Airbus has started incremental integration of autonomous features to its helicopter Flightlab, a year after flight tests began in April 2020. A complete demonstration is planned in 2023, and the technologies being trialled are an essential stepping stone towards autonomous flight, the airframer stated.
Airbus’ Urban Air Mobility (UAM) will also benefit from this technology. The helicopter Flightlab is part of a project code-named Vertex, managed by Airbus subsidiary Airbus UpNext and created to provide a development fast-track for future technologies.
Grazia Vittadini, Chief Technology Officer, Airbus, said, “We are excited by the potential that the Vertex demonstrator project has to offer. By using our platform-agnostic flying laboratory to mature these technologies, we have an agile and efficient testbed that will support the development of future autonomous systems that could later equip Airbus’ current helicopter range and (e) Vertical Takeoff & Landing (VTOL) platforms.”
Vision-based sensors and algorithms for situational awareness and obstacle detection; Fly-By-Wire (FBW) for enhanced auto-pilot are some of the autonomous technology bricks to be integrated along with an advanced Human-Machine-Interface (HMI) for inflight monitoring and control, which features a touchscreen and head-worn display.
Trials of a new ergonomic and intuitive pilot flight control design aimed at lowering pilot workload will start in 2022 and could make its way to traditional rotorcraft and other VTOL platforms for UAM.
When fully integrated together and tested, these technologies will enable Airbus to undertake autonomous flight with automatic take-off and landing, provide a system that can manage navigation, route preparation and allow a pre-defined flight path to be maintained by the aircraft.