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It also appeared to be self-aware, and able to work fully autonomously finding its targets, locking in, and firing without a human in the loop or sitting behind a computer gaming terminal as they do now.
Is that the future? It very well may be, but there are also a lot of good technologies along these same lines of thinking.
In fact, Sikorsky Helicopters wants to create a self-aware helicopter.
You've heard of the Google Car which is fully autonomous, and all the car manufacturers right now are building cars which can take over for overtaxed drivers, or help them out during adverse conditions to prevent accidents.
Sikorsky wants to do the same thing.
They Want it to Fly With or Without a Helicopter You see, DARPA had already assisted a military contractor in producing an unmanned helicopter to deliver supplies to the troops to the forward military bases.
The same helicopters can be flown by an individual, or they can be flown autonomously.
Military Helicopter Avoid Incoming Fire There are some new technologies which listen for the sound of sniper fire, and re-triangulate the position of the enemy, so the good guys can fire back, and know exactly where it's coming from.
Sikorsky wants to put this on their military helicopters, so the helicopter can autonomously avoid that incoming fire, pinpoint its location, relay that information, or engage the target using artificial intelligence in real time without the need for a human to process all that information.
This allows the pilot to continually fly the helicopter without worry about who was firing at them.
Morphing Rotor Blades Sikorsky also wants to create morphing rotor blades.
For instance, the rotor blade shape will change depending on its environment, the relative wind, the current load, and a cruising speed for the most efficient shape.
By doing this they can make the helicopter quieter for urban environments, police, and executive transport, as well as military applications.
Allowing the helicopter to take off with more weight means that it can carry a greater load to put out fires in aerial firefighting, or carry more people and supplies when used for air evacuations.
It is essential that great companies like Sikorsky continue to push forward with these technologies to make helicopters quieter, safer, and more fuel-efficient.
The military applications are obvious, but those transfer technologies for the private sector, well, they are a complete game changer.
Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.
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