Re:Lack of redundancies on Boeing 737 MAX baffles some invol...
by phire on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @08:34PM
(#19568405)
The USSR were flying their Buran space shuttle in the 80s with full autonomous capabilities.
It could launch into space, orbit, de-orbit, fly though re-entry and land at a runway without any external control (it was designed to complete it's mission under signal jamming conditions).
It had full situational awareness and could autonomously make decisions like redirecting to a different runway or airport depending on weather and other factors.
Maybe it's a bit of a stretch to say Buran was safe enough to fly passengers autonomously, but it was in the right direction.
Compared to a self driving car where you have to detect respond to other cars and solid objects, the amount of processing power to maintain a dynamic aerodynamic flight model and fly under instrument conditions is actually pretty low.
It could launch into space, orbit, de-orbit, fly though re-entry and land at a runway without any external control (it was designed to complete it's mission under signal jamming conditions).
It had full situational awareness and could autonomously make decisions like redirecting to a different runway or airport depending on weather and other factors.
Maybe it's a bit of a stretch to say Buran was safe enough to fly passengers autonomously, but it was in the right direction.
Compared to a self driving car where you have to detect respond to other cars and solid objects, the amount of processing power to maintain a dynamic aerodynamic flight model and fly under instrument conditions is actually pretty low.