The Flight Controller

The Autocopter has a fully integrated flight controller that gives the aircraft an almost completely autonomous capability, though with people on board this will not be permitted under current certification rules. The reason for this is the need for a pilot to provide a traditional ‘see and avoid’ function and to monitor the autonomous flight control/management and terrain/collision avoidance system. No absolute guarantee can yet be given for an autonomous system so that a collision with another aircraft or an obstacle will be avoided, or that the aircraft will avoid an electrical storm, or that in the event of a major power or control system failure the aircraft will get to the ground safely.  We can do an enormous amount to prevent all such events, e.g. triple redundancy of engines, drive systems and flight controller, but we can’t guarantee complete freedom from them. So, in a passenger carrying  aircraft a pilot is still needed under current rules. A next step may be a remote pilot, but the Authorities would have to build sufficient confidence to approve this.

Having said all that, there’s not a lot that the flight controller won’t be able to do. It is, from the start, designed to be fully autonomous. It will, if needs be, take the aircraft off the ground, fly it to its destination and land it ‘hands off’. It will plan its own route from A to B, avoiding mountains, sky cranes, high buildings, trees on the landing site, landing site slopes that are too steep, etc.  Properly equipped, it will be able to avoid bad weather and other aircraft. It will be able to sense wind direction and speed.  It will be able to direct the aircraft away form dangerous flight states such as the vortex ring state. It will always fly mindful of the very unlikely need to land without power. It will always keep the pilot aware of the need to refuel. It will always monitor that the pilot is attentive.