather than a car company, with the imminent release of the Tesla bot. I am a huge Elon Musk fan, but these are my honest thoughts here. Though I believe to have digressed a lot. Lets get back to our main topic of discussion.
Operating a business making complex hardware like an aircraft is a very thin-margin business, as the cost of raw materials is ever-increasing. But the software component of the business, if executed well, could have a decent margin. I mean take Amazon for example. A majority of profit is not made through e-commerce, but from AWS (Amazon Web Services). We also have to find the right product-market fit. We essentially want to replace the car, but I don't think its possible, cost-wise. An average car costs about Rs. 10 lakh, I would be crazy to assume that we could make and sell a passenger eVTOL aircraft for that amount. I expect the amount to be roughly 10 times, which clearly doesn't work for the genera public. We could also look at an Uber-type ride service where people can hire an eVTOL aircraft for a trip. Or also even renting out aircraft in exchange for subscriptions. A lot of possible revenue sources here. Bottom line is, if you want to make money, build software. If you want to change the world for the better, you gotta make some hardware. Our primary goal is to essentially make peoples' lives more productive and efficient. Making money is our second priority, since any successful and sustainable long-term business should have a robust revenue model.
These are some of the hurdles that come to my mind currently. I would update the list as we progress on this project. The list feels very intimidating and is quite a mountain to climb. But the key is to take it step by step, solve one problem at a time, then the next, and so on.
So as I was researching the various prototype eVTOL aircraft being tested, I had a lot of thoughts. There is a varied number of designs and thought processes that are being developed and tested. So it was a bit of a task for me to understand what kind of overall design would be best suited for the aircraft which I envision according to our requirement. Then I understood that I was looking at it in the wrong way.
In the earlier post, I had mentioned that my goal was to have, essentially, a 'flying car'. So all this time, I was looking at it from the perspective of building a 'car'. I was targeting to have a 4-seater aircraft roughly the size of a Tata Nexon. But all the eVTOL aircraft being tested seemed like their design derived from small propeller planes (Kittyhawk) or a helicopter (eHang). But we all know that small propeller airplanes or helicopters are used only by HNIs (at least here in India). Thus we have a new hurdle to face - how to bridge the gap between a car and a small plane/helicopter.
Here is my thought process. Lets go with a best of both worlds approach. For a car, its compact size, affordability, reliability, well known and common (since they've been around for a long time, and people trust them). For a small plane/helicopter, its aerodynamics and efficiency. As of now, I'm focusing on compact size and aerodynamics. So we need to design an aircraft that is compact in size (comparable to a car) and aerodynamic and efficient.
Here's where it gets interesting. Some days back I was looking out the window from my office which has a majestic view of urban Pune. And I saw an eagle flying. I noticed that , for the entire flight time, the eagle flapped its wings just once or twice. For the rest of the flight, it was gliding. Then it struck me that our aircraft needed to have comparable wings, like a regular passenger jet plane. But that would not work since we needed the overall size and footprint to be compact. Then it struck me. What do birds do to their wings when they are not flying? They fold them. So our aircraft could also have a system where the wings would be folded while stationary, parking, or when lifting vertically upwards or downwards, and the wings would open up while cruising, thereby increasing efficiency and convenience, and it ticks most of our checkboxes. This is known as biomimicry. I am planning to write a separate post regarding this highly interesting and important topic sometime later.
Taking this approach into mind, I decided to draw a sample design explaining this process in a more visual way. I was thinking of doing a 3D model of it, but it turns out, I've never done 3D modelling in my life, except for a single lab session in my 1st year of college, where we had to create a 3D model of a screw using CATIA. I also researched about various easy-to-use 3D modelling applications for beginners and amateurs. But I did not find any free tools. I even tried Paint 3D, but it didn't work, or maybe I am not skilled enough :p. Anyhow, I decided to go with plain old MS PowerPoint to create a childish looking, very crude ppt containing 2D images demonstrating the two modes of our aircraft - eVTOL mode and cruise mode.
Here are the images. (Kindly do not misuse or forward these pictures)
I can understand that these images look like a 10 year old kid might have drawn them. I just wanted to let the idea in my mind be canvassed and documented in a visual form. Although I believe it depicts the 2 modes and the transition quite effectively. But honestly, this is a very early design. I am not even 100% sure on the dimensions as they are not as compact as I would have hoped. But yes, we have something to go by. So we'll constantly work on modifying and improving this design to make it a reality. And I'll work on learning 3D modelling and build a more accurate 3D model drawing of the aircraft. If you have some good tools or tutorials in mind regarding 3D modelling, please let me know. It would be very helpful. I'll also try to make a physical cardboard 3D model of the above design, with some obvious improvements. Should be fun :)
So, lets stop this post at this point. I believe to have written everything that I had intended for this post. The work still continues as I research more and more into these topics. If you have any tutorials which could be beneficial for me for this project, please let me know, as it would provide a concentrated source of consistent learning, since currently I am finding random sources from the internet, YouTube videos etc, and its easy to get distracted by useless stuff. Also if you have any books in mind that would be beneficial to me, please let me know and I'll try to purchase them. (Free PDF link appreciated :p).
I would like this project to be a reflection of myself. Since I live quite frugally in my life, I want my project and possibly my company to imbibe the frugality mindset and to find the best solutions to the problems faced, while keeping the costs low. That is how we can succeed in a cost-centric country like India. And a wise gentleman once said -
P.S. - Brian Acton, for those of you who don't know, is the founder of a small, relatively unknown company called WhatsApp :)
That's all for now. Let me know about your honest thoughts and suggestions regarding this post, or about the project in general.
See you in the next one!