DARPA Successfully Tests Autonomous Helicopter

The test flight, which fell under the agency’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS), involved a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter retrofitted with Sikorsky’s MATRIX technology, a core component of the program. DARPA defines MATRIX as a “tailorable, drop-in, removable kit” that can be added to many pre-existing aircraft without the steep expense of building a new, individualized autonomous system from scratch. Sikorsky (a Lockheed Martin subsidiary) conducted the 30-minute flight over the US Army installation at Fort Campbell, Kentucky on Saturday, with an additional uninhabited flight on Monday for good measure.

DARPA first tested MATRIX in March 2021, though the technology was too new back then to be used without a pilot on board. The flight—which consisted of autonomous take-off, landing and two simulated obstacle avoidance scenarios, all coordinated with a tablet—was a success, with little help needed from the supervising pilot.

DARPA is known for exploring less conventional technologies, often conducting experiments that sound like they’ve been ripped from a 1980’s sci-fi novel. But the point of ALIAS isn’t to perform awe-inspiring, patriotism-inducing feats of science, despite what the agency’s track record may convey. DARPA hopes ALIAS will help reduce crew workloads while maintaining or improving safety, especially in conditions that lack sufficient visibility or communications. Eventually, the program will be able to support the execution of an entire mission from takeoff to landing, as well as autonomously address aircraft system failures during flight.

“With ALIAS, the Army will have much more operational flexibility,” said Stuart Young, program manager at DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, in a statement. “This includes the ability to operate aircraft at all times of the day or night, with and without pilots, and in a variety of difficult conditions, such as contested, congested, and degraded visual environments.”

Thanks to the success of this test, DARPA now considers the retrofitted Black Hawk to be an “optionally piloted vehicle,” or OPV. DARPA plans to conduct the first test flight of a fly-by-wire M-model Black Hawk at Fort Eustis, Virginia later this month.

Continue reading

NASA Will Soon Have a Helicopter on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover will land on the red planet in about a month, but the rover won't be the only newly arrived robotic explorer. The wheeled robot carries the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity on its belly, and NASA has posted a handy list of things to know about this mission.

NASA Prepares to Deploy Mars Helicopter

The Ingenuity helicopter is attached to the underside of the rover, but it won't be for long. NASA just took the first step toward getting it airborne.

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Remains Grounded Awaiting Software Fix

NASA previously said the Ingenuity helicopter would take to the Martian skies over the weekend, but the agency announced late Friday that liftoff was delayed until at least April 14 because of a software issue.

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Takes Flight on Mars

This marks the first time a human-made machine has taken flight on another planet. It's onward and upward from here.