A 19-seat, propeller-powered business plane has undertaken an unmanned test flight from Warton, Lancashire, to Inverness, Scotland, without an onboard human pilot touching the controls, reports the New Scientist.
The onboard pilot was in control during take-off, but once in the air, control was handed over to a ground-based pilot, and the onboard controls were not touched again until landing. The return flight used sensors and on-board robotic systems to control the aircraft once it was in the air.
Although autopilot has been around long enough for people to have become accustomed to the idea, pilots have still been needed at the controls to deal with the trickier aspects of flying - until now.
The 'droneliner' self-flying plane was not merely on autopilot, but rather used 'detect-and-avoid' (DAA) technology to avoid other objects in airspace and automatically avoid collision.
The 500-mile flight was pioneered by the UK-based Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment (ASTRAEA) research programme, which aims to enable Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to be used routinely in all types of airspace.
The research programme includes two main projects: Separation Assurance and Control focuses on the technologies needed to be able to control the plane from the ground, such as the communication system and the plane's sensors; and Autonomy and Decision-Making provides an intelligence system that shares decision-making between the vehicle's autonomy system and the human operator.
Other recent successful demonstrations by ASTRAEA include a single ground-based pilot co-ordinating two small, unmanned aircraft simultaneously in a simulated search-and-rescue, as well as the development of an automatic in-flight refuelling system that could allow unmanned aircraft to operate for extended periods of time.
The implications for commercial flights as ASTRAEA inches towards its goal are huge, with the research programme envisioning aerospace companies beginning to compete in the civilian unmanned aircraft market. Meanwhile, technologies such as the detect-and-avoid system may be put to more immediate and practical use by making manned flights even safer, according to ASTRAEA.
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