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Flying Robot Ambulance Finally Takes Its First Flight (popsci.com)
What weighs 2,400 pounds, flies 100 miles per hour, and doesn't haven't a pilot? An anonymous reader writes:
This week Popular Science remembers a 2007 article which discovered "an amazing machine of the future, almost like a flying car, that seemed plausible but just out of reach" -- and reports that it's now finally performed "a full, autonomous flight on a preplanned route." Designed to provide unmanned emergency evacuations, it's been described as "a hovercar-like aircraft" flown with a built-in AI-controlled flight system.
Tuesday's route was two minutes long, and "According to Urban Aeronautics, the vehicle's Flight Control System made the decision to land too early." But what's significant is there's no human pilot. "Decisions by the flight controls are checked by the craft's flight management system, like a pilot overseen by a captain...all informed by an array of sensors, including 'two laser altimeters, a radar altimeter, inertial sensors, and an electro-optic payload camera.'"
The test brings the giant unmanned vehicle one step closer to its ultimate goal of becoming "a robot that can fly inside cities, weaving between buildings and hovering above any dangers on the ground below."
Tuesday's route was two minutes long, and "According to Urban Aeronautics, the vehicle's Flight Control System made the decision to land too early." But what's significant is there's no human pilot. "Decisions by the flight controls are checked by the craft's flight management system, like a pilot overseen by a captain...all informed by an array of sensors, including 'two laser altimeters, a radar altimeter, inertial sensors, and an electro-optic payload camera.'"
The test brings the giant unmanned vehicle one step closer to its ultimate goal of becoming "a robot that can fly inside cities, weaving between buildings and hovering above any dangers on the ground below."
Decisions made by the flight controls? What?
Yes. It will also create job listings "must have 10 years exp" for their specific automation that's been around for 2 years.
How many people were involved in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of flying robots a couple of decades ago?
The operation was a success, but the patient died..
Make up your own Martian lander joke...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
You didn't understand his post apparently. He's saying that the job posting will request the impossible 10 years experience when the field itself has only been around for 2.
It looked like you were responding to thundercatt's post. Stupid Slashdot page formatting.
"We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient."
I do love automation, I really do but EMTs are an essential part of ambulances. Something flying like this would need to be able to carry at least 1000 pounds before it could really be useful. Also, I'm not really comfortable with leaving emergencies in the hands of autonomous machines because of the unpredictable nature of emergent situations.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
IF $experience != $days_since_activation + 1 THEN reject()
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
Could this be adapted to retrieve persons of interest and return to a predetermined location? Any way we can include kill/no kill AI?
Thanks,
Your Government
"Hello Mr. Terrorist! Would you please step into this unmanned, barely controlled little flying box?"
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"Allah Akbur!"
I suppose this could work....
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Unintended consequences - air burst are usually more deadly than ground bursts.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Somehow the news reminded me about this one:
http://www.arielambulance.org/...
Which if I recall works to a slightly greater altitude in dual rotor systems. I remember reading about a company that's building a "flying car" which like this thing gets lift from a pair of large ducted fans arranged fore and aft; it's rate for 4m maximum operating altitude.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
...I want one I can fly when and where I want.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Without a medic on board, it isn't an ambulance, it is a meat wagon. Using something like this would be considered patient abandonment, this will never take off for use in the medical field. The idea of hauling people to the hospital as fast as possible was replaced with prehospital care a long time ago.
Sig: I stole this sig.
There are admittedly many technical problems with a robotic patient evacuation device. Some comments mentioned the importance of patient monitoring, and indeed that is a problem. However, being evacuated as a patient on a gurney is a far different experience than riding in a car or helicopter. Illness or injury provokes profound anxiety in many people. This is not merely emotional. It has physical effects. People can faint, have asthma attacks, develop heart rhythm abnormalities. Transporting even a simple injury (e.g., simple fracture) on an otherwise stable patient in such a way can trigger any of these. Airborne without a supporting attendant is likely far more complex. Admittedly, in a combat situation, it may be safer than a crewed vehicle, and combatant personnel are not average civilians. A complex problem that requires very serious examination in all aspects.