Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have developed an autonomous landing system that does not require ground guidance technology. Indeed, the computer can "see" the track. A single-seater aircraft landed completely autonomously at the airport Wiener Neustadt East at the end of May in a filmed test.
This new technology opens a new era for autonomous flight and could make ordinary landings safer.
An autonomous landing system for small planes
The aircraft have autoland systems to automate the landing procedure, under the supervision of the crew. However, it is not really an autonomous system, since it relies on a set of signals, in particular, to indicate the precise position of the track. Generally, pilots prefer to use the autopilot system to locate the track and start the descent properly.
Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a fully autonomous landing system, which does not require ground signals. Since the most important issue is the precise location of the runway,. So, the onboard computer must find the track as any pilot would: with his eyes. Of course, here we are talking about light sensors and infrared cameras on the nose of the plane.
Video of the autonomous landing
In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of their system, the researchers made a filmed test at the end of May at Wiener Neustadt East airport. A test pilot - here, a passenger as he kept his hands on his lap - was aboard the Diamond DA42, a single-seat aircraft. The device was equipped with a custom automated control system and a computer vision system, called C2Land.
After the test, pilot Thomas Wimmer explained that " the cameras recognize the runway at a great distance from the airport. Then, the system guides the aircraft automatically until landing, precisely on the axis of the runway.
Discover in the video this impressive landing which could revolutionize autonomous flight.
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