Blind definitely != automated. And concepts for automated landings have been around since WW II. (For problems like: how do you land a returning bomber fleet when their regular bases are completely fogged in and every other airstrip is beyond range or already running to capacity.)
The new-ish thing about the DragonFly system is automatic landing at any airport, regardless of whether the ground equipment is equipped for such landings. Existing systems rely on at least a little help from the ground.
That is pretty sweet. I wonder if anyone’s managed to finagle a POV camera on gimbals into something like that instead of just having Hans Von Balsawood in the cockpit. If POV drone racers are a thing, why wouldn’t you put the same setup in your 1/4 scale fighter jet?
According to my Dad’s CF-104 pilot friend, they could hit Mach-1 on the runway in cold conditions. So over a 1/4 mile, sure, traction on the ground probably wins. Run it out the full mile, though…
Apparently they also crammed a big block that usually went into Oldsmobiles into a handful of Diplomats. They somehow got it into the engine compartment, but it was such a tight fit that there was no way to use the dipstick to check the oil.
Admittedly, that’s not too different than my Subaru. Checking the oil is easy, but working on the injectors/spark plugs/ignition coils is a pain due to the lack of clearance between the heads and the engine bay walls. For some spark plugs, there’s barely enough clearance to remove the plug at all from above.
Tesla’s Autopilot is losing out to Ford, GM in self-driving tech
Tesla’s Autopilot “self driving” technology has slipped to the middle of the active driver assist (ADA) software pack, says the nonprofit Consumer Reports, as companies like Ford and General Motors have overtaken the Musketeers in the automotive code lane.
Consumer Reports reached that conclusion after testing 12 different ADA systems, which it classified as technology that combines adaptive cruise control (ACC) and lane centering assistance (LCA) to take the stress out of driving on highways or in traffic jams.
The safest, CR said, is Ford’s BlueCruise, followed by GM’s Super Cruise and Mercedes-Benz Driver Assistance. Tesla, which the report said was “once an innovator in ADA,” slipped from second place in 2020 to seventh this time around.
The reason? Autopilot’s basic functionality hasn’t changed much since it came out, with Tesla instead tacking on new features instead of improving the bare necessities.
