Universal Avionics (UA) has obtained Technical Standard Order (TSO) authorisation of the first Aperture visual data management solution as it initiates serial production for a major avionics OEM. The company says it is seeing strong interest from aircraft manufacturers and operators. The authorisation clears the way for initial delivery of the system for enhancing safety and improving decision-making for flight crews and mission specialists.

Introduced to market at NBAA-BACE 2021, this authorisation from the US FAA allows delivery of the unit to an OEM for use in its flight deck offering on new aircraft. In this instance, Aperture can process eight video inputs and support four video outputs with near-zero latency at the highest level of integrity in commercial aviation (Design Assurance Level A). Imagery from an enhanced vision system (EVS) camera and other sensors is presented to the flight crew, enhancing situational awareness.

Developments of Aperture that are currently underway will expand its capabilities to include additional video/sensor channels, low latency video aggregation and manipulation, and the generation of symbology and synthetic imagery. Further developments will enable pilots to take advantage of real-time content analysis and augmented reality, such as visual positioning, obstacle detection, taxi guidance and traffic awareness, leveraging Universal's extensive competencies in vision systems.

“The TSO authorisation of Aperture is a critical step in the development of an innovative solution that will change how we use video in aircraft,” says UA CEO Dror Yahav. “This approval validates the technology and allows us to continue to innovate solutions for the future.”