Reliable Robotics has created a milestone in aviation history with the world's first attempt at unmanned, autonomous flight. The model used is the Cessna 208B Car**AN. The Sisna 208 is a turboprop-powered aircraft produced by the Sisna Aircraft Company in 1984. It is a multi-purpose small aircraft, which is widely used in military, cargo, civil aviation, etc.
The flight took off from Hollister Municipal Airport in California and had a flight time of 13 minutes and 41 seconds. The empty aircraft is capable of taxiing, taking off, following a planned route, landing, and taxiing to the gate.
Pilots are also human beings and make mistakes. Reliable Robotics uses an integrated set of sensors, communication channels, and airport data to accurately position the aircraft in 3D space throughout the flight to eliminate pilot error. The flight control system is also designed to intelligently navigate around other aircraft and obstacles.
To ensure safety in the event of a malfunction, remote pilots monitoring flights can take over control from the ground via encrypted satellite communication channels. Whether encryption will prevent similar intrusions in 9/11 is unknown.
The long-term goal is to replace pilots with autonomous flight systems and monitor multiple autonomous aircraft with a single remotely piloted pilot. and monitor multiple autonomous aircraft with remote pilots. This frees up a lot of manpower for an industry that lacks good pilots, while reducing the cost of cargo and passenger flights. Readers who dream of becoming pilots can sign up for an airline-sponsored pilot training program and practice at home using flight simulation software (such as this one on Amazon).
The CEO of Reliable Robotics is Robert Rose, who was previously the senior director of Tesla's self-driving system.
Reliable Robotics does not have a pilot in the cockpit of an autonomous flight of Sisna.