Revolutionized Transportation – Flying without a pilot
Executive summary
Many revolutionary changes were made to the way people travel across borders as technology advances. Speed, comfort and safety are important consideration when it comes to travelling. Overtime, many improvement in the different modes of transport have significantly reduced the time require for people to travel especially with the development of aircraft. This paper examines various significant development made in the aviation industry and the benefits and implications to society. From the pre-industrial ages where people can only dream to fly, to the time when aircraft provide them the possibility to fulfill this dream. Several significant breakthroughs were the jet engine and autopilot system. With technology being able to facilitate many of our daily tasks, what are the possibilities of having flying on a plane without a pilot? This paper addresses the considerations require for autopilot system in order to completely take over the role of the pilot. By comparing and analysis the current transportation technology available to us, it will be used to determine the possibilities flying without a pilot.
Modes of transport
The wheel is the first important component for transportation. During the Pre-industrial age, the Sumarians realized that a round disc shape devices used to spin the pottery wheel could be used for another purpose. They decided that if they were able to position is upright, they will be able to attach it to the bottom of a plank to facilitate the movement of objects. Soon, carts where invented and domesticated animals reared for the purpose of transportation. The wheel is the pioneer of transportation, which enabled humans to travel across greater distances.
Around 1492AD, the famous visionary, Leonardo da Vinci envisioned people being able to travel on sail ships and flying across borders. His vision came to light when the sailing ships were invented thereby allowing people to travel long distances across the sea. These were just the beginning of transportation methods, which involves minimal mechanics, simply using basic forms of energy (domesticated animal and wind energy) to power themselves.
It was until 1769 that steam powered engine developed by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot revolutionized the way people travel. With this technology, it greatly improved efficiency and shorten time require for travelling. Motor vehicles and steam powered ship where invented, allowing people to cover even greater distances. However, still limiting humans to travel on ground level.
All these year, people have longed to be able to fly like a bird, allowing them to enjoy the view of land from greater heights. In 1899, the Zeppelin airship gave them the opportunity to do so, however it was a rather slow mode of travelling. Intensive research and conceptualizing hence enabled the Wright Brothers to invent a gasoline engine airplane. This was the birth of air travelling. This breakthrough enabled a reduction in resistance and also the lift achieved by the wings of the airplane significantly improved the speed of travelling especially across great distanced. Airplane is one of the monumental revolutions, which helped humans overcome their physical limited when it comes to travelling.
People began to see the benefits of air travelling and overtime, many great evolutionary innovations allowed exponential improvements in safety, speed and enjoyment of flights.
Aviation History Timeline c. 1670-1852
| c. 1000 B.C.E. Kite is invented in China. c. 400 B.C.E. Archytas of Tarentum is reported to have made a steam-propelled pigeon. c. 1250 A.D. Roger Bacon, English cleric, writes about mechanical flight. 1485-1500 Leonardo da Vinci designs flying machines and parachute. 1670 Francesco de Lana Terzi publishes a design for lighter-than-air ship. 1680 Giovanni Borelli, Italian mathematician, concludes human muscle is inadequate for flight. 1709 Bartolomeu Laurenço de Gusmao designs model glider. 1783 - Montgolfier Brothers construct the first lighter-than-air vehicle (a balloon)
1783 Jean François Pilâtre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes make the first free aerial voyage in a Montgolfier hot-air balloon. 1783 Jacques Alexandre César Charles and M.N. Robert fly in a hydrogen balloon. 1797 André Jacques Garnerin makes the first human parachute descent, from a balloon. 1843 William Henson's design for aerial steam carriage is published. 1843 George Cayley's biplane design is published. 1852 Henri Giffard's steam-powered airship makes first flight. |
1900 - Count Ferdinand Zeppelin's airship flies
1901 - Orville and Wilbur Wright fly first successful self-propelled airplane
1924 - First flight around the world
1933 - Boeing 247 is built
1947 - The sound barrier is broken by Chuck Yeager
1950s - Technologies such as long-range missiles, computer systems, electronic controls, combustion chemistry, and new composite structures made possible by the aerospace industry
1971 - Boeing 747 makes its first commercial flight from New York to London
2004 - Mach 10 is achieved in the NASA X-43
2005 - Airbus A380 makes maiden flight
2006 - Boeing 777 enters service
2007 - Assembly of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner begins
2008 - Planned first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
2010 - July 7-8, Bertrand Piccard and his Solar Impulse team make aviation history by flying more than 24 consecutive hours non-stop in a solar airplane.
