In just a couple of years the DARPA challenge yielded cars that can drive themselves in complex urban environments.
I imagine with sufficient smart people working on it, flying airplanes in relatively uncluttered sky would yield results faster.
As for see-and-avoid, perhaps it works for obstacles on the ground, but other aircraft are moving so fast, is it really feasible to eyeball them before they are on you? Perhaps in pursuit, but at any significant angle they flash past at hundreds of miles an hour. Only radar etc has a chance of identifying/avoiding at those speeds.
<Edit: spelling>
I imagine with sufficient smart people working on it, flying airplanes in relatively uncluttered sky would yield results faster.
As for see-and-avoid, perhaps it works for obstacles on the ground, but other aircraft are moving so fast, is it really feasible to eyeball them before they are on you? Perhaps in pursuit, but at any significant angle they flash past at hundreds of miles an hour. Only radar etc has a chance of identifying/avoiding at those speeds. <Edit: spelling>