Important Innovations

On Military Duty Source:  Sikorsky S-76B Ready When Needed When US pilots go to war, the US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA wants robots as their co-pilots.  These are not auto-pilots.  DARPA wants fully functional robot pilots capable of performing routine piloting tasks. Demonstration DARPA just demonstrated what the plan consists of in Virginia.  They used a S-76B helicopter, which is the civilian version of the Army's Blackhawk, to perform maneuvers.  The aircraft landed, maneuvered to avoid a vehicle, lifted-off and then hovered motionlessly for several minutes.  No human was on board.  The pilot was a robot controlled by a human pilot from a computer in another aircraft. Kit to Quickly Deploy The demonstration lasted an hour.  The Army calls it Mission Adaptive Autonomy, meaning the robot is there when the pilot needs to focus on the mission rather than the flight.  DARPA wants a kit that can quickly add a robot co-pilot to any m

Human and Machine Interactions Source:  DARPA Supersonic Jet DARPA and Sikorsky Autonomy Flights The US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, and Sikorsky are demonstrating ways for pilots to interact with autonomy.  The purpose is to help military pilots build trust and confidence in autonomous flight systems.  The progressive training is being performed in simulated military missions in Virginia. This will have eventual impact on commercial passenger flight too. Building Pilot Trust for Autonomous Systems This is part of DARPA's Aircrew Labor in-Crew Automation System (ALIAS) program.  DARPA believes that cockpit assistance builds pilots' trust in autonomy.  The October 2018 flights started introducing pilot inceptors as a way for them to interact with the autonomous system in addition to a tablet interface for interaction.  The pilot is in command and can choose to engage autonomy to help operate, plan, adjust or execute responsibilit