The pioneer to air travelling
After knowing about glider flights invented by a German engineer, Orville and Wilbur Wright became interested in aviation. Although they did not have high academic qualification, they possessed highly skill technical ability. They researched intensively and after great effort managed to build a heavier-than-air aircraft powered by a self-propelled gasoline engine. In 1900, performed their first test flight, however it was did not perform well. A year later, they invented a wind tunnel, which allowed them to better understand the dynamics of flight, and were able to make significant improvement on the plane. On 17 December 1901, the aircraft, which was flown by Wilbur, managed to set a record of covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. It was then that modern aviation was formed.
This breakthrough in technology opened the doors to other improvements in aerodynamics and propeller engines. It is only after several years that airplanes managed to benefit the society. On 1 January 1914, the first commercial flight took off, it was a very short flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa in Florida lasting only 23 minutes. With the availability of commercial flights, is changed the way people travel.
Impacts on society
In the early days, travelling on the airplane was deemed to be risk. Airline had to implement new measures in order to attract passengers. Planes began to have air conditioning system, noise reduction, improved ticketing system and cabin crew were introduced to make their trip more enjoyable. Initially, only male stewards were employed but things changed when a nurse managed to convince Boeing managers that females were more suitable for this job. This opened up greater job opportunities for women, from then on females made up the majority of cabin crews. In a couple of years, the amount of passengers travelling by air surpassed those who pervious choose to travel by trains.
With the invention of air travel, postage services were given the opportunity for a new method to deliver mails. This improved the mailing system as it allowed postages to be delivered across greater border and at a much faster speed. Air travel played an important role in enhancing global communication, by both written communication and also allowing business associated to travel aboard.
The military sector also found a useful purpose for planes. A great amount of funds were placed to focus research on air surveillance, providing air support for attacks and casevac. It was during the period of war whereby the air force portrayed a significant role, this led to further development of air craft in various aspect. Radio communications improved, planes were built to handle greater capacity and fly at much faster speeds. Subsequently, it gave rise to the dawn of jet engines, which allowed people to travel faster then the speed of sound.
Jet plane technology
The main difference between traditional propeller airplanes and jet plane is that instead of powering a driver shaft using a propeller, jet engines were able to produce thrust by discharging gas. It applies the concept of Newton’s 3rd law of action and reaction forces, by displacing fluid in the opposite direction, it was able to power the plane forward. Air is sucked into the engine and highly compressed, the pressurizes air is then mixed with jet fuel for combustion. This produces gasses that are heated till extremely high temperature, highly energetic air molecules then rotate a series of turbines which is rapidly expelled through an exhaust system thereby producing the forward thrust.
Besides a significant increase in speed, jet planes also distinguish themselves with traditional planes in other aspects. It allowed plane to travel at much higher altitudes because it does not require dense air, which is crucial for propeller planes. This enabled pilot to fly at the stratosphere, which reduces turbulence and also improved air traffic as more routes became available. The energy produced by these engines where much greater, thereby breaking through the traditional capacity, allowing engineers to build larger aircraft to handle heavier payloads. This revolutionary change created many cloud opportunities for the airline industry. Even today, aviation engineers are constantly researching to develop faster and safer aircrafts. One of the most recent inventions is the hypersonic airplane, X-43A that entered the Guinness World Records for flying at nearly 7,000 mph. With greater speed, capacity and improvements in safety, these allowed for continuous development in the aviation industry.
Auto-pilot Technology
The ability for plane to be set on autopilot is another monumental innovation in the aviation industry and brought along many benefits to both pilot and passengers. It provided greater convenience to pilots and in the process allowed for safer flights.
In 1914, a young American engineering came up with an idea to automate certain functions when it comes to flying an aircraft. He developed a system, which is able to stabilize the plane thereby taking control of the flight, and it is commonly know as ‘George is flying the plane’.
Concept of autopilot
When this technology first comes into place, there were many spinning-masses of metal gyroscopic devices with sensors to detect the motion, direction and pitch of the plane. Pilots were able to preset these parameters and “George” will take over to fly the plane straight and level to the compass.
