A DARPA project to develop an automated flight crew has successfully sent an autonomous helicopter on a test flight.
The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter flew 30 miles while being operated by controllers on the ground, in a demonstration flight of DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program, according to a Sikorsky news release. The flight marked the completion of Phase I of the $8 million DARPA contract for ALIAS, which aims to automate many cockpit functions.
“This flight highlighted the ability for an operator to plan and execute every phase of an autonomous mission with a tablet device,” Sikorsky said. “During the demonstration, a ground station crew located at the flight initiation field monitored the progress of the ALIAS-enabled Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA), an S-76® commercial helicopter.”
