Developer Comment by R_Lefebvre on May 19, 2012 at 5:35am

I agree with that as well.  Today's airliners can pretty much fly themselves, but you don't see any Joe Blow being allowed to use them.  The regulations still require trained pilots.

Developer Comment by John Arne Birkeland on May 19, 2012 at 11:49am

The Camcopter crash seems like it might be a good example of what happens if the pilot does not have RC experience, and the AP fails.

Comment by Skydog222 on May 20, 2012 at 9:23pm

@Doug:  You are correct, although, there is no need to wait or require any new development to remove the need for “piloting” from unmanned helicopters.  That is how some of the systems that are already on the market operate today.  With the need for “piloting” taken away, it is true, anyone can fly one of these.  Check out these two companies for example.  Adaptive Flight (http://adaptiveflight.com/) and Guided Systems Technologies (http://www.guidedsys.com/) (I know…I know…there are certainly other companies out there doing the same thing, but these are the two companies I have personal experience with). 

Looking specifically at the AFI system.  This system operates in three different modes, one is purely waypoint flying, you setup the plan and it executes that plan (from takeoff all the way to landing).  Simple as that.  The second is using a gamepad controller with a laptop.  In this mode, the operator is moving the helicopter around the sky by changing its commanded position, heading, and altitude with the sticks on the gamepad.  The third is operating form a tablet.  That one is more of the point and click style flying you spoke of.  The operator can position the helicopter, monitor the onboard sensor, and modify the flight profile as required to complete the mission just by clicking on the screen.  All of these modes have one thing in common, the computer does ALL of the flying.  The operator does not have to have ANY manual flying experience to operate these helicopters.  All of the training that the operators receive on these systems follow in line with what Jared S stated.  We first teach them how to use the software to operate the vehicle, then we teach them how to maintain the helicopter, prepare it for flight (mechanical checks, charge batteries, ect.), plan the flight (where and where not to fly and how and how not to fly), and execute the flight safely.

Jared also stated it perfectly “… there is more to a UAV than flying and that it takes someone with a certain mindset to operate it safely and reliably.”  You can make the vehicle so simple “anyone” can fly it, but it still cannot (and arguably should not) think for itself.  It is up to the operator to maintain the proper level of safety.  That includes properly preparing for the flight as well as flying in a safe manor and in safe locations.

In my opinion, if you want to become a UAV operator you can follow one of two paths right now.  The first is finding a company that flies UAVs today and get trained to be an operator on their system.  The second is somewhat in line with the article and that is to get into the hobby side of things.  Not everyone is going to be able to fly helicopters manually, but you can always pick up a multirotor and an Ardupilot (or whatever other autopilot you choose) and build it from scratch.  In building and learning to fly that system, you will learn the basic information that can be applied to almost all unmanned systems.  This will help start you on the road to becoming a competent UAV operator.  There will certainly be more resources (school courses, online material, ect) available in the next few years for learning to fly UAVs, but for now, getting to know the hobby side will put you ahead of the curve.

My 2 cents…=)   

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