Scientists from the Institute for Flight Systems Dynamics and the Berlin Institute of Technology have developed a technology that lets pilots use their thoughts to fly planes.
The team of researchers has started the "BrainFlight" project, which aims at translating brain impulses into control commands, allowing pilots in a plane simulator to achieve precise flight maneuvers in the air without touching the controls or pedals, according to Discovery News.
The project is being funded by the European Union.
Seven participants were hooked to a cap featuring dozens of electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes. Sitting down in a flight simulator, the subjects were told by the researchers to use only their thoughts to steer the plane. Electrical signals from their brains were read by the cap, leading to an algorithm translating those signals into computer commands, CNET reported.
The researchers said all of the participants piloted the plane so well that their skills could qualify them for a pilot's license.
Brain-controlled fight could reduce workloads for pilots and increase safety once the technology is perfected. Hands-free flying would give pilots the freedom to handle other manual tasks in the cockpit, Discovery News reported.
One participant managed to follow eight out of 10 target headings with just an extremely small deviation of 10 degrees. Another landed the plane within just a few meters of the center line on the runway.
Tim Fricke, aerospace engineer and head of the project at Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM), said the long-term goal of BrainFlight is to making flying accessible to more people, CNET reported.
"With brain control, flying, in itself, could become easier," Fricke stated.
Giving feedback to the pilots from the plane was one of the greatest challenges of the research. Normal pilots rely on this feedback to determine what they state their flight is in, such as feeling resistance from the controls when they push the limits of the plane. The team is currently figuring out how they can give pilots this type of feedback.
