A new automated, flying ambulance completed
its first solo flight, offering a potential
solution for challenging search and rescue
missions.
Completing such missions in rough terrain or
combat zones can be tricky, with helicopters
currently offering the best transportation
option in most cases. But these vehicles need
clear areas to land, and in the case of war
zones, helicopters tend to attract enemy fire.
Earlier this month, Israeli company Urban
Aeronautics completed a test flight for a
robotic flying vehicle that could one day go
where helicopters can't.
On Nov. 14, the company flew its robotic flyer,
dubbed the Cormorant, on the craft's first solo
flight over real terrain. The autonomous
vehicle is designed to eventually carry people
or equipment (as reflected in its former name,
the AirMule) without a human pilot on board.
[9 Totally Cool Uses for Drones]
Urban Aeronautics said the test was "a
significant achievement for a student pilot,
human or nonhuman," and said the company
is "proud" of the vehicle's performance.
The Cormorant uses ducted fans rather than
propellers or rotors to fly. These fans are
effectively shielded rotors, which means the
aircraft doesn't need to worry about bumping
into a wall and damaging the rotors. Another
set of fans propels the vehicle forward,
according to Urban Aeronautics .
The robotic flyer pilots itself entirely through
laser altimeters, radar and sensors. The
system is "smart" enough to self-correct when
it makes mistakes, company officials said. In
a video released by Urban Aeronautics, the
Cormorant tries to land, stops itself and then
corrects its landing position.
The vehicle is effectively a decision-making
system that can figure out what to do if the
inputs from the sensors are off in some way,
the company said. If the Cormorant detects a
potential issue, the drone's robotic brain can
decide what to do: go home, land and wait for
more instructions, or try a different flight
path, Urban Aeronautics said.
Despite the completion of this month's flight
test, Urban Aeronautics still needs to refine
some parts of the technology, the company
said. For one, the test flight wasn't very long,
lasting only a minute or two. And though the
terrain was irregular (as in, not completely
flat), it was still an open field without any real
obstacles on either side. Further tests will look
to improve how smoothly the aircraft goes
from takeoff to level flight, and to increase
speed and maneuverability, the company said
in a statement.
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