Created Monday 27 July 2020

See also: Aircraft, Manufacturers

Thomas Pallini - Jul 26, 2020, 5:09 AM

The common belief with airplanes is that they fly themselves after take-off thanks to autopilot, and pilots can sit back and relax for most of the flight. But Airbus just took that idea to the next level after proving a passenger jet can perform complex maneuvers without any pilot input.

The European manufacturer just completed flight testing for its Autonomous Taxi, Take-off, and Landing project in June after its flagship aircraft successfully navigated each phase of flight on its own as pilots simply watched.

Over 500 flights were conducted with the new Airbus A350-1000 XWB that successfully utilized “image recognition technology” to essentially give the plane a pair of eyes. The technology, integrated with the A350's exterior cameras, allowed it to perform the phases of flight entirely on its own, Airbus announced.

https://www.businessinsider.com/airbus-completes-autonomous-taxi-take-off-and-landing-tests-2020-7

Wouldn't a child's sippy cup be cheaper?

Mon 27 Jul 2020 16:01 UTC - Gareth Corfield Airbus has solved the ongoing problem of cack-handed airline pilots spilling coffee over vital cockpit electronics – with a plastic cover. Following “inadvertent liquid spillage” on engine control panels in the flight decks of Airbus A350 airliners, the Franco-German-Spanish multinational company has also waterproofed engine controls that are most likely to be in the firing line of an unintentional drenching. The low-tech solution to the accidental destruction of hi-tech systems was revealed in a revised EU airworthiness directive (AD) published last week. https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/27/a350_coffee_spillage_saga_continues/ ====== Technology ====== == Why Airbus is betting on AI to fix pilot shortage, flight safety == Sharon Goldman - August 11, 2022 12:17 PM As airline passengers slog through a summer of rampant flight delays and cancellations, airlines are grappling with a massive post-pandemic increase in air travel demand and a long-term pilot shortage – while also prioritizing safety. Aerospace leader Airbus is betting autonomous and AI-driven commercial flight functions can bridge that gap. Wayfinder, a research project within Acubed, the Silicon Valley innovation center of Airbus, is developing autonomous flight and machine learning solutions for the next generation of aircraft. Its core mission is to build a “scalable, certifiable autonomy system capable of powering a range of self-piloted aircraft applications in single pilot operations.” “Industry estimates expect passenger volume to grow from pre-COVID levels of 4 billion passengers a year to 8 billion – a little more than the current world population – in about 15-20 years,” Airbus’ Wayfinder project executive, Arne Stoschek, told VentureBeat. “It’s a massive, massive scaling topic.” https://venturebeat.com/ai/why-airbus-is-betting-on-ai-to-fix-pilot-shortage-flight-safety/ ===== Automation ===== == Airbus Close To Landing Fully Automated Passenger Jets == Posted by BeauHD on Friday January 13, 2023 11:00PM UpNext, Airbus's future technology-focused subsidiary, reported on Thursday that it has entered the final three months of testing tech it hopes will automate the process of getting a plane from the air to the gate. The Register reports: <blockquote> The system, called DragonFly, tackles automated operations like diversions, landings, and taxi procedures through a combination of sensors, computer vision algorithms and robust guidance calculations. Airbus pitches the system as an extra layer of safety for emergency operations. “In the unlikely situation where a crew is unable to control the aircraft, DragonFly can redirect the flight to the nearest appropriate airport and facilitate a safe landing,” enthused the aerospace corporation. The eventual hope is for the technologies to pave the way for automated landing – or at least compensate for a less than perfect pilot during an emergency situation. If the captain had the fish, for example.</blockquote> https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/01/13/239204/airbus-close-to-landing-fully-automated-passenger-jets