UAS Automatic Takeoff and Landing

Automation is becoming commonplace in all facets of technology. It often proves to be the more precise, efficient, and safe alternative to manual means of control. The aviation industry has come to embrace automation in aircraft systems design and continues to develop the capabilities. Whether in the cockpit of manned aircraft or onboard unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), some degree of automation or automatic function is more common than not. Although formerly reserved for more complex systems, this is no longer the case. Autopilot functionality is an option available to a broad spectrum of manned and unmanned aircraft. Relying on autopilot to fly non-critical portions of flight is a widely accepted practice. In some sectors of aviation it’s the preferred mode of control for enroute flight. Increased capability and precision of component hardware and software technology has granted aircraft designers the ability to move beyond the previous limitation of flight in only non-critical phases. The most current advances in automated flight control have been in enabling aircraft to conduct more complex tasks like takeoff and landing. 

From the perspective of unmanned aircraft, the push to automate these critical phases of flight is much less the source of debate. Many small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) have already incorporated auto takeoff or launch and return to home functions as a standard. Smaller systems capable of launch and recovery from virtually anywhere obviously pose less risk in the event the system does not function as designed. There is interest, though, in bringing this capability to much larger systems that require significantly more precision and reliability. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) recently conducted successful demonstration of its Automatic Takeoff and Landing Capability (ALTC) using a Satellite Communications (SATCOM) data link for the proven MQ-9B UAV (Rees, 2018). As a medium altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV of significant size, the aircraft is restricted to launching from and returning to airports. The reasoning behind including ALTC in the MQ-9B architecture is two-fold. Primarily, the system reduces pilot workload. This is part of the effort to reposition the human in the loop from direct control to system management. Secondarily, it reduces the need to have the ground control station (GCS) located at the aircraft’s operating base (Rees, 2018). This may seem insignificant but reducing the logistic support requirements has a direct effect on the cost of operation. As GA-ASI puts it, "SATCOM ATLC enables taxi, launch and recovery operations from anywhere in the world and will reduce required aircrew manpower and Launch and Recovery Element (LRE) footprints” (Rees, 2018).

For manned aircraft, the prospect of automated takeoff and landing is a less openly welcomed addition to the cockpit. Boeing only recently began attempts to build commercial airliners that can fly without the requirement of a pilot (Stewart, 2017). Pilots are still currently required to be at the controls of commercial airliners, but the amount of required manipulation of the flight controls varies by where you are in the world. Airlines in the United States require pilots to maintain manual oversight and control, while Asian commercial carriers prefer as much use of autopilot as possible (Stewart, 2017). As an example, Asiana prohibits the captain form manually flying above 3,000 feet (Stewart, 2017). There are also differences in systems engineering by aircraft producer. Design philosophy at Boeing, for instance, differs from Airbus. “Airbus tries to avoid human error; Boeing tries to take advantage of human capability” (Stewart, 2017). Though the technology has been in proven capable for autonomous takeoff, landing, and more, public perception arguably plays the most significant role. Despite the technology being available and ready, convincing the public automated systems for takeoff and landing are safer presents the biggest challenge.

The most critical phases of flight, like takeoff and landing, were preferred to be managed by direct human control until relatively recently. The idea of automated flight from start to finish is gaining acceptance much easier in unmanned aviation. For manned flight, though, the technology may be developed, but regular application may be the subject of resistance. As the systems mature and build a reputation of reliability, public acceptance is likely to follow. 

References

Rees, M. (2018, January 22). GA-ASI demonstrates MQ-9B automatic takeoff and landing. Retrieved from http://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2018/01/ga-asi-demonstrates-mq-9b-automatic-takeoff-landing/

Stewart, J. (2017, June 9). Don’t freak over Boeing’s self-flying plane - Robots already run the skies. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/boeing-autonomous-plane-autopilot/