Envisions Integrating Human Expertise To Complement Technology

Merlin announced the release of a white paper, Innovate to Elevate; Automation’s Role in the Ongoing Evolution of Aviation Safety, that describes its vision for moving aviation safety forward. By highlighting safety challenges and proposing solutions, the company seeks to collaborate with officials from the new administration as they seek insight into key priorities of the aviation industry.

The purpose of the white paper is to stimulate discussion with policymakers, regulators, and other industry stakeholders to determine how automation can better complement human expertise and experience in commercial air travel as well as increase safety.

As one of the companies at the forefront of advancing aviation safety, Merlin lays out three topic areas it sees as key challenges to aviation safety. It then offers recommendations that could be implemented in the near-term to drive integration of automation technologies.

The areas it sees as priorities are:

• Clearer Radio Comms: Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology can improve communication between pilots and ATC to reduce readback errors land miscommunication.
• Crew Fatigue: Passive wearables can be used to study relationships between stress, workload, and fatigue, potentially leading to improved fatigue mitigation tactics and tools.
• Workload Management: Reviving focus on human-machine teaming can improve the design of automation systems to ensure operators are neither task-saturated nor disengaged.

Matt George, Founder and CEO of Merlin said, “While automation has long played a role in aviation, its untapped potential offers new opportunities to address the evolving safety and performance needs of the industry. The human brain is unparalleled and has remained the cornerstone of safe flight operations, but we envision a future where pilots and advanced automation form an even more advanced partnership—extending human capabilities with technology.”

FMI:  merlinlabs.com/