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Toward Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Technology

Posted by kdawson on from the fly-by-wire-only-there-is-no-wire dept.

coondoggie writes with a NetworkWorld piece that begins, "Researchers at Purdue will soon experiment with an unmanned aircraft that pretty much flies itself with little human intervention. The aircraft will use a combination of global-positioning system technology and a guidance system called AttoPilot ... to guide the aerial vehicle to predetermined points. Researchers can be stationed off-site to monitor the aircraft and control its movements remotely. AttoPilot was installed in the aircraft early this year, and testing will begin in the spring, researchers said."

3 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Niche operation perhaps... by pnevin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I dunno. One of the things I quite like about playing video games is that nobody actually dies.

  2. Re:Ring Ring! by Shipud · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, but can they land it in the Hudson?

    --
    /sdrawkcab si gis siht
  3. Re:Niche operation perhaps... by jander · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I believe that it would be more than niche applications. There are many areas in aviation where UAV's would be a boon.

    For example, UAV's could be used for fire suppression applications - Whenever there are forest fires (or even the threat of), UAV's could be prepositioned and in the air in a matter of minutes.
    Crop Dusting - UAV's could perform this function with better precision, for longer hours.
    Post/Parcel delivery
    Search and Rescue

    All these applications are prone to pilot fatigue and are dangerous commercial applications - I am sure there are many, many more applications where UAV's would make more sense and improve aviation safety.

    --
    An ounce of perception is worth a pound of obscure