It increases in all the world the "devices" with autonomous movement, and now also Airbus (one of the two manufacturers of large aircraft) has launched a Project called DragonFly to test some moments of autonomous flight, depending on the conditions around the airplane.
The tests are to be carried out at the company's premises in Toulouse, and to be carried out they will use a modern A350-1000 aircraft, which is currently the largest version of the A350 model, capable of connecting the longest routes as London can be with Australia. That is, they are going to do the tests with a very large aircraft, and that is an important fact demonstrating the seriousness of Airbus with this Project.
During the tests they will experience the way the plane responds to the sorrounding conditions, such as weather conditions, terrain, etc ... to be able to do maneuvers and get to land autonomously.
The ultimate goal is for the aircraft to get to be able to take off, maneuver in the air and land autonomously. Which for an aircraft of that size is a very big challenge.
There are already some small aircraft on the market that are able to land autonomously in case of need, and the same is true for other small electric flight devices. But achieving this with a plane of several hundred passengers is another story, as safety is a must and it has to be kept above all else.
In the video below you can see a test of the autonomous takeoff of the plane in tests https://youtu.be/9TIBeso4abU
With this project Airbus says it is preparing for the new generation of aviation systems with added vision capabilities. The aircraft add powerful computers capable of handling huge amounts of information and all types of sensors (cameras, GPS, radars, lidars, etc.). to determine autonomously the direction to be followed by the apparatus, and operate with complete independence.
I do not believe that these large planes carrying hundreds of passengers will fly alone, but they will have strong support for pilots, so that flights are much safer and more comfortable.
And in the case of smaller aircraft, these navigation aids are more important if it is for the additional security they provide.
We see that the technological advances that are achieved every day end up reaching all sectors sooner rather than later.
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