The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials joined Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, top local elected officials, and representatives from Reliable Robotics, a leader in safety-enhancing aviation technologies, to celebrate the opening of a new engineering and development center at its headquarters yesterday. Congresswoman Eshoo and California State Senator Josh Becker spoke at a ribbon-cutting event to commemorate the expansion and showcase innovation in the area.
“Reliable Robotics is on a mission to make aviation safer with technologies like auto-landing and auto-takeoff systems. It’s exciting to get a glimpse of the transformational aviation safety technology being developed in the 16th district,” said Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. “In my two decades in Congress, I have promoted policies that foster innovation in Silicon Valley, and I am thrilled that Reliable Robotics is leveraging our talented workforce.”
Dependable Robotics is developing high-precision advanced autopilot systems that will enable all-weather auto-taxi, auto-takeoff, and auto-landing without the need for new ground infrastructure, improving aviation safety. These technologies will increase access and make it possible to transport time-sensitive cargo like medical supplies to the more than 5,000 general aviation airports in our country that serve small towns and rural villages; only a small portion of these airports have airline service.
High-performance actuators, flight computers, and other components are being produced and tested internally by the team. This technology is the foundation of a continuous engagement autopilot, which will stop deadly aircraft mishaps caused by loss of control in flight, controlled flying into terrain, improper fuel management, and other factors.
“This expansion builds on our early investments in quality assurance processes, rigorous safety analysis, and information technology infrastructure, and enables our team to more quickly iterate and mature our designs,” said Aaron Piercy, Director of Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Quality at Reliable Robotics. “We’re focused on reaching our certification objectives, and this puts us in a great position to immediately scale our operations thereafter.”
The popular cargo plane Cessna Caravan, which services rural airports, will have the safety-enhancing equipment installed on it first. These systems may be modified for use on virtually any aircraft. The approval of Reliable Robotics’ G-1 issue report by the FAA is an important step towards the technology’s certification for commercial usage.
