Self-flying cargo planes are coming. Can they be safe with no one aboard?
Scientific American · Peter Hall ·
A start-up valued at more than $1 billion wants to fly cargo planes with no one in the cockpit. First it needs to prove to regulators that they’re safe without a human aboard
A start-up valued at more than $1 billion wants to fly cargo planes with no one in the cockpit. First it needs to prove to regulators that they’re safe without a human aboard
Back in August I took my first Waymo. Whizzing up and down the hills of San Francisco, I was at once mesmerized by the steering wheel turning on its own and a bit scared of the occasional jerk and sudden stop. But even as robotaxis lurch into the mainstream, some technologists are trying to empty a loftier seat: the pilot’s.
In some ways, flying a plane is easier than driving a car, at least as far as automation is concerned. Unlike on roads, there are no surprise closures, no fallen trees and no running kids in the sky. In fact, autopilots already do much of the flying. On the other hand, the solutions have to be more delicate. As Robert Rose, chief executive officer of Reliable Robotics, points out, planes don’t have the easy out of “if something happens, slam on the brakes.”
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