The company behind the tech is called Merlin Labs. Here's how the system works.
On July 13, Boston’s Merlin Labs announced that it would be working with the US Air Force to add autonomy to the C-130J Super Hercules cargo transport plane. Merlin’s technology is a kind of advanced auto-copilot, designed to take over the responsibilities of one crew member in flight while being supervised by a human pilot.
While such a pilot may conjure images of a humanoid robot sitting in a captain’s chair Merlin’s pilot is software, plugged into the plane. This software will receive the same kinds of sensor information a pilot does, though it will get it directly as data instead of having to read it off instrument displays.The Merlin Pilot is “a box that goes into the aircraft,” says George.
“We haven’t announced how we’re gonna do that yet,” says George. “You can assume a tablet type device, where the human pilot is able to monitor the system to understand what the system is doing. If the human pilot doesn’t like what the system is doing, they’ll be able to take over for the aircraft.” Merlin is working with the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States and the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority as the first regulators for certifying its pilot, and is still figuring out if the autonomous system needs to identify itself as such to air traffic controllers when talking to them.
For air traffic controllers, and governments more broadly, to trust AI-enabled autonomous pilots means the rules have to accommodate the choices and actions of the AI. When it comes to air traffic control, those choices made by AI will be in spoken words, and will come with the added safety feature of a human pilot on board who is able to clear up any discrepancies.
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