Safety is at the core of our mission

The Product: The What

Our product offers pilots a cognitive assistant to help reduce their workload and provide them with the right information at the right time. The pilot can efficiently ask for and receive on-demand information with minimal distraction. Based on the flight context, Digital Copilot can offer assistance via contextual notifications. It gives both aural and visual alerts and allows radio communication, navigation, weather communication, and uses a speech-based interface. The heart of the Digital Copilot concept is its ability to infer pilot intent. This is complemented by integrating a unique set of decision-support algorithms and a grammar-based speech recognition system. It runs in conjunction with a commercial Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) on iPad and it automates “non-aviate” tasks.

Joyful woman and aviation tutor posing for camera in chopper

Mission: The Why

Safety is at the core of our mission. Digital Copilot is a safety enhancer for Pilots in General Aviation.

The Challenges: For Whom

Aviation faces major challenges including a shortage of pilots, an increasing number of single pilots flying complex airplanes, excessive workload, fatigue, and distractions. Digital Copilot minimizes each of these to a great extent. General Aviation Pilots and other single-pilot operations will benefit by safely navigating the world of flying. For the pilot, this translates to lower stress, more fun, and a safer flight. Ultimately, It saves the lives of pilots and accompanying passengers.

Technology: The How

Digital Copilot is a cognitive assistant that uses a combination of a hardware interface that connects to the aircraft audio system and a set of software algorithms that together improve the safety of single-pilot flights. Cognitive assistance is closely related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and it supports human decision-making. Cognitive assistance is typically enabled by Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) as well as location awareness. Its cooperative automation is designed to augment human cognition rather than replace it. Accurate and reliable inferences allow Digital Copilot to automatically deliver relevant information to the pilot based on context. Further, Digital Copilot monitors cockpit activities (including ATC communication) using natural speech recognition, answers questions, and pre-processes ATC directives for the pilot.

Female aviation technician repairing the motor of a propeller plane

Use Cases

Portrait of kind man shooting near aircraft

Enhanced Airport Safety: Automatic Traffic Separation Assistance

Mid-air collisions, particularly near airports, are a serious concern, with the majority resulting in fatalities. DECO is revolutionizing airport safety with its Automatic Traffic Separation Assistance technology.

DECO’s patent pending algorithm meticulously tracks all aircraft in the airport’s vicinity—both controlled and uncontrolled airports. It predicts future flight paths and maneuvers with remarkable accuracy, from initial approach to landing, or until departing aircraft leave the airport area. Even if an aircraft isn’t following standard traffic patterns, DECO anticipates its movements, providing significantly earlier warnings of potential conflicts. This crucial lead time gives pilots ample opportunity to avoid other traffic.

This advanced technology is especially beneficial in complex environments like airports with parallel runways, where DECO monitors all aircraft on all runways, ensuring comprehensive coverage and unparalleled safety.