Better prototype flight computer developed

BATH, England, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- British scientists have designed a prototype flight computer they say will improve the interaction between an aircraft's autopilot and pilot.

Although autopilots and pilots individually seldom make mistakes, on occasion errors are made due to inefficient collaboration between the two. Professor Peter Johnson and Rachid Hourizi at the University of Bath said such errors are due to the restricted interaction and low-level communication style of the autopilot, rather than pilot error.

Johnson and Hourizi note that in the current generation of computerized cockpits, the autopilot tells the pilot what the immediate action being undertaken is -- for example, the plane is flying at 10,000 feet. The more explicit details -- what action is going to be taken next and the objective of a particular maneuver -- are calculated by the pilot.

The new system's software interface allows the autopilot to do more of the calculation work, making the interactions between the autopilot and pilot more explicit. That, the researchers said, reduces the chance of mistakes being made and gives the pilot more time to monitor situations.

Johnson and Hourizi said they hope to incorporate their technology into active autopilots within a decade.