Claudia Bacco looks at the pioneering drone tech being developed by Vigilant Aerospace Systems for both military and civilian use
As the flight of autonomous commercial aircraft becomes more mainstream it must co-exist safely with general aviation in the national airspace. This applies not only to civil aviation, with all branches of the US military having embraced autonomous vehicles and aircraft.
Oklahoma-based Vigilant Aerospace Systems’ FlightHorizon PILOT onboard detect-and-avoid system for drones is designed to read sensor data, detect nearby aircraft and provide collision avoidance commands to remote pilots or to the onboard autopilot.
The company is involved in a number of major initiatives to test the true effectiveness of flight operations at large-scale, working with several key defence, research and commercial organisations. This is an opportunity to observe the absolute limits and capabilities of autonomous flight in real-world conditions and for some of the most demanding missions.
