When we think about drones these days, it often causes us to have mixed feelings. Yet technologies that enable autonomous flying also help to save lives.
Flight DL1889, early August 2015: the Airbus A320 was caught in a tremendous thunderstorm over the US state of Colorado. The plane was shaken by severe turbulence and large hailstones smashed against the fuselage, damaging the nose cone where the GPS system was housed. Not only that – the hailstones had also smashed the cockpit windshield. Run through with fine cracks, the pilots could hardly see through it. A tricky situation, yet thanks to modern electronics systems not really critical. Because the pilots were able to land their Airbus on autopilot. The plane was guided by means of radio beams from the airport; the system was able to gauge the plane’s altitude by means of the radar altimeter, get the plane under control automatically for landing, and set it down on the runway. Even after landing, the plane continued to follow the guide beam and taxied down the centre of the runway to its gate. This episode clearly shows what modern autopilot systems can achieve nowadays.
Automatic from take-off to landing
On any such automated flight, there are many different systems working together to control the location, the engines, positioning and much more. Previously, each of these systems used its own computer, whereas nowadays they are increasingly run on one and the same processor. Not only is that a saving in terms of weight, but the entire system can also perform much more complex tasks, since it has direct access to masses of data. Thus it is theoretically possible to operate a flight entirely automatically from take-off to landing. As yet, however, the idea of passenger flights without a pilot is a utopian dream, not least due to the psychological inhibitions of passengers – but small-scale applications show that it works.
For some time now, for instance, the logistics company DHL has been testing microdrones as a means of delivering packages. DHL’s Parcelcopter has already passed tests in which it has made fully autonomous flights of about 12 kilometres on a regular route from the German mainland to the island of Juist. The mail order company Amazon also plans to use drones for shipping smaller deliveries. Something that at first sounded like a marketing gimmick is meant seriously: in March 2015, the US aviation authority gave the company a certificate of airworthiness for an experimental unmanned aircraft. Then, in April, the group applied to patent a drone. The unmanned aircraft described in the application will have eight rotors and will be able to pick up goods automatically from a place of transshipment, as well as calculate the route to the recipient. The recipient will not need to be tied to a fixed location. Instead, the delivery drone will bring the package to wherever the recipient is currently located. According to the patent application, the drones will be able to track the location of the person by pulling data from their smartphone or other devices working with GPS or on a Wi-Fi or mobile communications network. The Amazon drones will also be able to talk to one another, exchanging weather data or traffic information in order to update their routes in real-time. However, as yet the entire project is still in the early test phase. Years may pass before Amazon is able to send orders via the “Prime Air” delivery service.
Mini helicopter completes missions autonomously
In other areas, however, drones capable of autonomous flight have already been in use for some time. Take, for example, the Camcopter S-100 Unmanned Air System from the Austrian company Schiebel: controlled by a triple-redundant on-board computer based on proven algorithms and flight control methods, the S-100 can fly missions fully autonomously from take-off to landing. Redundant Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) ensure highly accurate navigation and stability at all stages of the flight. Missions are programmed and controlled at the click of a mouse via a graphical user interface, while camera images are transmitted to the control station on the ground in real time. The potential uses of these helicopter drones are manifold.
Saved from the sea
An S-100 is currently being used by the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) to save refugees in distress at sea. MOAS, a registered non-profit charitable organisation based in Malta, owns a 40-metre-long vessel named Phoenix, that is used for the rescue of refugees at sea. Stationed on board this ship is the S-100. The S-100 will serve to considerably extend the viewing range of the Phoenix beyond the limit of the horizon. The camera on the unmanned helicopter delivers daylight and infrared imagery in real time to the MOAS team. Refugee boats can now be located by day and night, even in rough sea conditions and at a long distance away. Another example of how Smart Systems in flying devices can help to save people’s lives …
(picture credits: Deutsche Post DHL Group)