Flight International — 22 August — 4 September 2017

flightglobal.com 22 August-4 September 2017 | Flight International | 31

AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS

the ecoDemonstrator fleet. Taking incremen­
tal steps towards greater autonomy, the eco­
Demonstrator 787 will incorporate software
to manage taxi and take­off in place of a pilot,
Sinnett says.
The ecoDemonstrator is tasked with evalu­
ating technologies that could be used on fu­
ture or existing Boeing aircraft. By studying
new autonomous control modes on the 787
ecoDemonstrator in 2019, Boeing could have
the technology ready to appear on its next
clean­sheet aircraft. Boeing has proposed de­
veloping a family of new aircraft after 2024 to
fill a perceived gap between the 737 Max 10
and the 787­8.

It is an extraordinary move within BCA.
Although sister businesses in the defence
and space markets are deeply experienced
with autonomous vehicle control, BCA’s ap­
proach to cockpit architecture for passenger­
carrying transports emphasises that a human
pilot has ultimate control. Even in an age
with flight envelope protections enabled by
fly­by­wire controls and auto­landing sys­
tems, the pilots of 777s and 787s are never
“out of the loop”.
Sinnett acknowledges the cultural shift,
then points out that BCA is not yet committed
to developing an autonomous airliner. “We’re
not going there yet. We’re exploring,” he says.
Indeed, there are few signs the commercial
transport market is prepared for such a dis­
ruptive shift. As a whole, the industry is
more profitable than ever and all projections
point to continued traffic growth for the fore­
seeable future. But that very traffic growth
sets the industry up for a tough challenge:
where are all the pilots going to come from?
To meet projected demand for new aircraft,
Boeing estimates that airlines will need to
hire 2 million workers over the next 20 years,
including 637,000 pilots. An ever­shrinking
pool of military­trained pilots means airlines
could struggle to find enough classic “avia­
tors” with a rich depth of aviation knowledge
and expertise.
Twenty years from now, Sinnett wonders,
are pilots going to be operators of machines
rather than aviators? “That drives you to
think of things differently,” he says. “The
pilot is the ultimate authority of a commer­
cial aircraft today, but that’s an experienced
pilot with the right level of proficiency and
the right level of aeronautical knowledge. If
the assumption that all of those pilots ❯❯

Work on autonomous piloting systems has ad-

vanced greatly owing to a project being car-

ried out by Aurora Flight Sciences in

conjunction with the US Defense Advanced

Research Projects Agency. The company has

already performed demonstration flights with

its robotic system in charge of a Boeing 737-

800NG simulator and an airborne Cessna 208

Caravan.

Aurora’s Aircrew Labor In-cockpit

Automation System (ALIAS) has also been test-

ed in an airborne Diamond Aircraft DA42 light

twin, a Bell UH-1 helicopter and a de Havilland

Canada DHC-2 Beaver.

What makes ALIAS particularly interesting is

its application of what is essentially a robot pi-

lot, rather than an automation system embed-

ded in the avionics. That is, it is a pair of smart,

multijointed manipulator arms which, with their

motor unit, are installed in place of the right-

hand seat.

The flight controls are manipulated by a rod

system directly connected to the yoke and rud-

ders. A manipulator arm, mounted close to the

centre console, operates switches, knobs,

pushbuttons and levers like those for the throt-

tles, flaps, gear or spoilers.

LEVELS OF CONTROL

Depending on the ALIAS capability the cus-

tomer chooses, the system can fly the air-

craft by directly manipulating the primary

flight controls as a pilot does, or it can physi-

cally manipulate the knobs, pushbuttons

and switches on the autopilot flight control

panel – also just as a pilot does – to direct

the autopilot.

Like a human pilot, ALIAS gets its flight

and systems data input from the instrument

panel, via “machine vision” cameras. Hence

it can perform a useful monitoring function,

like recognising that the gear has not been

selected down when it should have been.

Aurora describes it as “a tailorable, drop-in,

removable kit that would promote the addi-

tion of high levels of automation into existing

aircraft, enabling operation with reduced on-

board crew.”

ALIAS is still a prototype, but is shows prom-

ise in one key area: to monitor the human pilot,

and assist when necessary – just as a human

co-pilot does. ■

RESEARCH DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON

Human pilot’s right-seat colleague could be a robot

With mechanical arms to operate the yoke, pedals and switches, ALIAS is a robot co-pilot

System has been tested in a Diamond

DA42 light twin, among other aircraft

Aurora Flight Sciences

“We’re not going there [the Diamond Aircraft

fully autonomous airliner]

yet. We’re exploring”

Mike Sinnett
Vice-president of product development, Boeing