Jump Aero and the California Institute of Technology will develop a machine learning-aided flight controller designed to help the U.S. Air Force boost the safety of emergency response aircraft.
This project supports USAF's Agility Prime program, which aims to speed up the development of commercially made air mobility vehicles applicable to civilian and military use cases, Jump Aero said Wednesday.
The adaptive flight controller would allow pilots to rapidly recalibrate the JA1 electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft when taking damage. JA1 transports first responders for emergency response missions.
USAF expects the new technology to increase the probability of a safe recovery when the aircraft is damaged in battle.
"We look forward to working with Professor Soon-Jo Chung's world-class autonomous systems controls laboratory at Caltech to mature this exciting new technology in the hope that a future electronic parachute will make our aircraft even more damage-tolerant," said Carl Dietrich, founder and president of Jump Aero.
The team will develop the technology under a phase one contract with USAF's Small Business Technology Transfer program.