Reliable sees radar as a key component for its detect-and-avoid system.
Reliable Robotics plans to use radar as the basis for its detect-and-avoid system for uncrewed aircraft flying in the National Airspace.
The startup, which is developing a continuous autopilot system, plans to make radar a key part of its “aircraft-agnostics Airspace Integration Solution,” it said on Oct. 27. Reliable is aiming to certify with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a detect-and-avoid system that could be used by crewed or uncrewed aircraft to detect and track all aircraft, even those without a transponder, it says.
“Radar is the only all-weather, noncooperative sensor for [detect-and-avoid] and no existing airborne radar currently enables commercial aircraft considering size, weight, power and cost drivers,” the company says.
Reliable points out that radar can detect objects in all weather conditions and provide the range to an object, the speed of that object and if it is coming or going all in one detection.
The company has also hired Marc Pos, a former Honeywell Aerospace employee who was recently a “radar system fellow,” to lead radar design.
“Developing a reliable [detect-and-avoid] solution that can be certified for operations in the [National Airspace] will be a win for the industry,” says Pos, a senior fellow at Reliable Robotics. “I’m looking forward to growing the radar division and expanding the capabilities of Reliable’s Airspace Integration Solution.”
Reliable Robotics is initially pursuing FAA certification for retrofitting and flying Cessna Caravans with its continuous autopilot engagement system. The startup is aiming to fly automated cargo operations using the Caravan in the U.S.
