UAVs are tackling everything from disease control to vacuuming up ocean waste to delivering pizza, and more. Drone technology has been used by defense organizations and tech-savvy consumers for quite some time. However, the benefits of this technology extends well beyond just these sectors. With the rising accessibility of drones, many of the most dangerous and high-paying jobs within the commercial sector are ripe for displacement by drone technology. The use cases for safe, cost-effective solutions range from data collection to delivery. And as autonomy and collision-avoidance technologies improve, so too will drones' ability to perform increasingly complex tasks. According to forecasts, the emerging global market for business services using drones is valued at over $127B. As more companies look to capitalize on these commercial opportunities, investment into the drone space continues to grow. A drone or a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) typically refers to a pilotless aircraft that operates through a combination of technologies, including computer vision, artificial intelligence, object avoidance tech, and others. But drones can also be ground or sea vehicles that operate autonomously.

With companies from Airbus and Amazon to Uber throttling up development of their own autonomous aerial vehicles, Thrun believes "in a few years time, this will be the hottest topic on the planet." As usual, Thrun intends to be on the cutting edge of this emerging technology. The 50-year-old PhD computer scientist and former Stanford University professor, co-founded Udacity in 2012 and says the online school's self-driving car program has attracted 50,000 applicants since 2016. He expects the new flying car curriculum, which opens in late February and begins taking applications on Tuesday, to draw at least 10,000. Udacity is offering two 12-week terms, at $1,200 each, including a course in Aerial Robotics and one in Intelligent Air Systems, that provide an online certification in a fraction of the time of a traditional degree course.

Self-driving car pioneer Sebastian Thrun has shifted his gaze to the skies, as his Silicon Valley online school Udacity launches what it calls the first'nanodegree' in flying car engineering. With companies from Airbus and Amazon to Uber throttling up development of their own autonomous aerial vehicles, Thrun believes'in a few years time, this will be the hottest topic on the planet.' As usual, Thrun intends to be on the cutting edge of this emerging technology. Self-driving car pioneer Sebastian Thrun has shifted his gaze to the skies, as his Silicon Valley online school Udacity launches what it calls the first'nanodegree' in flying car engineering You can now learn how to build a flying car in just four months thanks to a new $400 (£295) online course. Online education provider Udacity, also owned by Sebastian Thrun, has announced two new'nanodegrees' teaching users to make driverless or flying vehicles.

Self-driving car pioneer Sebastian Thrun has shifted his gaze to the skies, as his Silicon Valley online school Udacity launches what it calls the first "nanodegree" in flying car engineering. With companies from Airbus and Amazon to Uber throttling up development of their own autonomous aerial vehicles, Thrun believes "in a few years time, this will be the hottest topic on the planet." As usual, Thrun intends to be on the cutting edge of this emerging technology. The 50-year-old PhD computer scientist and former Stanford University professor, co-founded Udacity in 2012 and says the online school's self-driving car program has attracted 50,000 applicants since 2016. He expects the new flying car curriculum, which opens in late February and begins taking applications on Tuesday, to draw at least 10,000.

Energy, insurance, telecommunications, and many other industries could also have drones in their future.

Flying air taxis and'vertiports' could become fixtures across American cityscapes as companies including Uber race to introduce the technology. The taxis, called e-VTOLs or'electric vertical take off and landing(s),' are being tested by multiple tech firms including Google and Airbus, the New York Post reported. One model, the single-passenger EHang 184 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle, is due to start flying in Dubai in July. The Dubai vehicles, which are made by a Chinese drone company, can fly a passenger who weighs less than 220 pounds for up to 23 minutes. A model from Uber shows a'vertiport' and an in-transit e-VTOL or'electric vertical take off and landing.'

The days of sitting in a taxi while it's stuck in a traffic jam could soon be a thing of the past for people in Singapore. The country's Ministry of Transport has revealed that it is in talks with companies to start trials on flying taxis. These futuristic vehicles are part of a drive to expand the range of urban mobility options, and Singapore plans to have them ready by 2030. Singapore's Ministry of Transport has revealed that it is in talks with companies to start trials on flying taxis. At the conference, Mr Keong showed three human-carrying drones that have already been prototyped.

The world's first fleet of self-driving cars could be deployed thousands of miles from where they were invented. The city of Dubai will have 200 of Tesla's self-driving, electric taxis on its roads by 2020. The cars will initially be used on'autopilot', meaning a human driver has to be behind the wheel for emergencies, but will come with the hardware needed for full self-driving capability. The world's first fleet of self-driving cars could be deployed a long way from where they were invented. The city of Dubai will have 200 self-driving Tesla taxis, including Tesla's Model S pictured here, on its roads by 2020 Tesla announced an updated version of their autopilot hardware in December last year, named HW2.

Flying, driverless cars are expected to become a reality in Dubai by the summer after an initial test run of an autonomous aerial vehicle was launched Monday by the Roads and Transport Authority and Chinese firm Ehang. The vehicle – called Ehang 184 – should be able to transport people automatically and is scheduled to start services in the near future. "The autonomous aerial vehicle exhibited at the [World Government Summit] is not just a model; it is a real version that we have already experimented the vehicle in a flight in Dubai sky. The RTA is making every effort to start the operation of the AAV in July 2017," Al Tayer, the chairman and director general of the Roads and Transport Authority, said. The car will be able to hold someone up to 220 pounds along with a small carry-on and will have a battery allowing a half-hour flight time for a distance of around 31 miles.

Dubai has tested a Chinese prototype of a self-driving hover-taxi, its transport authority said on Monday, with the aim of introducing the aerial vehicle in the emirate by July. The test of the one-man electric vehicle comes as the city state in the United Arab Emirates seeks to ensure a quarter of its means of transport are self-driving by 2030. The EHang 184 can travel on a programmed course at 100 kilometres an hour (60 mph) at an altitude of 300 metres (1,000 feet), the authority said in a statement. A passenger simply needs to select a destination for the autonomous taxi to take off, fly the route and touch down in the chosen spot monitored by a ground control centre, it said. The vehicle, made by Chinese drone manufacturer EHang, can recharge in two hours and make trips of up to 30 minutes.