Autonomy Advances Define the Future of Flight

Aviation’s pathway to automated flight and flight autonomy started with the invention of the autopilot more than a century ago and the progress has never stopped. Sophisticated flight management, navigation, communications, hazard avoidance, auto-land, auto-throttle and other innovative capabilities have improved flight safety, mission effectiveness and efficiency over the decades.

“What takes automation in aviation to new heights in 2020s is the integration of advanced compact sensors, certifiable high-performance computers, and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning. These innovations reduce pilot workload, improve decision making and minimize errors,” said Sapan Shah, Honeywell’s Senior Director of Product Management for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and Autonomy.

“For example, our latest Honeywell Anthem flight deck interprets inputs from various sources and provides actionable information, prompts and informed recommendations,” he added. “Honeywell Anthem reduces stress in the cockpit and handles routine activities so pilots can focus on flying the aircraft. The result is better situational awareness and safer operations.”

A recently announced collaboration between Honeywell and Merlin Labs will integrate the advanced capabilities of Honeywell Anthem with the Merlin Pilot non-human pilot system. According to Shah, the two companies will work together to deliver the enormous benefits of autonomy to the flight deck.

The collaboration will focus first on retrofitting existing military fixed-wing aircraft with Merlin’s AI-powered autonomy solutions to enable reduced crew operations and eventually uncrewed flight. Future efforts will include autonomous flight systems for other military and commercial platforms.  

Honeywell and Merlin Take Autonomy to a New Level

“Our initial focus is on supporting the military services in their efforts to address the global pilot shortage by minimizing the need for multiple pilots, without compromising flight safety or mission effectiveness,” Shah said.  

Honeywell Anthem and Merlin Pilot capabilities are highly complementary, with Merlin providing what Shah calls the “thinking part of the autonomy stack” and Honeywell delivering a Honeywell Anthem flight deck with a highly intuitive user interface and robust flight management capabilities.

“Merlin Pilot gathers information from various sources, including sensors on the aircraft and inputs from air traffic control and military command centers, to determine the optimal next action. It is ready to execute that action while providing the human pilot with the ability to either accept Merlin’s recommendation or adjust it as needed,” Shah said.

“Honeywell Anthem reduces pilot workload, presents critical information in an easy-to-understand way and positions the human pilot as an approver who can accept, reject or change system recommendations,” he added.

Honeywell and Merlin will collaborate on Merlin’s program with the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and the partnership it recently formed with Air Mobility Command (AMC) and Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) to integrate the Merlin Pilot on the C-130J and KC-135 aircraft, respectively.

Honeywell Pushes the Boundaries of Autonomy

Flight autonomy is not a new idea at Honeywell. One of our legacy companies – Sperry Gyroscope – demonstrated the first autopilot over Paris in 1914 and the company has been on the leading edge ever since with innovations that reduce pilot workload, improve mission effectiveness and enhance flight safety.

In addition to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with Merlin in October, Honeywell has been actively expanding its capabilities through internal research and development efforts and acquisitions. For example, Honeywell acquired a provider of position, navigation and timing technology Civitanavi earlier this year to strengthen its inertial navigation product line and expand its autonomy capabilities.

“At Honeywell we are working on a range of ready-now and ready-soon technologies that will enable ever greater levels of flight autonomy,” Shah said. “We are engineering, testing and certifying smart aircraft systems to give aircraft the ability to sense, decide and act with greater autonomy through all phases of flight.”

Honeywell expects the military to be among the earlies adopters of next-generation flight automation capabilities. “We also are working on a variety of technologies that will drive greater levels of autonomy in the exciting world of AAM.” Shah said.

“We are leveraging our unique domain knowledge in high-performance avionics, assured flight controls, advanced sensors, detect and avoid, remote operations, contingency management and pilot monitoring to realize safe autonomous flight at scale,” he said.