After nearly three decades of developing avionics systems and flight deck displays for general aviation airplanes, Avidyne is branching out into the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry with what it claims is an entirely new approach through its open avionics platform called Quantum.

For the past five or six years, Avidyne has been in discussions with dozens of AAM start-ups looking to incorporate the company’s avionics technology into a variety of novel aircraft, such as eVTOL vehicles, hybrid-electric designs, and aircraft with autonomous flight capabilities.

“Obviously, there are a lot of different kinds of airplanes that people are trying to build, but there are also a lot of different ways in which they would like to equip them with avionics,” Avidyne president and CEO Dan Schwinn told AIN. So, Avidyne came up with a fully customizable avionics platform that it says can work with just about any type of aircraft. “I think you're going to see much more variety in terms of avionics on these aircraft,” Schwinn predicted.

Quantum is an open-architecture platform that aircraft manufacturers can use to build a totally custom avionics system using a combination of off-the-shelf components and brand-new systems that Avidyne can help to develop. It comes with a full suite of customizable hardware, software, and artificial intelligence (AI) processors, as well as access to Avidyne’s licensable intellectual property and engineering support services.

So far only a few aircraft manufacturers have publicly announced their use of Florida-based Avidyne’s Quantum avionics system. VoltAero, a French company developing a hybrid-electric family of aircraft called Cassio, debuted its Cassio 330 aircraft equipped with the Quantum avionics suite at the Paris Airshow in June. And in July, Japan's SkyDrive announced it had selected Quantum for its three-seat SD-05 eVTOL aircraft. It has previously worked with Beta Technologies on plans for its Alia 250 eVTOL aircraft.

Avionics Could Dictate Pilot Training Requirements

While the Quantum avionics platform opens up a world of possibilities for innovative avionics systems in novel aircraft designs, the implications it might have for pilot training are not yet clear. If every new AAM vehicle has a unique avionics setup and flight crew interface, pilots could potentially be required to have a type rating for every variation of the system or for every different aircraft.

“Avionics aside, the different configurations of vehicles just have different requirements for basic flight controls. Most of them will be fly-by-wire, although there are some that have a conventional mechanical flight control system. And so you start off with the potential for different companies to develop different means of interaction with the vehicle, especially when it comes to flying through a transition [between hover and cruise],” Schwinn said.

Schwinn said it’s not yet clear how the market is going to evolve. “Will there be somebody who's sort of the winner and whatever they did becomes the standard, or will the FAA really aggressively push standardization? Will we go through a phase where there are two dozen different aircraft all certified, they're all completely different, and everyone requires the equivalent of a type rating to get trained on that particular variation? I don't really know how that's going to play out.”

Meanwhile, the FAA is still mulling over how it will deal with flight crew qualifications for new eVTOL and powered-lift aircraft. Last month the agency launched a public consultation on its proposed pilot training requirements, which will spell out exactly how pilots can earn ratings specific to each type of aircraft they fly. However, that document does not specifically address differences in avionics.

“We're essentially providing the building blocks for [aircraft developers] to do what they want, but we're not trying to say, ‘here's the right answer and here's the wrong answer’ to people,” Schwinn said. “We're trying to say, ‘go ahead and innovate. We'll cover a whole bunch of basic functions we know you're going to have to have, and then we'll see where this whole thing leads.’”

Quantum Brings Artificial Intelligence to Avionics

Avidyne is also working with customers to develop a variety of customized AI capabilities. The company partnered with Swiss AI start-up Daedalean in 2021 to develop a product called PilotEye, which uses cameras, sensors, and AI software to provide complete situational awareness with detect-and-avoid capabilities. PilotEye can serve as an aid to pilots, but it could also enable fully autonomous operations as early as 2028, according to Daedalean. Once PilotEye is certified, likely later this year, it will be available as an option for Quantum-equipped aircraft.

While Avidyne has been hard at work to certify PilotEye with its partner Daedalean, the company is also exploring other uses for AI in its Quantum avionics systems at the request of its customers. As with all other aspects of the Quantum avionics platform, Avidyne is willing to work with its customers to develop custom AI solutions that fit their needs.

“We have a very clear path to certification of an AI [product], and when somebody decides that there's something AI can do that they would like to have on their vehicle, we're certainly a good partner for them to talk to,” Schwinn said.

Although Schwinn could not disclose details about any AI applications other than PilotEye that are currently under development, he said Avidyne has received numerous requests to integrate various sensors, such as radars and lidars, into systems that use AI. He added that many customers are interested in using AI for guidance systems, especially to help guide pilots land in challenging environments.

While the AI features are still in the early stages of development, the Quantum system could begin flying as early as this year, when VoltAero begins flight testing its Cassio 330 prototype. Other than VoltAero and SkyDrive, Avidyne has not yet publicly revealed any other aircraft developers who have opted to use the Quantum avionics platform, but Schwinn said the company is working with several other AAM companies to build their custom avionics suites.

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN