Autonomous flight pioneers Daedalean and Xwing are teaming up to advance the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in aviation. The partners have agreed to share their data, knowledge, and processes pertaining to AI and machine learning, which both companies are using to develop software for fully autonomous flights using retrofitted airplanes.

Because no machine learning-based systems have ever been certified for use in civil aviation, Daedalean and Xwing have been working closely with the FAA and the EASA to develop certification standards for the new technology. As partners, the two companies aim to form a consensus on design assurance processes, with the goal of streamlining the process of developing those standards.

“In this emerging industry, it’s as crucial to collaborate with fellow pioneers as it is to partner with regulators around the world,” said Daedalean co-founder and CEO Luuk van Dijk. “With this shared undertaking, we will be able to demonstrate that increasing safety is driving innovation and that a collaborative approach to harmonize regulations and standards ensures that best practices are universally adopted.”

Daedalean, which has headquarters in Switzerland, is developing a fully autonomous, vehicle-agnostic flight control system that could someday enable pilotless flights on a variety of airplanes and rotorcraft. The first implementation of Daedalean’s technology will be a pilot aid tool called PilotEye, which provides complete situational awareness using cameras, sensors, and AI-powered software. It is developing the PilotEye in collaboration with Florida-based avionics specialist Avidyne. Daedalean has also been working with autonomous flight systems developer Reliable Robotics to implement the technology for remotely piloted and single-pilot operations.

Meanwhile, California-based Xwing is developing a similar type of autonomous flight control system that it intends to offer for various legacy airplane models, starting with the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. Xwing is already flying its autonomous Caravan with safety pilots on board under an experimental airworthiness certificate, and the company achieved its first fully autonomous gate-to-gate mission—including taxi, takeoff, and landing—in April 2021.

“At Xwing, we balance our commitment to a strong safety culture with our push for technical innovation,“ said Maxime Gariel, Xwing’s president and chief technology officer. “Our collaboration with Daedalean underscores this philosophy and the importance we place on sharing data, knowledge, and processes to inform a credible path forward toward certification for the industry as a whole as we work closely with regulators.”

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