Merlin Progresses Advanced Skills Development for Autonomous Flight System

June 04, 2024 at 09:00 AM EDT

The safety-critical skills in development include the automation of pilot checklist procedures, autonomous dynamic rerouting, and emergency landing capabilities

Merlin, the leading developer of safe, autonomous flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft, today announced material advancements of safety-critical flight capabilities for the Merlin Pilot. Supporting its phased approach to autonomous flight, Merlin is pairing its advanced automation capabilities with human pilot expertise to build a comprehensive autonomy framework that underpins the full suite of pilot skills and supports a safer, more scalable and resilient air network.

The latest skills in development by Merlin’s Advanced Capabilities Team, include:

Automated Checklists: Merlin's system seamlessly integrates with cockpit operations by automating checklist procedures related to the state of the aircraft before, during, and post-fight. The system acts as a digital copilot to provide verbal prompting and multiple levels of validation on the aircraft’s state, which is verified by interpreting verbal responses from the human pilot. The system builds on the same natural language processing (NLP) technology enabling Merlin’s automated air traffic control (ATC) communications, and incorporates computer vision as an additional, portable tool for aircraft state validation. This capability ensures efficiency and reduces errors related to checklist procedures, allowing human pilots to focus on more critical decisions in flight.
Autonomous Navigation and Dynamic Replanning: Merlin's autonomous navigation capabilities understand airspace environments to coordinate flight planning and execution. The system handles planning for all phases of flight by monitoring for changing environmental conditions, deconflicting strict no-fly zones from preferred avoidance regions, and routing the aircraft accordingly to reach the specified destination. By situationally adapting to these varying conditions, this feature ensures safe and efficient navigation to reduce the pilot’s cognitive workload.
Automated Emergency Landing: Merlin's emergency landing system can identify suitable landing locations and guide the aircraft to safety in emergency scenarios. The system accounts for important aircraft characteristics, current aircraft state, and environmental factors in selecting an appropriate landing location. It continuously runs in the background during normal flight operations, unencumbered by human tendencies such as boredom or distraction, enabling the system to be prepared and seamlessly transition in the rare cases of emergency. Whether a forced landing or a precautionary measure, Merlin's advanced planning capabilities mitigate risks and ensure aircraft safety.

"To advance autonomous flight systems, our focus remains on automating pilot skills that enhance efficiency but most importantly, prioritize safety at every stage. Progressing these skills underscores our commitment to gradually integrate automation with human pilots so that eventually these systems can autonomously perform tasks and alleviate the current constraints aviation faces such as pilot availability, training requirements, and crew rest,” said Alex Naiman, Chief Technology Officer.

About Merlin

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in Denver as well as flight test facilities in Mojave, CA and Kerikeri, New Zealand, Merlin is building a platform-adaptable advanced automation system to perpetuate a resilient air network. To learn more, visit www.merlinlabs.com or follow us on Twitter @merlinaero.