Evaluation, Validation of Systems Capabilities For STC Approval

Merlin, developer of  assured autonomous flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft, announced its flight testing campaign continues to rapidly progress with its certification-ready Cessna Caravan at Quonset State Airport (KOQU) in North Kingstown, Rhode island.

Recent test flights validated core systems functionalities including Flight Guidance and Autothrottle. These assist the aircraft in maintaining its desired flight path and automatically manage airspeed using engine thrust. Upon successful completion of these functional validations, the campaign will advance to more intelligent and complex flight autonomy.

Matt George, CEO and founder of Merlin said, “Kicking off our flight test campaign last year marked our transition from R&D to STC validation and certification. As we continue testing and integrating additional core functionalities of our high-assurance autonomy platform, we’re proving our ability to build and deliver a highly assured system capable of operating in real-world operations—including complex military missions.’

He added, “These milestones are an exciting step forward in fulfilling our mission to deliver safe, autonomous flight—beginning with our first phase of safety-critical crew support.”

Flight Guidance integrates with aircraft systems to control the aircraft’s trajectory and speed throughout all phases of flight. This provides lateral and vertical guidance while reducing the pilot’s workload.

Autothrottle adjusts the engine power setting to maintain target airspeeds in all flight phases as it works in conjunction with Flight Guidance to ensure smooth and consistent control of the aircraft’s speed.

Merlin previously gained FAA approval for its custom remote data concentrator as well as acceptance from the U.S. Air Force for its airworthiness plan for testing the KC-135.

FMI:  merlinlabs.com/