With the help of autopilot, it greatly reduces the need for the pilot to constantly monitor the various functions of the plane, reducing the pilot’s workload. It was seen to be a very beneficial technology and over the years many advances have been made to improve ‘George’s’ capabilities.
Initially, it was only able to help maintain flight when the plane is in the air, known as cruising. As engineers being to better understand the physics of auto-pilot, they made it possible that ‘George’ will be able to control the accent and decent of the plane. Soon, it was feasible to also envision autopilot to help with the take off and landing of the plane. With the rapid development of electronics and computer systems over the year, aircraft engineers incorporated them into the plane. As a result, modern planes are fitted with solid-state sensors and transmitters instead of movable metal parts. The basis of such system remains largely similar, but with increasingly complex electronic system, ‘George’ improved in accuracy and reliability. Planes these days are even able to fly on a preset route guided by the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Benefits
With the implementation of the autopilot, it brought about many benefits to the pilot, flight crew and ultimately the passengers. By facilitating the pilot in managing the numerous flight controls, it reduced their workload. This is especially beneficial for long haul flights and jet planes, because distance and speed of flight is exponentially proportional to a pilot’s attention span and concentration. Therefore, with the high capability of autopilot, it reduces the pilot’s fatigue, which will in turn lead to increased safety in flight.
In the past, pilots have to relay on the compass and maps to navigate to their destinations. With the development of autopilot system, pilots can allow ‘George’ to fly the fly while they look at the maps. As technology advances, more is being fitted into the system and these days, it is possible to set waypoints and path of flight using a GPS and the autopilot will guide the plane on that specific path. This permits the pilot to monitor other important data, radio tuning and communications with air traffic controllers without facing the risk of deviation.
With the development of jet planes, it allowed for flight with reduced turbulence. To enhance the passengers’ flight experience, the autopilot also has the capability to be set on different modes during turbulence to readjust the airplane’s movement to reduce the nauseating feeling passengers might be experiencing.
Similar to the concept of the cruising function certain cars provide, the autopilot system allows this to be achieved during flight. This will reduce the need for the pilot to consistently regulate the speed of the plane, thus enabling a well-regulated supply of energy to the engines, which will contribute to fuel efficiency. Jet engines consumes a large amount of fuel, and it is inevitable that the by products of combustion will produce harmful pollutants which is bad for the environment. With greater fuel efficiency, lesser pollutant will be emitted, this will help control air pollution caused by airplanes. Jet fuel is also very costly and contributes a significant percentage to the cost of an air ticket. If lesser fuel is used per flight, the utilities cost for the airline will be decreased and this will help reduce the prices of air tickets. Therefore with the auto pilot system, the society benefited in the form of lesser environmental pollution and reduced cost for flight.
Future of autopilot technology
97 years ago, the first autopilot system was publicly demonstrated. Over the years, engineers have been researching on ways to further improve on its accuracy, reliability and adding more functions to the system. It was well received by the pilots and served to be beneficial to the airline industry. Where will this system bring us to in future?
Currently, advance autopilot system are so sophisticated and well intergraded with the plane that they are able to do almost anything from release of brakes in the takeoff process to going to a halt on the runway after the plan has landed. However, possible improvement that could be done will be to automate the landing gear and flaps in the process of landing. Pilots are still required to activate those functions. If those procedures are made possible to be ran on autopilot, it will allow the pilot to have full concentration in establishing communications with the Air Traffic Controllers in order to make a good and efficient landing. This will eliminate the chances of human error and reduce the time taken for landing. In the modern days, many international airports are getting busier and reaching their capacity. If such technology could be achieved, it will allow more planes to land quicker and safer, increasing the airport’s capacity to provide a landing platform.
What benefits could be obtained?
Comparing a human pilot and the autopilot system, the latter will be able to attain smooth landing and takeoff with greater consistency. System design engineers have to create an accurate algorithm and program it to the system, from then on the autopilot will be able to use a specific amount of time to complete its require task. This will increase the efficiency of a plane to takeoff or land and Air Traffic Controller will be able to accurately allocate time required by a plane to use the runway. When this is achieved, the airport working capacity will increase hence, supply for flight will increase as well. This leads to cost reducing for both the airports and airline carriers, which may translate to lower cost per flight for customers.
