Cockpit Robot

The idea behind putting robots in cockpit is to have them free the human pilot to think strategically, especially in emergencies and demanding situations.

From the outside, the single-engine Cessna Caravan that took off from a small airport in Manassas on Monday looked unremarkable. But inside the cockpit, in the right seat, a robot with spindly metal tubes and rods for arms and legs and a claw hand grasping the throttle, was doing the flying. In the left seat, a human pilot tapped commands to his mu...

"Humans are not robots. We can not stare at a green light for hours at a stretch without getting tired, bored, or going crazy," a researcher said.

The idea behind putting robots in cockpit is to have them free the human pilot to think strategically, especially in emergencies and demanding situations.

From the outside, the single-engine Cessna Caravan that took off from a small airport in Manassas on Monday looked unremarkable. But inside the cockpit, in the right seat, a robot with spindly metal tubes and rods for arms and legs and a claw hand grasping the throttle, was doing the flying. In the left seat, a human pilot tapped commands to his mu...

"Humans are not robots. We can not stare at a green light for hours at a stretch without getting tired, bored, or going crazy," a researcher said.