The technology that will allow autonomous aircraft to fly without pilots is here and is already undergoing successful testing. This may mean a whole new way of travelling, in particular when it comes to mobility in cities.
Now that we have driverless cars and increasingly intelligent drones, an autonomous aircraft without a pilot on board hardly seems visionary any more. In fact, as far back as some ten years ago, the IFATS (Innovative Future Air Transport System) project demonstrated the technical feasibility of aircraft without pilots, although it was thought at the time that this would not happen before 2050. The biggest hurdle was considered to be passenger acceptance. However, acceptance levels are likely to increase every time there is a pilots’ strike or an aviation accident, because up to 90 per cent of aviation accidents are attributable to pilot error. This explains why all large aircraft manufacturers – along with many small start-ups – are working on unmanned aircraft.
90% Pilot Error: The majority of all aviation accidents can be traced back to human error. It is hoped that autonomous systems will considerably reduce this figure.
Nothing escapes the electronic eye
British manufacturer BAE Systems started testing a pilotless aircraft at the end of 2016. A standard Jetstream 31 plane was converted to provide a flying test bed. The machine has an antenna which detects transponder signals from other aircraft as well as a cockpit-mounted camera acting as an electronic eye. This links to the aircraft’s computer systems and enables the Jetstream to “see” potential hazards, even if no signals are being emitted. The electronic eye of the Jetstream can also recognise different cloud types and, if needed, plot a course that allows evasive action from challenging weather conditions. Pilots on board the aircraft remain responsible for take-off and landing, but as soon as the Jetstream is in the air, it flies autonomously. It has already clocked up almost 500 kilometres of flying at a height of approximately 4.5 kilometres. “Our priority, as always, is to demonstrate the safe and effective operation of autonomous systems,” explains Maureen McCue, BAE Systems’ Head of Research and Technology for the military aircraft and information business. “The trials will give us technology options that could be applied to our own manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as potentially enabling us to take some new unmanned aircraft technologies to market.”
Requiring continuous corrections about all three axes, a helicopter is much more difficult to control than a fixed wing aircraft like the Jetstream. Yet for this type of craft too, the first test flights are already under way. In June 2017, Airbus Heli-copters started test flights with a preliminary study involving the VSR700. The prototype of the light optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) helicopter is due to take off in 2018. Optionally piloted means that the machine can fly both autonomously and with a pilot. “The OPV is able to autonomously take-off, hover and perform stabilised flight and manoeuvres,” said Regis Antomarchi, Head of the VSR700 programme at Airbus Helicopters. This phase of flight trials with a safety pilot will focus on refining the automatic flight control system aboard the helicopter, eventually leading to fully autonomous flights without a safety pilot.
A new dawn for local transport
Airbus actually wants to go much further with autonomous aircraft. The Group has a number of visions associated with this technology in its test laboratories, with the focus being on the urban traffic of the future. A3, a subsidiary company based in Silicon Valley, is currently working on a project called Vahana. Vahana is a self-piloted flying vehicle platform for individual passenger and cargo transport – an air taxi, essentially. “The ability to be transported safely and quickly through a city in a self-piloted aircraft is no longer science fiction,” says Rodin Lyasoff, CEO of A3. “Advances in propulsion, battery performance, air traffic management, autonomy and connectivity mean that this mode of transportation is capable of benefitting millions of people in years, not decades.” In his view, the only remaining challenges to be overcome are associated with reliable sense-and-avoid systems, which detect hazards or obstacles and invoke evasive action. At the current time, there are not yet any fully developed solutions for aviation. “Urban air mobility will significantly change how we live and work for the better, but bridging from feasibility to reality will require close cooperation between the public and private sectors to define appropriate regulations,” says Lyasoff. Another Airbus vision for urban air traffic is the City Airbus. In terms of technology, this aircraft is comparable to a small drone. Like a drone, it relies on several electrically driven propellers to stay in the air. Where it differs from a drone is that it will be designed to carry several passengers. To speed up its time to market, the machine will initially be controlled by a pilot. The intention, though, is that it will fly autonomously at a later point in time and passengers will use an app to hail a ride. A feasibility study has already been successfully completed.