Telerobotic testing of autonomous air vehicles

It is noted that the testing of fully autonomous air vehicles usually begins under the control of an expert teleoperator. Design and testing progress by transferring control from the expert to the onboard intelligence which will ultimately provide self-governing control for the air vehicle. The transfer process is best performed when ever-increasing authority is granted to the onboard intelligence by expanding a limited range of full authority for given flight parameters. As onboard control is proven reliable within the allotted range, that range is expanded until the onboard intelligence is able to function over the entire flight envelope with at least the proficiency of the expert teleoperator. Examples of fully autonomous air vehicles are presented, and methodologies used at the University of Texas at Arlington are described