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I think fully autonomous flight is a solution, but I also think it's further away than people imagine. For airplanes at least, the trickiest segments of flight
by jdgilbert21 8y ago
I think fully autonomous flight is a solution, but I also think it's further away than people imagine. For airplanes at least, the trickiest segments of flight are takeoffs and landings and even with today's advanced avionics suites, pilots are still in control for those portions of flight.
The other big factor is the passengers. Even if technology for fully autonomous passenger flight is available in the next 10 years, I don't think people will trust planes flying themselves.
- taneq 8y agoDJI drones have been able to navigate back to their takeoff point and land automatically for a while now. Landing's much easier for a multicopter than for a fixed wing aircraft.
- tartuffe78 8y agoOurs went haywire and crashed into a pond onetime when we used the Return to Home feature. YMMV
- taneq 8y agoI didn't say I'd ride on one personally. :P Just that the basics are solved, and reliability is a Simple Matter Of Engineering.
- hndamien 8y agoThis is already happening and with testing in Dubai. http://www.ehang.com/ehang184 http://www.ehang.com/ehang184 https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/dubai-begins-testing-drone-taxi-service/ https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.zdnet.com/google-amp/art... No idea why I have been downvotes above. Great to see intelligent conversations is rewarded with down votes here.