Near future
No Result
View All Result
25 September 2023
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Transports
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+
Understand, anticipate, improve the future.
CES2023 / Coronavirus / Russia-Ukraine
Near future
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Transports
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+

Understand, anticipate, improve the future.

No Result
View All Result
Transports

Are we close to unmanned airliners?

The technology is already there, the tests increase and the safety as well: we are close to unmanned airliners, but the pilots will not necessarily stay at home. Here because.

January 30 2020
Gianluca RiccioGianluca Riccio
⚪ 4 minutes
Share33Pin6Tweet16SendShare4ShareShare3

READ IN:

The concept of unmanned commercial flight has been banned for years. The technology was practically ready, but there was little solid evidence that autonomous flight could ever actually take off from the ground. Until now.

Airbus confirmed that one of its unmanned airliners took off automatically from Toulouse, France, last December.

The European aerospace company conducted a series of successful tests on autonomous flight last month, with two pilots on board but just in case.

According to Airbus, the A350-1000 achieved eight perfect automatic takeoffs during a four and a half hour test.

"While we were completing the alignment on the runway, waiting for the clearance from the air traffic control, we engaged the autopilot"Airbus test pilot, the captain explained in a statement Yann Beaufils.

The article continues after the related links

Paris-New York: 90 minutes. The Hermeus Challenge, hypersonic air travel

Mixed-wing aircraft, JetZero and the US Air Force's 'secret' weapon for 2027

“We moved the throttle levers to the take-off setting and monitored the plane. It started moving and accelerating automatically while maintaining the center line of the track, at the exact rotational speed entered into the system. "

"The nose of the plane started to lift automatically and a few seconds later we were in the air."

Airbus successfully completed the first fully automatic take-off with unmanned airliners.

In a video posted by Airbus, one of the pilots is seen with his hands off the controls as the A350-1000 successfully takes off.

An aircraft that can take off by itself thanks to technology alone? Our #ACTOL demonstrator project recently proved just that! Learn how autonomy helped make it happen: https://t.co/Ij5o15Ybeo pic.twitter.com/WSwCCXPxJC

- Airbus (@Airbus) -

A new technology

The result of the unmanned aircraft was obtained through a new image recognition technology installed directly on board. To be clear it is not a "classic" instrument landing system (ILS), which sends radio waves from the runway, providing pilots with vertical and horizontal guidance.

With its unmanned aircraft, Airbus announces that it will also test automatic landing sequences by the end of the year.

Unmanned aircraft: curiously welcome (really?)

In 2019, a survey of 22.000 people by the US software company Ansys indicated that 70% of travelers would be willing to fly on a fully autonomous plane. Sure? Yes, it is true that the idea of ​​unmanned aircraft has often been cited as a solution to the shortage of personnel and a way to reduce costs.

At the moment, commercial flights are already landing with the assistance of on-board computers, with pilots piloting the plane manually for a few minutes on average.

It is also true that many have raised concerns about the safety of unmanned aircraft, particularly after the two 737 Boeing 2019 MAX crashes, which have been linked to a software problem.

It is not a question of technology

"It's a question of interacting with lawmakers and perception of passengers," he said Christian scherer, commercial director of Airbus. He is right.

He added that the Boeing disasters "they highlighted and stressed the need for absolute and uncompromising safety in this sector, whether from Airbus, Boeing or any other company".

Today, it appears that Airbus' stance on the matter remains the same.

Unmanned aircraft
Do you drive at home? Maybe only with autonomous air taxis (this is Vahana, the Airbus concept)

Airbus remains cautious, however

Despite the success of its test flights and subsequent plans for future tests, the airline claims that the mission is not that of "moving forward with autonomy as an objective in itself, but as a means".

The analysis of the potential of these technologies will help to "improve flight operations and overall aircraft performance" (just think to the incredible SABER under development, which will take passengers from London to New York in an hour).

However, the pilots will remain "at the center of operations", according to a statement by the company. In other words: unmanned planes DRIVING, but someone will be on board.

"Autonomous technologies are key to supporting pilots, allowing them to focus less on aircraft operations and more on strategic decision making and mission management," concludes.

Current air traffic laws in much of the world require the "four eyes" rule in the cockpit. This means that two pilots must always be present. If one requests a break, the other must be ready to step in and take their place.

And despite these recent technological developments, I say that the possibility of changing the regulations is still far away.

Tags: planesunmanned aircraftairbusBoeing

Latest news

  • Minimum wage: a step forward or a leap in the dark for Italy?
  • Solar cars could halve the need for charging
  • The crazy food of the future: from edible clouds to mussel ceramics
  • NASA, recovered the sample from the asteroid Bennu: why it is important
  • Tesla and the new abilities of Optimus robots: "Ready for mass production"
  • EV, goodbye frequent charging: I-State promises over 1.000 km of autonomy.
  • Revolutionary generator transforms humidity into continuous electrical energy
  • All the maps of the future: from research tools to doors to tomorrow
  • The bizarre AI that translates the language of chickens
  • Jeddah Tower, construction site of the one kilometer high skyscraper reopens


GPT Chat Megaeasy!

Concrete guide for those approaching this artificial intelligence tool, also designed for the school world: many examples of applications, usage indications and ready-to-use instructions for training and interrogating Chat GPT.

To submit articles, disclose the results of a research or scientific discoveries write to the editorial staff

Enter the Telegram channel of Futuroprossimo, click here. Or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Mastodon e LinkedIn.

FacebookTwitterInstagramTelegramLinkedInMastodonPinterestTikTok

The daily tomorrow.


Futuroprossimo.it provides news on the future of technology, science and innovation: if there is something that is about to arrive, here it has already arrived. FuturoProssimo is part of the network ForwardTo, studies and skills for future scenarios.

  • Environment
  • Architecture
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Gadgets
  • concepts
  • Design
  • Medicine
  • Spazio
  • Robotica
  • Work
  • Transports
  • Energy
  • Edition Francaise
  • Deutsche Ausgabe
  • Japanese version
  • English Edition
  • Portuguese Edition
  • Read more
  • Spanish edition

Subscribe to our newsletter

  • The Editor
  • Advertising on FP
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 Near future - Creative Commons License
This work is distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

No Result
View All Result
Understand, anticipate, improve the future.
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Transports
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+