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Old 6th Dec 2017, 21:31
  #39 (permalink)  
Ian W
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
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@msbbarratt

I can assure you that there are no attempts to reduce the safety standards or certification requirements for autonomous or remotely piloted aircraft; indeed it is quite the contrary. Considerable efforts are being expended to research the different system and safety aspects of unpiloted aircraft in the various xAAs and standards and safety bodies. This includes generation of appropriate additions to certification testing and processes. Some of these efforts are (and will be) translating into better safety for piloted aircraft.

Current FMC/FMS should not be confused with those that will be needed for autonomous flight. In manned aircraft FMC/FMS designers can avoid attempting to cope with the more difficult emergencies and just hand control back to the pilot. The designers of autonomous systems have no such leeway. Some designs from military systems that cope with battle damage and similar will no doubt port to the civil implementations.

There is considerable industry pressure to implement UAS as passenger carrying autonomous aircraft. Yes, some of these ideas are being pushed by people with little grasp of the problems - people that are only now discovering saying not above 400ft is actually not a useful spec as the immediate question is from what datum, do not understand the complexities of some basic flying and ATM operations. At the same time there are those that do understand these issues and are convinced that the delays are due to bureaucracy and regulation rather than technical.

As an example:
https://www.uber.com/elevate.pdf

https://www.uber.com/info/elevate/

I expect that in 20 year's time there will be autonomous aircraft integrated into the normal airspace. There already are such aircraft in many respects as a UA with a lost link is an autonomous aircraft.
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