Originally Posted by
LlamaFarmer
There is still a point, depending on performance and weight, at which an autonomous aircraft cannot stop safely in the distance remaining.
Yes I quite agree, but this is need not be based upon a set speed. A computer can easily calculate this in real-time based upon real-time information about energy levels/acceleration vs runway remaining.
Originally Posted by
LlamaFarmer
But then if you can suffer a bird strike to the engine after V1 (as has happened several times) you can not implausibly suffer a bird strike to both engines. What does it do in the event of a can't fly won't fly situation?
That is exactly where a computer would have the advantage. It will be constantly monitoring the hundreds of engine metrics which are taken but are currently opaque to the pilot and will have a far better idea of the health of the engines. If the aircraft knows will not have enough thrust to fly it can abort despite lack of runway and accept the overrun.
This is very difficult to train a human pilot to do even if he could assimilate the engine data.
Originally Posted by
LlamaFarmer
Can an autonomously flown aircraft detect and decide what's smoke and what's SMOKE? Will it be able to include all factors when weighing up decisions?
There a computer maybe in the same position as a human re diagnosis, but still has the advantage.
1. Because there is no need to build in the reaction time/ worst legal pilot buffer.
2. There is no need to have a set speed delineating the go/no-go decision.
This can always be made in real-time by a computer.
ie.
At any point when something triggers an alert, the computer can calculate from the real data, not planned data, the energy situation.
This is not tricky for a computer.
I
knows whether it can safely stop on the runway.
This would mean that an autonomous aircraft with a smoke caution well above the speed where a manned aircraft would be committed to take-off could safely stop sure in the knowledge that it would have sufficient runway.
This can only lead to safer flights.