To better understand how its automated flight technologies can benefit the U.S. Air Force, Merlin recently sent a team of engineers to fly along in a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and study how the pilots do their work.
The KC-135 took off from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, on May 14 and 15 with three Merlin engineers on board to collect data, a company spokesperson told AIN.
Data collected from those flights will allow Merlin to refine its autonomous flight control system, called Merlin Pilot, to support military operations. The Boston-based company has been developing its Merlin Pilot since 2018 and has been testing the system on a variety of airplane models, including the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, DHC-6 Twin Otter, and a King Air A90.
According to Merlin, the data collected during those flights will allow its engineers to assess pilot workflow and priorities. The team will then use the insights gleaned about human factors “to determine where advanced automation capabilities would be the most impactful for safety, cost savings, and efficiency,” the company said in a written statement.
“The data collected during these flights is critical to our phased approach to autonomy, starting with reduced crew operations, and to materially evolving our advanced automation systems,” said Merlin CEO Matt George. “Being able to observe multiple aerial refueling flights and see exactly how pilots are focused on critical tasks like take-off, landing, and communications in operational military use cases has given us valuable insight into how Merlin’s technology solution can best support the Air Force.”
In February, Merlin signed an agreement with the U.S. Air Force to explore the potential for deploying the Merlin Pilot in KC-135s. In collaboration with the Air Mobility Command and the Air Force Material Command, Merlin will integrate, test, and demonstrate various aspects of the autonomous flight control system with the aerial refueling platform.
The USAF has also worked with autonomous flight specialist Reliable Robotics, conducting a joint study to evaluate the potential for automation in large military aircraft such as the KC-135 Stratotanker.