Since it took essentially all of humanity's 200,000 years on the planet to come up with the airplane, it's no surprise that heavier-than-air aircraft are quite complicated. Naturally, as planes become faster and increasingly advanced, the technology behind them must also become more complex.
According to BestComputerScienceDegrees.com, computer science is instrumental in nearly every aspect of aviation. Modern aircraft use several technological subsystems that work together to pull off that beautiful feat of flight. Naturally, these require appropriate computer hardware and software to run smoothly and avoid planes from crashing into the ground. They also come in handy for training new pilots.
Computers are also very important to navigation. (Obviously!) According to the website, pilots "utilize computers to assist with navigation through electronic instruments and monitoring flight management systems."
HowStuffWorks.com says that autopilot--or, as it is more appropriately called, "automatic flight control system" (AFCS)--wouldn't be what it is without a certain computer with several high-speed processors. In order to gather the information crucial to flying the plane, the computer's processors communicate with sensors located on all the plane's largest surfaces. It also collects data from instruments such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, and compasses.
The AFCS then takes that input data and compares it to a set of control modes. A control mode is a certain detail about the flight that is inputted manually by the pilot that dictate things like airspeed, altitude, and flight path.
The computer will send signals to several servomechanism units, or servos, that "provide mechanical control at a distance." There's one servo for each part of the autopilot system. The servos act like the plane's muscles, performing their instructions and moving the craft using hydraulics and motors.
If the input data adheres to the commands of the control modes, then the computer (and, by extension, the passengers and crew) can rest assured that the plane is running smoothly.
Sources
- Could I Use a Computer Science Degree to Get a Job in the Aviation Field? from BestComputerScienceDegrees.com
- How Autopilot Works from HowStuffWorks.com
- Plane photo
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