Merlin, a developer of safe, autonomous flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft, has revealed material advancements of safety-critical flight capabilities for the Merlin Pilot. Supporting its phased approach to autonomous flight, Merlin is pairing its advanced automation capabilities with human pilot expertise to build a comprehensive autonomy framework that underpins the full suite of pilot skills and supports a safer, more scalable and resilient air network.

The latest skills in development include:

- Automated checklists: Merlin's system seamlessly integrates with cockpit operations by automating checklist procedures related to the state of the aircraft before, during and post-fight. The system acts as a digital co-pilot to provide verbal prompting and multiple levels of validation on the aircraft's state, which is verified by interpreting verbal responses from the human pilot. The system builds on the same natural language processing technology enabling Merlin's automated air traffic control communications and incorporates computer vision as an additional, portable tool for aircraft state validation. This capability ensures efficiency and reduces errors related to checklist procedures, allowing human pilots to focus on more critical decisions in flight.

- Autonomous navigation and dynamic replanning: Merlin's autonomous navigation capabilities understand airspace environments to coordinate flight planning and execution. The system handles planning for all phases of flight by monitoring for changing environmental conditions, deconflicting strict no-fly zones from preferred avoidance regions and routing the aircraft accordingly to reach the specified destination. By situationally adapting to these varying conditions, this feature ensures safe and efficient navigation to reduce the pilot's cognitive workload.

- Automated emergency landing: The system can identify suitable landing locations and guide the aircraft to safety in emergency scenarios. It accounts for important aircraft characteristics, current aircraft state and environmental factors in selecting an appropriate landing location. It continuously runs in the background during normal flight operations, unencumbered by human tendencies such as boredom or distraction, enabling the system to be prepared and seamlessly transition in the rare cases of emergency. Whether a forced landing or a precautionary measure, Merlin's advanced planning capabilities mitigate risks and ensure aircraft safety.

"To advance autonomous flight systems, our focus remains on automating pilot skills that enhance efficiency but, most importantly, prioritise safety at every stage. Progressing these skills underscores our commitment to gradually integrate automation with human pilots so that eventually these systems can autonomously perform tasks and alleviate the current constraints aviation faces such as pilot availability, training requirements and crew rest," says chief technology officer Alex Naiman.