what does autopilot actually do?
In: Engineering
In a big plane like a 737?
The auto-pilot has the ability to actually take control of the flight controls… the yoke (pitch up/down, bank left/right), the rudder (yaw, or turn left and right), and the engine throttles, and some trim (semi-permanent adjustment of inputs). Depending on the controls, you can usually see them move as the autopilot controls them.
Autopilot has lots of modes. Generally they come down to keeping the plane on a specific course (direction and altitude) or following the route programmed into the flight computer before take-off or tweaked during flight as the situation changes. In full navigation mode it can fly pretty much from the departure airport (once in the air) to the destination (almost) with no human input whatsoever. The pilots can switch between modes freely, including options like altitude managed by the pilots, but direction managed by the flight plan/route. If something goes wrong, at the push of a button the plane will level off if it was climbing/descending.
They can also land the plane automatically, if the airport has the appropriate equipment on the ground at the runway edges. Though this is generally only used in poor visibility scenarios because the pilots need to keep up their practice of how to fly a plane.
And speed of course, though generally it operates separately. Just set a target speed and the engine power levers move back and forth to try and maintain it. Very similar to the cruise control in your car, doing nothing more than operating the gas pedal while watching your speed.
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