Avionics for drones and eVTOL

Avionics for drones and eVTOL: what each system does

Updated November 3, 2026

Avionics are the electronic systems that sense, compute and decide how the vehicle flies. On an uncrewed aircraft they replace much of what a pilot does; on a piloted eVTOL they share the work with the pilot and must meet the safety objectives of crewed aviation.

The avionics stack

System	Role	Subcategory
Flight controller	Stabilises the vehicle and follows the flight plan	Flight controllers
Mission computer	Runs autonomy, perception and payload processing	Mission computers
Visual navigation	Navigates when GNSS is unavailable or degraded	Visual navigation
Detect and avoid	Spots traffic and obstacles and avoids them	Detect and avoid
I/O converters	Connect sensors and actuators over the right buses	I/O converters
Flight deck	Displays and controls for the pilot	Flight deck systems

The avionics depend on sensors for their inputs and on communications to stay connected with the ground.

What to compare

Design assurance: development to DO-178C (software) and DO-254 (hardware), and the design assurance level (DAL) supported. This is essential for certified operations and piloted eVTOL.
Redundancy: single, dual or triple channels, and how failures are detected and isolated.
Interfaces: CAN, Ethernet, ARINC 429, RS-422 and discrete I/O.
Processing power for autonomy and perception workloads, and its power consumption.
Environmental qualification: temperature, vibration, humidity and EMC, typically to DO-160 or MIL-STD-810/461.
Software ecosystem: open-source autopilots such as PX4 and ArduPilot, or proprietary certified software.
Size, weight and power (SWaP), which matters most on small aircraft.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a flight controller and a mission computer?

The flight controller keeps the vehicle stable and on its flight path, with hard real-time and safety requirements. The mission computer runs heavier, less critical tasks such as perception, AI and payload processing, and sends high-level commands to the flight controller.

What are DO-178C and DO-254?

Standards for the development of airborne software (DO-178C) and complex electronic hardware (DO-254). Certification authorities accept them as the way to show that avionics are developed with the rigour their criticality requires.

What is a design assurance level (DAL)?

A level from A (most critical) to E assigned to each function according to the effect of its failure. The higher the level, the more demanding the development and verification process.