Airbus Helicopters’ H130 FlightLab has flown a fully automated, one-hour test flight on a pre-defined route from its flight test facility in Marignane, France. It encompassed all phases of flight from lift-off, taxi, takeoff, cruise, approach, and landing. The flight was enabled by technologies developed by Airbus UpNext including a simplified human-machine interface (HMI) and advanced autonomy features from the Vertex project. The technologies are controlled via touchscreen tablet and are designed to simplify mission preparation and management, reduce helicopter pilot workload, and increase safety.
During the test flight, an onboard pilot monitored the system, which is able to detect unforeseen obstacles and automatically recalculate a safe flight path. Whenever necessary, the pilot can override the controls, gain control of the helicopter through the tablet, and later resume the mission.
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