• 01 Jul 2023 06:54 PM
• 0

Jump Aero’s “Electronic Parachute”

Jump Aero announced on June 7 that it completed a project to develop an “electronic parachute” for eVTOL aircraft. In a press release, Jump said that the technology was “an adaptive flight controller pre-trained in simulation for various failure scenarios with a machine-learned (ML) neural network.” The technology will enable AAM aircraft to “experience smaller disturbances and improved controllability in the event of in-flight damage.”

The project, on which Jump worked with the California Institute of Technology, was part of a Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) research contract awarded by the US Air Force’s Agility Prime program in April 2021. Jump stated that adaptive flight controller “was flight tested against a static flight controller during in-flight failure scenarios to test the theory that the adaptive/ML controller could improve aircraft handling by preventing significant attitude deviation or altitude loss. Upon completion of the investigation, the adaptive ML controller outperformed the baseline controller in both vertical velocity error and angular deviation by 11% to 83% at all failure test points in which statistical data could be collected.”