Story ID: 
FAA Grants TSO to Universal Avionics Aperture
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: Universal Avionics' Aperture visual data solution will help pilots "see" obstacles and traffic and receive taxi guidance via avionics displays.
Word Count: 247
The Universal Avionics Aperture visual data management solution has received technical standard order (TSO) authorization, allowing delivery of the system to begin. Although it hasn’t identified the company involved, Universal Avionics said it has started “serial production for a major avionics OEM and is seeing strong interest from aircraft manufacturers and operators.”
Aperture allows avionics designers to aggregate information from up to eight video inputs and four video outputs, according to Universal, “with near-zero latency, at the highest level of integrity in commercial aviation (Design Assurance Level A).” This information can be combined with enhanced vision system camera and sensor imagery to give pilots a real-time view of the airport environment, including vehicles, aircraft, and other obstacles.
Universal Avionics is working on additional Aperture capabilities that will include more video/sensor channels, low-latency video aggregation and manipulation, and generation of symbology and synthetic imagery, according to the company. Ultimately, this will “enable pilots to take advantage of real-time content analysis and augmented reality, such as visual positioning, obstacle detection, taxi guidance, and traffic awareness,” according to Universal Avionics.
“The TSO authorization of Aperture is a critical step in the development of an innovative solution that will change how we use video in aircraft,” said Dror Yahav, CEO of Universal Avionics. “This approval validates the technology and allows us to continue to innovate solutions for the future.”