Autonomous flight

Ehang's Autonomous Aerial Vehicle – a multi-rotor drone capable of carrying people – made its first US appearance at CES 2016, and now the company has demonstrated the first flight in the US of its two-seater autonomous air taxi.

Hyundai has used the grand platform of CES 2020 to unveil its take on the future of urban mobility. At the heart of its plans is its S-A1, an electric flying taxi developed with Uber.

There is no shortage of aviation startups out to build self-flying aircraft from the ground up, but California-based Skyryse has adopted a slightly different approach, with flight technologies designed to be fitted to existing helicopters.

Drone racing with human pilots at the controls has quickly evolved from an underground hobby to a fully fledged professional sport. But for its 2019 season, the Drone Racing League introduced a new kind of competition.

An important step towards autonomous aviation was taken today, as Cirrus Aviation announced "Safe Return" functionality for its G2 Vision jet, which will find the nearest airstrip, alert authorities and land itself in an emergency.

Skydio released an impressive self-flying camera drone in early October that may well take autonomous flight to a whole new level, and in a new purpose-built base station it could soon have the self-charging capabilities to go with it.

Bell has joined the cargo drone space with its APT 70, which has just nailed its first autonomous test flight.

The Volocopter has been given another makeover, resulting in a rounder, cleaner design the company says is the most powerful Volocopter yet.

Scientists at TU Delft have developed what is claimed to be the smallest autonomous racing drone on the planet, a feat that involved some serious innovations in the algorithms that control its flight path. ​

Given how many groups are now developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, it shouldn't come as a surprise that aerospace giant Boeing has been working on some of its own. This Tuesday, one of the prototypes made its first flight.

The potential of drones flying through the sky is well documented, but they also hold great potential for environments deep beneath the Earth's surface. Australian-based startup Emesant is developing drone software focused on the autonomous mapping of mines and tunnels.

​​Describing a helicopter as "optionally piloted" might not do much to comfort those onboard, but this is the future DARPA is aiming for with its Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS).