Avionics News February 2023 - 33

wave infrared, radar and LIDAR
to detect whatever these sensors
are trained on.
" We're getting a lot of interest
in this from traditional operators
and especially helicopter
operators who do a lot of close
work, " Schwinn said. Avidyne
is talking to customers about
using AI with different sensors
and will also probably add
different applications to its
visible light cameras. It has
several unannounced projects
underway. PilotEye, for example,
could provide a backup to GPS
positioning. A fourth camera
could be added if a customer
wants it for an application.
The characteristic of a neural
network is you can train it to
detect patterns, whether that
means image recognition or
patterns such as landing locations
that are not airports. Daedalean
is using its camera systems on
helicopters to look for flat ground
of certain sizes to draw boxes
around potential landing zones,
which could be used for an
emergency landing.
Daedalean has post-processed
flight test data while flying over
an area and demonstrated that AI
in the lab can see things it can
recognize such as a runway. " Once
it recognized the runway, it was
able to provide landing guidance
to the runway purely by visual
reference, " Schwinn said. He noted
there are plenty of runways around
the world that don't have radio
navigation or GPS approaches.
" The thing about this AI system is,
just like a pilot, the closer it gets
to the runway the more accurate it
is, " Schwinn said. Other types of
sensors can see through some level
of cloud cover.
Hazard avoidance is needed
when one considers that the
human see-and-avoid concept of
operations doesn't always work.
The General Aviation Joint
Safety Committee reported in
April 2022 that midair collisions
are a persistent and deadly threat
to general aviation. From 2016
to 2021, there were 43 reports
of midair collisions involving
general aviation in the United
States and 79 fatalities.
Schwinn said the interest in
PilotEye will depend largely
on the type of flying a general
aviation pilot is involved in. He
is getting a lot of interest from
helicopter operators who fly in
low-altitude airspace where they
are more likely to encounter
non-cooperative targets. He also
knows a pilot who flies a King
Air for an auto parts company to
uncontrolled airports in the upper
Midwest. The pilot recounts
descending below a 1,500-foot
ceiling on an approach and
finding a swarm of flight training
aircraft in the pattern with no
radios. This pilot is definitely
interested in having PilotEye
aboard.
Advertisers Index
Aero Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Aircraft Electronics Association . . . . 61, 64
Aircraft Lighting International . . . . . . . . 45
Aircraft Spruce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
AVweb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Cal Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
CiES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Since he started the PilotEye
project, Schwinn has talked to a
number of pilots who are terrified
of non-cooperative traffic. The
more pilots who have some kind
of traffic detection system in
the cockpit such as ADS-B In,
the more pilots see how many
aircraft are nearby that they had
not spotted.
" We have gotten good support
from the regulators because AI is
novel and interesting for them, "
Schwinn said. " We're doing this
outside of their comfort zone, and
we've gotten a good response.
The certification is coming right
along. " q
To learn more about Avidyne, visit
avidyne.com. To learn more about
Daedalean, visit daedalean.ai.
Corporate Angel Network . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Delta Tech Ops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Dallas Avionics . . . . . . Inside Front Cover
Duncan Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
EDMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Back Cover
Garmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Helicopter Association International . . IBC
Sandia Aerospace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Schweiss Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Skyservice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Tech-Aid Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
TGH Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Tri-Star Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
True Blue Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
avionics news * february 2023 33
http://www.avidyne.com http://www.daedalean.ai
Avionics News February 2023

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