Wisk Aero will use Safran’s SkyNaute inertial navigation system for the four-passenger eVTOL air taxi it intends to operate fully autonomously, without a pilot on board. The companies announced the partnership this week at the Paris Airshow.
The Boeing-owned advanced air mobility company is displaying what calls its Generation 6 eVTOL aircraft at Le Bourget. According to the company, it has conducted more than 1,600 test flights in various earlier iterations of the vehicle. While the timeline for approving autonomous passenger-carrying flights remains unclear, Wisk has indicated it hopes to start commercial flights around the end of the 2020s.
The all-electric Generation 6 aircraft would fly up to 90 miles at a cruise speed of 120 knots and an altitude between 2,500 and 4,000 feet. The aircraft features 12 propellers, six of which can tilt, which allows the aircraft to take off and land vertically. During cruise, the aircraft transitions from vertical to wing-borne horizontal flight. Wisk says its batteries will take just 15 minutes to fully recharge.
Safran based the SkyNaute system on its HRG Crystal Hemispherical Gyroscope, and the French company says it is the most compact system of its type, a significant feature in the context of small eVTOL aircraft. Even when global navigation satellite systems are jammed, SkyNaute’s hybrid inertial navigation system ensures that the aircraft flies a precise trajectory during all phases of flight.
“Wisk is building and certifying the first commercial autonomous aircraft and the high-integrity avionics and software stack that enables it,” said Wisk Aero CEO Brian Yutko. “We are thrilled to be developing Safran’s HRG technology as part of this. Our initial testing has confirmed the SkyNaute technology is a step change in navigation system performance and we look forward to deploying it on our sixth-generation air taxi.”