The US Air Force Research Lab had developed a robotic device that, when installed in a typical private Cessna general aviation airplane, converts it into a pilotless drone.
In its initial test, the Air Force removed the pilot’s seat and installed the autonomous pilot, dubbed “ROBOpilot.” ROBO Pilot flew the aircraft on a successful two-hour test flight. After a successful landing, the aircraft can revert to an everyday, piloted aircraft. Just remove the robotic pilot, and put the pilot’s seat back in.
Dr. Alok Das, Senior Scientist with AFRL’s Center for Rapid Innovation was quoted on the AFRL website: “Imagine being able to rapidly and affordably convert a general aviation aircraft, like a Cessna or Piper, into an unmanned aerial vehicle, having it fly a mission autonomously, and then returning it to its original manned configuration. All of this is achieved without making permanent modifications to the aircraft.”
This technology has the potential to convert any general aviation aircraft into an unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV.