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>digital technology that safely lands the aircraft at the nearest suitable airport in the event that the pilot is incapacitated. How does it know? Also a weird

>digital technology that safely lands the aircraft at the nearest suitable airport in the event that the pilot is incapacitated. How does it know? Also a weird submission to be at the top of HN

lucideer 7y ago
> weird submission to be at the top of HN Seems like the usual HN fare. Autonomous control of vehicles is a very common topic here.
- beerandt 7y ago
  A self-driving car article makes the front page seemingly several times per week, but an article on a self-landing GA plane is weird?
- maeln 7y ago
  Plane are also a very common topic on HN.
mjlee 7y ago
Various cars can tell if you're drowsy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_drowsiness_detection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_drowsiness_detection The plane could sound an alarm for you to check in if it thinks you're not conscious. Edit: More details at https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/general-aviation/2019-10-30/autoland-garmins-newest-safety-feature https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/general-aviation/201... It pretty much works like you'd imagine, with the addition that a passenger could engage it if required.
- owlninja 7y ago
  Thanks for the link! >In the M600 Autoland application, the system activates at 18,000 feet if the autopilot is engaged and the pilot doesn’t interact with the avionics in a 15-minute period. At higher altitudes, the engagement period is shorter. Autoland also tries to alert the pilot with repeated chiming sounds and asking, “Are you alert” before engaging.
throw0101a 7y ago
It needs to be manually invoked by a passenger.
SideburnsOfDoom 7y ago
> How does it know? Know the nearest airport, or know if the pilot is incapacitated? 1) GPS and 2) it looks like someone in the aircraft has to press a button.
tialaramex 7y ago
Lack of input. Whether it's a train, a boat or in this case an aeroplane, an aware and capable operator will periodically fiddle with things a little bit, change the heading slightly, tweak engine power a bit, any little change shows you're paying attention still, no need for the machine to intervene. If that doesn't happen for a sustained period, the machine prods them. "Hey are you awake? Let me know you're OK" or moral equivalent. If they still do nothing after a further period, engage emergency systems. On a boat that means summoning the rest of the crew to come see what's wrong on the bridge, on a train it means you just bring the train to a halt and let a remote signaller communicate with anybody else on board, on a plane this system proposes to try landing. Also a passenger can just (be taught how to) activate it.

>digital technology that safely lands the aircraft at the nearest suitable airport in the event that the pilot is incapacitated. How does it know? Also a weird submission to be at the top of HN

lucideer 7y ago

> weird submission to be at the top of HN Seems like the usual HN fare. Autonomous control of vehicles is a very common topic here.

beerandt 7y ago
A self-driving car article makes the front page seemingly several times per week, but an article on a self-landing GA plane is weird?
maeln 7y ago
Plane are also a very common topic on HN.

mjlee 7y ago

Various cars can tell if you're drowsy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_drowsiness_detection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_drowsiness_detection The plane could sound an alarm for you to check in if it thinks you're not conscious. Edit: More details at https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/general-aviation/2019-10-30/autoland-garmins-newest-safety-feature https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/general-aviation/201... It pretty much works like you'd imagine, with the addition that a passenger could engage it if required.

owlninja 7y ago
Thanks for the link! >In the M600 Autoland application, the system activates at 18,000 feet if the autopilot is engaged and the pilot doesn’t interact with the avionics in a 15-minute period. At higher altitudes, the engagement period is shorter. Autoland also tries to alert the pilot with repeated chiming sounds and asking, “Are you alert” before engaging.

throw0101a 7y ago

It needs to be manually invoked by a passenger.

SideburnsOfDoom 7y ago

> How does it know? Know the nearest airport, or know if the pilot is incapacitated? 1) GPS and 2) it looks like someone in the aircraft has to press a button.

tialaramex 7y ago

Lack of input. Whether it's a train, a boat or in this case an aeroplane, an aware and capable operator will periodically fiddle with things a little bit, change the heading slightly, tweak engine power a bit, any little change shows you're paying attention still, no need for the machine to intervene. If that doesn't happen for a sustained period, the machine prods them. "Hey are you awake? Let me know you're OK" or moral equivalent. If they still do nothing after a further period, engage emergency systems. On a boat that means summoning the rest of the crew to come see what's wrong on the bridge, on a train it means you just bring the train to a halt and let a remote signaller communicate with anybody else on board, on a plane this system proposes to try landing. Also a passenger can just (be taught how to) activate it.