With developments in the field of robotisation following at a rapid pace, it really couldn't wait; a robot in the cockpit of an aircraft. US DARPA/Aurora has developed one and has now successfully tested it in a Boeing 737.
Robot arm ALIAS recently managed to safely ground a Boeing during a simulation flight.
The robot was built by Aurora Flight Science as part of DARPA's so-called 'Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System' (ALIAS) programme. Grounding the aircraft was one of the manoeuvres to be performed by the system. Eventually, the ALIAS will become an automatic co-pilot that can be quickly and cheaply installed in existing aircraft.
Advanced
The arm, which thus operates the simulator with one hand, seems like an ill-considered replacement for a human pilot. But according to its creators, nothing could be further from the truth. ALIAS is an advanced system that seriously addresses the 'problem' of the increasing complexity of modern aircraft. Automated systems can train pilots in this and assist them in flight. But most systems require a complete redesign of aircraft to be fitted in. ALIAS does not have to deal with that; it is designed as a mechanical package that can be quickly and cost-effectively installed in many different aircraft. Once installed, ALIAS is able to analyse an aircraft and adapt itself to the operation in question.
Follow status
ALIAS system contains, besides the robotic arm, a number of other important components, including a user interface in the form of a tablet, cameras, robotic controls, voice recognition and machine learning. Besides controlling the aircraft, alternative versions of the robot are also used to provide the pilot with information on the aircraft's status.
"With the successful demonstration in several aircraft, ALIAS has shown that it has a variety of automatic flight capabilities," aldud John Wissler, vice president of R&D at Aurora. "We dare say that we have developed an automated system that is going to make a difference in the cabin crew's workload in the near future."
Division of tasks
ALIAS is intended to be used as a co-pilot in the future so that the other pilots can focus on 'human' tasks such as flight planning, for example. Meanwhile, the robot will deal with automated tasks such as keeping an eye on the monitors. ALIAS should also prevent pilots from getting distracted during emergencies.
However, it will be some time before we actually see the robot back in the cockpit.
Watch the video of the simulation flight below:
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: Aurora
