- Reliable Robotics makes aviation history with first flight of unmanned Cessna
Reliable Robotics has created aviation history with the world’s first flight of an unmanned, self-flying Cessna 208B Caravan. The flight took 13 minutes and 41 seconds from Hollister Municipal Airport in California. The empty airplane autonomously taxied, took off, flew its planned route, landed, and taxied to the gate.
Pilots are humans and make mistakes. Reliable Robotics utilizes an integrated set of sensors, communications channels, and airport data to locate the aircraft accurately in 3D space throughout the entire flight to eliminate pilot errors. The flight control system is also designed to intelligently navigate around other airplanes and obstacles on its own.
To ensure safety in case of malfunction, a remote pilot monitoring the flight can take over the controls through an encrypted satellite communications channel from the ground. Whether the encryption can stop intrusions in light of 9/11 has yet to be seen.
The long-term goal is to replace pilots with automated flight systems and to monitor several autonomous planes with a single remote pilot. This frees up significant manpower in an industry short of able pilots while lowering cargo and passenger flight costs. Readers dreaming of becoming a pilot can sign up for an airline-sponsored pilot training program and practice at home with flight simulation software (like this at Amazon).
Reliable Robotics is led by CEO Robert Rose, former senior director of Autopilot at Tesla.