NASA drones offer glimpse of a future with self-piloted ‘air taxis’
Self-piloted “air taxis” moved a step closer to reality recently with a recent NASA experiment involving multiple autonomous drones.
The drones flew beyond observers’ line of sight, dodged one another and successfully maneuvered around obstacles before safely landing, the agency announced Dec. 21. The test results could help researchers to someday create autonomous, self-piloted helicopters that could ferry passengers and cargo through busy skies.
The experiments took place at a test range at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.; they required special approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Researchers used multiple Alta 8 drones, loading them with software designed to enable them to fly without a human pilot. Although monitors observed the flights in a remote control room at Langley, the drones operated “beyond visual line of sight.”
“By conducting flight tests within the national airspace, in close proximity to airports and an urban environment, we are table to test technologies and procedures in a controlled but relevant environment for future … vehicles,” Jake Schaefer, flight operations lead for the project, said in a news release.
The flights are part of an ongoing effort to transform transportation. The ultimate goal is a system of self-flying helicopters that take off and land from “vertiports” and carry passengers and cargo on short and long distances.
It’s safer and more cost-effective to test new automation technology using smaller drones as stand-ins, researchers say.
The experiments were part of the agency’s Advanced Air Mobility Mission (AAM), which was designed to enable safe autonomous flight and integrate newly developed vehicles into the national airspace.
The mission will “set the stage for a flourishing industry” of electric air taxis and drones by 2030, NASA says on its AAM website.