When a plane takeoff, sometimes the pilot may accent at too high a pitch and landings could be bumpy, which might be due to an inexperience pilot control. These will not only damage the plane but will cause discomfort to the passengers as well. With the possibility of autopilot doing this job instead, greater consistency can be attained and thereby allowing the plane to maneuver with highly accurate precision. A well-designed system will be able to take away such unpleasant effects, hence increasing the comfort of flight for the pilot, aircrew and customers.
Will airplanes be able to fly to its destination solely based on autopilot?
In the present situation, pilots are still required to monitor the navigation of the plane. They are also required to seek clearance when they cross the air zone of one country to another. With the availability of GPS tracking systems and wireless data transfer in the present day, it could be possible for the autopilot system to fly a plane straight to its destination without having the pilot to control. The current autopilot system has the ability to control flight maneuvers to a huge extent so additions changes required will be for this system to be able to constantly check the plane’s flight path and ensure it is on the right track.
The possibility to achieve this requirement is highly feasible given today’s accuracy in tracking location using the GPS. It has a precision of 10 meters and is widely used by many people in the modern society. Many drivers use a GPS search for their route to their destination instead of using a map. Devices such at the iPhone and many other tracking devices use this system to locate their position as well. In the military, GPS is widely used by military personnel for navigation and allowing commanders to locate their forces. This proves the reliability of a GPS.
The next requirement will be the ability to avoid obstructions. Unlike a car travelling on the road in a single plane, an aircraft have to maintain a certain altitude and will have more space and flexibility when it comes to avoiding obstruction. This complexity could be impeding engineers from creating an accurate calculation in order for the autopilot system to automatically avoid an obstruction. Another limiting factor is that a commercial aircraft has an average speed of 500mph so it will require quicker judgment and making changes early in advance in order to safely fly pass on obstacle. If the autopilot system is able to keep this in track, the next requirement will be the ability to communicate with Air Traffic Controller to report their status and request for clearance when they enter another air space. The system has to be able to provide a two-way feedback loop in other for comprehensive information to be transferred.
The advanced high-speed wireless data transfer of modern technology will bring engineers closer to achieving this aspect of communication. Furthermore, even smart phones nowadays are able to communicate with the users to activate certain functions and at the same time providing feedback to them. This proves the possibility of such technology in the near future.
However, it is important to note that unlike smart phones, an airplane has much more functions and components that are interlink. With the speed at which it is travelling and amount of passengers on board, important decisions have to be made with great consideration almost instantaneously when the airplane is faced with any contingency. This could be a particularly difficult problem for engineers to overcome in order for a plane to be able to fly without a pilot.
Other capability required for this system to work will be the ability to recalculate the flight path when faced with contingency and make the necessary changes. It is inevitable for planes to be faced with bad weather conditions at times. Hence, the autopilot system has to be able to foresee if the flight path will intercept a storm or other weather dangerous weather conditions. Subsequently, it has to develop another route fast enough to be able to avoid those conditions.
The current radar technology has the ability to provide pilots with the advantage of looking way ahead of their line of sight. At the same time, it is able to provide pilots with information of the weather conditions along their current flight path, for these information, the pilot will redirect the aircraft’s route. With such advances in technology, it brings us another step closer to the possibility of the autopilot system being able to redirect its route automatically.
The possibilities of an entire flight without a pilot
With the feasibility of traveling in the sky based on auto pilot as mentioned above, considerations have to be made to the constrains faced when the aircraft touch down in an airport. The possibility of autopilot being able to takeoff a plane, fly to its desired destination while maintaining communication all the way to making a successful and smooth landing seems to be achievable in the near future. To complete an entire journey and continue another, the system requires the ability to taxi around the airport, park at the hanger and get itself ready for another flight. Only when this is achieved, it will be sustainable for flights without a pilot onboard.
In many of the international airports, there is more than one runway, routes to reach the designated gate to alight the passengers and to the allocated hanger for preparation for the next flight. Along the way, there are many another aircraft, ground crews and vehicles which maybe obstructing its way. Therefore, it is will be required for engineers to fact in such considers into the autopilot system in other to make this possible. This would mean that the system have to be intelligent enough to receive information for the control tower to know which runway it is being allocated when it approaches the airport for landing. Such information has to be delivered in advance in order to factor in time for any contingency that might occur.
