I personally flew multiple fixed-wing UAS using that autopilot when it was new, and they were fully capable of autonomous takeoff and landing back in 2011.
I'm talking about commercial load size craft, not microplanes. Automated drones for long range unsupported action are nowhere near the functionality of a full sized cross country flight cargo plane. The complexities of flight are more than just making a robot go point a to b across a short distance. Terrain and weather and emergency management all require a real pilot and potentially cause signal loss, and a high tonnage cargo drone going down is a huge liability.
In terms of piloting there is very little difference at all. If you can make a computer fly a toy plane, you can make it fly a 747. The only difference is the stakes in a potential crash.
Fixed-wing autopilots came first, and have been available in the hobby space for well over a decade: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArduPilot#Early_years,_2007-2012.
I personally flew multiple fixed-wing UAS using that autopilot when it was new, and they were fully capable of autonomous takeoff and landing back in 2011.
I'm talking about commercial load size craft, not microplanes. Automated drones for long range unsupported action are nowhere near the functionality of a full sized cross country flight cargo plane. The complexities of flight are more than just making a robot go point a to b across a short distance. Terrain and weather and emergency management all require a real pilot and potentially cause signal loss, and a high tonnage cargo drone going down is a huge liability.
We might not have autonomous cargo planes, but we do have drone-piloted goal posts it seems! They move on their own!
There's a big difference between toys and serious commercial aircraft, don't be disingenuous.
In terms of piloting there is very little difference at all. If you can make a computer fly a toy plane, you can make it fly a 747. The only difference is the stakes in a potential crash.