One of the most difficult functions for a helicopter is to land on a ship that is sailing, and even more so if the environmental conditions are adverse (wind, fog, bad sea conditions, etc...).
This is something that naval helicopter pilots do on many occasions, and to do so they have the help of a light system (green, white, etc.), which is specialized equipment placed on the ship and called the horizon bar.
And now, what they are trying to develop with the University of Texas is an automated landing system that obtains data from cameras, GPS signal, lidar, etc... to continuously follow the movement of the ship and be able to adjust the movement of the helicopter to said movement, until landing it on the platform of the ship. And that automatically.
A series of tests can be seen in the following video: https://youtu.be/PYAO4YPIAdM
If this is achieved, and I am sure that it will be in the near future, it will greatly simplify the lives and safety of the pilots.
This is another good example of how technology can help us in tasks that are carried out on a daily basis. And as time goes by, their costs will decrease and these technologies can be applied for other applications, both military and civil. Even for drones.
And in a few years it will end up being used by cheap drones.
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