The current technology of autopilot requires the pilot to communicate with the control tower and complete a checklist to prepare for landing, following which they have to manually activate the landing gears before the autopilot can take over for landing. This proves the capability of autopilot system and only several adjustments are required in order for the system to be fully automated.
Once it makes its landing, the autopilot system have to be able to receive information on the designated gate to allow passenger to alight. Along the way, it might have to make certain changes when it faces with obstructions. Hence, sensors have to be developed and place around the aircraft to enable the autopilot system to detect these obstructions and maneuvers its way through. It may also require the system to communicate with those obstructions to achieve the most efficient path.
Pertaining to this aspect, such technologies for automatic detecting and communicating to avoid obstacle while travelling is not remote. There are robots designed to specifically complete such task, these are commonly used in factories with large storage facilities. The robots are programmed to move to certain areas in the factory to collect what they are assigned, on its way there could be other robots moving around and sensors are place to prevent them form colliding with each other. However, these robots often have a specific design and are standardized. Aircraft on the other hand, are being produced and operated by different manufacturers and airlines respectively, hence this requirement involves greater complexity.
This aspect of autopilot system is highly similar to the autopilot system currently being developed for cars. The current technology developed involves huge sensors and equipment to be installed and only allow the car to maneuver at slow speeds. Therefore, further research and development is required before a car is feasible to run on autopilot. This would mean that the possibility for the autopilot system in an aircraft to achieve this function would still require years of development. Unless cars are able to travel on automation, it is unlikely that planes, much bigger and greater capacity will be able to do the same.
An alternative solution for this implication will be to build tracks on the taxiway in the airport. Unlike cars which can travel anywhere on the road, airplanes have a specific taxiway allocated to them. Hence, this could be a more feasible solution during ground travel for an aircraft. With tracks builds, it will be similar to a railway whereby an operator can remotely control the movement of trains. The technology of such track system is available, however much consideration will have to be done on the design of the airport in order to implement such system.
With the consideration of current technology available and several aspects and functions required for an autopilot system to allow flights to be fully automated, it is likely that such system have a possibility to be developed. However, given the size of a commercial aircraft and the amount of passengers they carry, many other considerations have to be done to address other implications of this technology.
Implication of flights without a pilot.
Although technology has provided us with many solutions to the problems we faced today, it does not exclude the possibilities of technology failing on us. Give the complexity of computer programs and electronics, technology glitches often occur. When considering technology in transportation, it took years of development before trains could be fully automated without a need for an operator in the train. Even when such technologies are possible these days, there are situations whereby the system has failed resulting in a halt to the railway system. However, the causalities involved when such issues occur are often minute. When it comes to flying on an aircraft, any technological glitches will result to disastrous consequences. Even with a pilot on board, there are cases at which pilots are unable to solve such issues on time. Therefore, if aircrafts are fully automated, safety will be an important issue. If faced with any mechanical problems, will it be able to have the flexibility of a human pilot to be able to get pass such issue? The pilot is the most important person on the plane and if the autopilot where to fail, safety of the passenger and aircrew will be difficult to compromise. Although flight safety has been improve with the implementation of autopilot, when it comes to complete automation, it may not be able to address to all safety issues. The only way to solve the issue of autopilot failure will be to have a pilot to take over control of flight.
“Always have a reasonable ‘Plan B’ for every contingency. The pilot and his proficiency are ‘Plan B’ for an autopilot failure” Gene Robinson & Hank Eilts
Conclusion
The developments of aircraft have changed the way people travel across borders. Overtime, many significant improves have been made to the aircraft to achieve faster speed, safer flights, more confortable flight and greater sustainability. A wide range of airlines is currently available for people to choose from, this makes travelling by airplanes one of the most desirable mode of transport especially when it comes to travelling across great distances. The importance of the airline industry, it provides submit opportunities for further development.
With the availability of technology for tracking position, wireless data transfer and certain automation functions for transport technology it provides great opportunities for further development of autopilot technology. The complexity of fully automated flights maybe addressed when more research is being done, given the high technological advancement in modern society. It may someday be possible for people to fly on an aircraft without a pilot. The possibilities for such technology is not remote however, there are many safety implications involved especially when contingencies arises. Therefore, it is unlikely that we will be able to travel on a fly fully controlled by the autopilot system and without a pilot on board.
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