{"id":26069,"date":"2023-07-10T16:57:32","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T16:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=26069"},"modified":"2023-07-10T16:59:48","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T16:59:48","slug":"merlin-successfully-completes-faa-contracted-alaska-based-flight-trials-for-nations-first-air-cargo-network-flown-by-a-non-human-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/alaska\/merlin-successfully-completes-faa-contracted-alaska-based-flight-trials-for-nations-first-air-cargo-network-flown-by-a-non-human-pilot\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Merlin Successfully Completes FAA-Contracted, Alaska-Based Flight Trials for Nation\u2019s First Air Cargo Network Flown by a Non-Human Pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Merlin<\/a> has announced it successfully completed 25 test flights in Alaska following a $1 million contract with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to demonstrate a highly automated flight control system in conjunction with a safety pilot. In partnership with the FAA-designated University of Alaska Fairbanks UAS Test Site and Everts Air Cargo, the test flights reached rural areas using crewed aircraft augmented with its integrated hardware and software solution, the Merlin Pilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All routes originated from Fairbanks and flew to Fort Yukon,\nGalena, Huslia, Tanana and Prudhoe Bay. Over sixty hours of systems-on,\nautonomous flight time were successfully completed with the Merlin Pilot\nallowing for extensive data collection in a real-world environment with complex\nterrain and inclement weather. This data is essential to maturing Merlin\u2019s\nin-flight capabilities as well as progressing autonomy for the aviation\nindustry, making skies safer and more accessible for the future. These test\nflights also make Merlin the first autonomy system to be integrated into the\nNAS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Merlin successfully completes FAA-contracted, Alaska-based flight trials for nation\u2019s first air cargo network flown by a non-human pilot (Photo: Business Wire) <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOperating in Alaska is a real challenge. I like to say\nwe\u2019re the final exam. If you can fly here, you can fly anywhere as we deal with\nlong distances, extreme climate variations, and limited communications\ncoverage,\u201d said Dr. Cathy Cahill, Director of the Alaska Center for Unmanned\nAircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) at the UAF Geophysical Institute. \u201cAs\nwe\u2019ve learned in collaboration with Merlin\u2019s team, it\u2019s very apparent that they\nare doing this right. Their integrated approach to our unique ecosystem is one\nof the main reasons they were the first company with which we approached the\nFAA. They use real data to train the onboard automation system to ensure\nsafety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe data we\u2019ve been able to gather from these flight trials\nis critical to the maturation of our in-flight technology, but also to our\ncontinued progression in certifying the Merlin Pilot,\u201d said Matthew George,\nco-founder and CEO of Merlin. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to know our technology can\nsuccessfully reach remote locations in Alaska, proving an important application\nfor autonomy; its ability to assist in dangerous missions. We\u2019re incredibly\nthankful for the support and partnership of the FAA, Everts Air Cargo, and\nACUASI. Our partners have been critical in our ability to progress the Merlin\nPilot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Merlin has announced it successfully completed 25 test flights in Alaska following a $1 million contract with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to demonstrate a highly automated flight control system in conjunction with a safety pilot. In partnership with the FAA-designated University of Alaska Fairbanks UAS Test Site and Everts Air Cargo, the test flights […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alaska"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Merlin_Alaska_Image-edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26069"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26076,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26069\/revisions\/26076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}