Merlin Advances Toward Autonomous Flight Tech STC with Simulator

The manufacturer says the technology is designed to accelerate its path to supplemental type certification with regulators in the U.S. and New Zealand.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 04:18 PM ET

Verified

Merlin’s Certification System Bench will allow it to perform ground tests of its autonomous flight system from its Boston headquarters. [Courtesy: Merlin Labs]

Key Takeaways:

Merlin Labs has developed a Certification System Bench, a sophisticated flight test simulator, to accelerate the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) approval process for its Merlin Pilot autonomous flight system.
The Merlin Pilot system offers platform-agnostic, takeoff-to-touchdown autonomy, with the immediate goal of supplementing pilot workloads to combat the ongoing pilot shortage, rather than entirely replacing human pilots.
Merlin is seeking STC approval from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), with concurrent validation from the FAA, utilizing the new simulator for extensive and accredited ground testing to reduce the need for costly flight trials.

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Autonomous flight systems provider Merlin Labs is stepping up its quest for a supplemental type certificate (STC).

The company on Wednesday announced it completed the build of its Certification System Bench, a flight test simulator designed to speed its path to an STC. The simulator contains the company’s certifiable software and hardware components and is located at its Boston headquarters.