The next great leap in aviation is expected to bring us more and more autonomous flight. That means aircraft – from small drones to multi-passenger air taxis – equipped with whole suites of technology allowing them to fly independently. But such a revolution will not invent itself, so NASA is leading a series of workshops to support the development of a national strategy that will make increasingly autonomous operations possible in the U.S. airspace. This includes identifying the goals, opportunities and research priorities needed to help get us there.
The second event in the series organized by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Institute took place on Aug. 6-7, 2019, at NASA’s Ames Research Center, in California’s Silicon Valley. Pictured is Parimal Kopardekar, director of NARI, addressing the workshop participants on Aug. 7. NASA is taking the initiative to gather input from the full spectrum of players contributing to the development of autonomy in aviation. This includes aircraft manufacturers, operators of passenger, cargo or delivery services, venture capitalists, airport designers, machine learning specialists and more.
For more technical information on the second Enabling Autonomous Flight and Operations in the National Airspace System workshop, visit NARI’s website.