SAE Update - March 2022 - 17

Wisk
TECH FOCUS:
AUTOMATED VEHICLES

Development assurance and safety are the focus areas of the new SAE S-18A
Autonomy Subcommittee.
recommended practices with regards to the specific
technical aspects of autonomous/UAS development.
AIR7121 will identify issues that are directed
towards the certification of unmanned aerial systems
(UAS), manned aircraft intended for operation in
urban environments and outside of established
rotorcraft regulations (eVTOL), and other aircraft and
systems that present unique challenges to system
safety assessment, through operational environment
and/or new technologies that are not able to use the
established Means of Compliance and for which
specific guidance has not yet been issued. The AIR
will identify the unique challenges of certification of
these aircraft and systems and identify which specific
issues will require revision or supplemental guidance
to ARP4754B and ARP4761A. By doing this, specific
gaps in those recommended practices could be
identified, and specific revisions and/or
supplementary products would be identified to cover
those gaps. AIR7121 will constitute a statement of
concerns, with findings and recommendations for
standards development activities.
In the end, this will benefit the greater aerospace
industry (which has already accepted ARP4754 and
UPDATE
ARP4761 as valuable practices)
by expanding the capability of
these well-established practices
to the autonomous/UAS
development space. This would
facilitate communication
between regulators and industry,
as well as increase collaboration
between industry members of
different design spaces.
It is worth noting that while
AIR7121 addresses the
development cycle for aircraft
and systems that implement
aircraft functions, more detailed
coverage of the issues with
software aspects of development
are found in SAE AIR6988 -
Artificial Intelligence in
Aeronautical Systems -
Statement of Concerns
developed by the G-34 Artificial
Intelligence in Aviation
Committee (see Update -
September 2021 edition). Both
S-18A and G-34 liaise closely on
these issues.
The S-18A committee aims to
ballot AIR7121 by the end of the
year and welcomes new
members. Anyone wishing to be
involved should contact Kevin
Bires at Kevin.Bires@sae.org. n
Judith Ritchie, Director, Government and
Industry Affairs, SAE Aerospace
Standards, wrote this article for Update.
March 2022
17
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21UPD09/index.php#/p/30 https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21UPD09/index.php#/p/30
SAE Update - March 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAE Update - March 2022
