Honeywell has created a new business unit to focus on all-electric urban air taxis, hybrid-electric unmanned cargo drones and delivery drones.
The unmanned aerial systems (UAS) business unit will combine Honeywell’s technology, software, services and certification experience for developing markets.
The UAS business unit will develop new products and services for air taxis, cargo drones, delivery drones and more including developing aircraft systems avionics, electric and hybrid-electric propulsion and thermal management. Flight services could include unmanned air traffic management and ground operations such as predictive aircraft maintenance analytics.
Some of the projects Honeywell will develop and test include:
- An autopilot system that ensures aircraft stability even if a pilot is “hands off” for extended periods of time.
- Detect and avoid algorithms to allow aircraft to automatically avoid oncoming traffic.
- Artificial intelligence software that tracks landing zones so aircraft can perform precise vertical landings every time.
