Thousands of pilotless UAV's fly every day. Some of them are really big and
fly fast and high. The remote "operator" only selects the course and
altitude to be flown and computers take care of the rest. This isn't news.

The only obstacle to pilotless commercial aircraft is customer acceptance.
Compared to a driverless car, a pilotless aircraft is easy. Even your car
is likely to be "throttle-by-wire" with a computer controlling the details.

The Pentagon is committed to UCAV's (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles) The
machines will have to ask a human for permission to fire - for now. (How'd
you like to be a refueling boom operator or a LSO looking down the
gunbarrels of an aerial 'bot?)

So, why not FADEC engine controls or smart autopilots? The best automation
takes over the routine boring tasks and lets the human work on the big
picture. Humans do a far better job of the big picture strategic problems
than computers do. Computers beat the hell out of humans on the boring
stuff.

Give me a "single lever" power control. Push for more power and pull for
less. Let a computer sweat the small stuff.

Bill Daniels



"Rich S." wrote in message
news
As I read more about the Third Industrial Revolution, the chapter on AI
has
come into scrutiny. We are nibbling at the edges of intelligent monitoring
of our powerplants, however the inclusion of the pilot in the loop seems
to
be the weak point. All the Red Arcs, Warning flags, Alarm tones and Wigwag
signs fail when applied to the brain of an otherwise occupied or tired
pilot.

Why not bypass this roadblock and construct a program that will take into
account *all* of the parameters of a normal engine operation, add to that
a
learning curve and apply the results to the throttle? It would have to
have
a lot more than that, including a way to let the pilot know why he must
deal
with an engine that will only give him half throttle for the next ten
minutes and he'd better damn well find a place to land before things get
quiet.

There are already programs and equipment like this in service
http://www.intapp.co.uk/ so it wouldn't be something new.

Thoughts?

Rich "Open the pod bay door, Hal" S.