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A team of engineers and researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) is currently developing a humanoid robot that can fly aircraft without needing to modify the cockpit.
"Pibot is a humanoid robot that can fly an aeroplane just like a human pilot by manipulating all the single controls in the cockpit, which is designed for humans," says, David Shim, an associate professor of electrical engineering at KAIST. " It can control its arms and fingers to operate the flight instruments, even during severe vibration in an aircraft."
Its memory is so large that it can memorise all of the Jeppesen aeronautical navigation charts around the world, which is impossible for human pilots, according to the KAIST team. "Humans can fly many aeroplanes, but they do have these habits built into them. So when they try to convert to different aeroplanes they have to take another qualification. Sometimes this is not that simple because our habit remains in our mind that we can’t simply change from one to the other," said Shim.
The research team says Pibot “understands” and memorises manuals originally written for humans thanks to recent advances in large language models (LLM). “Recently with ChatGPT or with other large language model systems, the technology made paramount progress,” Shim explained. Thanks to LLM, Pibot is expected to operate error-free flight, being able to react far quicker than its human counterparts in emergency situations.
Standing at 160 cm and weighing 65 kg, Pibot's humanoid design allows it to seamlessly replace humans in roles like driving automobiles, operating tanks, or even commanding ships at sea. Shim says this robot can be used for any place where a human is currently “sitting and working”. "The human form may not be super efficient but we specifically designed Pibot to be a humanoid form because all the things are built for humans. We can have eight arms and four eyes but we find the human form is somehow optimal," Shim explained.
The robot is still in development and is expected to be completed by 2026. Shim anticipates potential military applications in the future.
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A. Agree/Disagree - state whether you agree or disagree with the following opinions:
1. Robot pilots will probably be better than human pilots in emergency situations.
2. There will be some very serious plane accidents before robot pilot technology matures enough to be reliable and safe for passengers.
3. Pibot should be tried out in cargo aircraft first before trying it out in passenger aircraft.
4. Robot pilots will emerge in Korea before they emerge in any other country in the world.
5. Robot fighter pilots will be too vulnerable to hacking by North Korea or by terrorist groups.
6. Even if Pibot becomes available for passenger flight, safety regulations will make it necessary to always have a human pilot onboard the aircraft.
7. Robot pilots might eventually replace chauffeur services.
8. Robot pilots will make it possible for airlines to offer more flights and routes.