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>> Planes are already fully automatic. But when sensors fail they relinquish control to the pilot. Adding additional sensors could reduce the need for human ba

>> Planes are already fully automatic. But when sensors fail they relinquish control to the pilot. Adding additional sensors could reduce the need for human backup - I wonder if this company added extra redundancy.

Kye 3y ago
I saw a video from one of those "air traffic review" type channels just the other day where a plane was low on fuel and had a malfunctioning ILS and no way to reach somewhere where they could land visually without fudging the rules a little. They landed, but it was dicey. edit: found it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzVMZFWduc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzVMZFWduc
throwup238 3y ago
Diamond Aircraft autoland is meant to work in emergencies like when the pilot becomes incapacitated and the passengers need to initiate it to get to an airport safely.
- SkyPuncher 3y ago
  Correct, but that’s with a perfectly functioning aircraft. The problems come when you have engines out, landing gear issues, or malfunctioning equipment. Look at the recent Waymo accidents. Two Waymo vehicles ran into a vehicle being towed backwards. An edge case that a human could have easily avoided, but software couldn’t.
  - mschuster91 3y ago
    > Look at the recent Waymo accidents. Two Waymo vehicles ran into a vehicle being towed backwards. An edge case that a human could have easily avoided, but software couldn’t. The complexity of flying an airplane autonomously is way lower than for a car. The biggest reduction comes from there being (almost) no morons in airspace. Planes are expensive, pilot school is expensive, so the chance of encountering someone doing something they're not supposed to do is way lower - in a car, you have to deal with anything from random little children jumping onto the streets over drunk/tired/phone-using drivers to construction sites. Then there is the requirement of planes to carry ADS-B transmitters in many airspace classes, so planes precisely know where they are and where everyone else is. And distance between planes is also way larger, which makes avoidance easier. Basically, as long as the aircraft itself is working fine, everything from takeoff to landing can be done autonomously - and appropriate systems have been developed and used for decades, the first CAT 3 autoland capable aircraft arrived in the late 60s [1]. The only two unsolved challenges are taxiing and in-flight equipment failure... the former can be solved by having a tug pick up a plane on the runway, it's only the failure cases that are a real headache because, at least for now, that requires having highly trained pilots on board. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoland
- snuxoll 3y ago
  Autoland is regularly used in CATIIIa/b ILS approaches when weather does not allow for the pilots to transition between instruments and visual flight (otherwise a requirement for the last phase of the approach and the actual touchdown).
barelyauser 3y ago
Does reliability increases or decreases when more components are added?

Kye 3y ago

I saw a video from one of those "air traffic review" type channels just the other day where a plane was low on fuel and had a malfunctioning ILS and no way to reach somewhere where they could land visually without fudging the rules a little. They landed, but it was dicey. edit: found it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzVMZFWduc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzVMZFWduc

throwup238 3y ago

Diamond Aircraft autoland is meant to work in emergencies like when the pilot becomes incapacitated and the passengers need to initiate it to get to an airport safely.

SkyPuncher 3y ago
Correct, but that’s with a perfectly functioning aircraft. The problems come when you have engines out, landing gear issues, or malfunctioning equipment. Look at the recent Waymo accidents. Two Waymo vehicles ran into a vehicle being towed backwards. An edge case that a human could have easily avoided, but software couldn’t.
- mschuster91 3y ago
  > Look at the recent Waymo accidents. Two Waymo vehicles ran into a vehicle being towed backwards. An edge case that a human could have easily avoided, but software couldn’t. The complexity of flying an airplane autonomously is way lower than for a car. The biggest reduction comes from there being (almost) no morons in airspace. Planes are expensive, pilot school is expensive, so the chance of encountering someone doing something they're not supposed to do is way lower - in a car, you have to deal with anything from random little children jumping onto the streets over drunk/tired/phone-using drivers to construction sites. Then there is the requirement of planes to carry ADS-B transmitters in many airspace classes, so planes precisely know where they are and where everyone else is. And distance between planes is also way larger, which makes avoidance easier. Basically, as long as the aircraft itself is working fine, everything from takeoff to landing can be done autonomously - and appropriate systems have been developed and used for decades, the first CAT 3 autoland capable aircraft arrived in the late 60s [1]. The only two unsolved challenges are taxiing and in-flight equipment failure... the former can be solved by having a tug pick up a plane on the runway, it's only the failure cases that are a real headache because, at least for now, that requires having highly trained pilots on board. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoland
snuxoll 3y ago
Autoland is regularly used in CATIIIa/b ILS approaches when weather does not allow for the pilots to transition between instruments and visual flight (otherwise a requirement for the last phase of the approach and the actual touchdown).

barelyauser 3y ago

Does reliability increases or decreases when more components are added?