Preparation work included updates to the hydraulic system, integration of Beacon subsystems within the airframe, and installation of pilot interfaces in the cockpit. Alongside these modifications, Scaled Composites and Northrop Grumman jointly conducted hangar tests of the Beacon autonomy ecosystem on the aircraft.
Project engineer Yuto Shinagawa said, “We had the challenge of taking an airplane that has only flown once and converting it into a versatile autonomous testbed, which demonstrates Scaled’s agility and flexibility in achieving new test objectives. One example was assuring flight safety when engaging the autonomous system and how to effectively integrate protections into the flight controls. Great progress has been made toward realizing the Beacon autonomy ecosystem with the Model 437.”
Scaled Composites applied its wide experience in aircraft modification to rapidly iterate autonomous systems for the Beacon ecosystem aboard the Model 437 testbed. Combined with Northrop Grumman’s expertise in autonomy, the programme has enabled a significant acceleration in the development and refinement of autonomy software.
