Udacity, an online training site based in Silicon Valley, is now offering a “Flying Car Nanodegree” program, but notes that “the idea of a flying car is a metaphor for a new vision for the future of smart transportation.” The new program aims to teach a new generation of engineers the skills they’ll need to create autonomous flight vehicles “that will be crucial to the transportation systems of the future.” The two-term program will help students understand the air transportation system and develop skills in software and engineering. Among the partners who will contribute to the program are Sebastian Thrun, founder of Udacity, who is working to develop easy-to-fly aircraft with his company Kitty Hawk, and Angela Schoellig, a professor in the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. The program will begin early next year.
Topics covered in the program will include flight dynamics, flight planning, multi-vehicle dynamics and vertical takeoff and landing. Enrollment is not yet open, but interested students can sign up for an email list to receive updates. Other nanodegree programs in engineering at the site, such as “Intro to Self-Driving Cars,” cost about $800.
