How far is the development of 'automatic flight technology' in the aviation industry, where helicopters operated by iPad and joystick have already appeared?



Various companies such as Waymo and Tesla under Google

, Ford and Volkswagen, which jointly invested a huge amount of 560 billion yen in a startup called 'Argo AI ', are conducting research day and night aiming for 'fully automatic driving'. Autonomous driving technology can be applied not only to cars running on the ground but also to 'airplanes' that fly in the sky, said Cade Metz, who belongs to The New York Times of the American big letter, 'Only iPad and joystick by driving assistance system. In addition to the experience of 'I have driven a helicopter that can be easily operated with', I explain the current state of 'automatic flight technology'.

I'm Not a Pilot, but I Just Flew a Helicopter Over California --The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/technology/automated-flight-helicopter-skyryse.html

Mr. Mets drove a helicopter equipped with a driving assistance system in the city of Camarillo in Ventura County, northern California. The helicopter driven by Mr. Mets climbs to an altitude of 10,000 feet (3000 meters), then passes through the valley along the canal that flows through the orange orchard below, and after turning around and returning to the sky above the airfield. , Landed quietly from the hovering position.

Mr. Mets flew over Camarillo with his own hands, but Mr. Mets is not a pilot. Mr. Mets was able to take off, fly and land in just over 15 minutes of training because of a system called 'Flight OS' consisting of two iPads and a joystick mounted in the cockpit. FlightOS performs takeoff, turning, acceleration, ascent, descent, hovering, landing, etc. by tapping the screen or operating the stick, just like a flight simulator for video games. The Flight OS actually installed in the helicopter that Mr. Mets boarded is as follows.



In this way, FlightOS has achieved advanced flight assistance as of October 2021, but Skyryse, a Southern California startup that develops

FlightOS, is using cameras, radar, and other sensors to change from helicopters to small jets. We aim for 'fully automatic flight' of everything. Not only Skyryse has the same aspirations, but also Sikorsky Aircraft, a helicopter manufacturer under Lockheed Martin, is aiming for fully automatic flight.

Fully automated driving of automobiles requires technology to recognize a wide variety of obstacles such as pedestrians and terrain. On the other hand, the sky to which the plane goes is free from such obstacles, so automatic flight is considered to be relatively easy to achieve. However, as experts say, 'approval will take at least 10 years,' regulators are unlikely to allow automated flight, so Skyryse has set a goal far beyond fully automated flight, 'to ride a pilot.' We are proceeding with the development of 'premise flight assistance'. The helicopter operated by Mr. Mets also had a licensed pilot riding in the side seat, and in addition to being in charge of communication with the controller, he said that he occasionally corrected Mr. Mets' operation.



When a flight assistance system like FlightOS is introduced to the market, the number of new pilot license holders will increase significantly, and it will be easier for those who already have a pilot license to learn how to fly an aircraft that they have never operated before. As a result, the number of aircraft in operation is expected to increase dramatically, and consulting giant McKinsey and Company said, 'The number of pilots could increase from 360,000 to 590,000 in 10 years.' I predict that.

Mr. Mets, who operated a helicopter equipped with FlightOS this time, said, 'I was able to turn, meander, and climb with a little over 15 minutes of training, but I could not interact with the controller at takeoff and landing and set the course at flight. I did, 'he said, rather than driving.

Skyryse says it will continue to automate in the next few years by further reducing its reliance on controllers and pilots, with the current goal being 'everyone can be a pilot.'

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