Veronte Autopilot 4x flight control system

The Veronte Autopilot 4x is a triple-redundant flight control system from Embention for eVTOL aircraft, large drones and other aircraft that need a fail-operational flight computer. It is built around three internal autopilot cores, with the option to connect a fourth, external core, so that no single failure removes control of the aircraft.

An independent arbiter microprocessor, dissimilar from the autopilot cores, runs voting algorithms to decide which core commands the actuators at any moment. The design avoids a single point of failure: if the arbiter itself fails, control is handed to one of the cores and the mission continues. The unit carries nine IMUs, nine magnetometers, six barometers, three pitot sensors and six GNSS receivers, so every core has redundant sensing. The supported vehicle modes are autonomous, assisted, manual and fly-by-wire, and flight phases, automated routines and sensor fusion are configurable.

Main figures: the aerospace-grade unit weighs 615 g, operates from -20 °C to 70 °C and has an IP67 rating, which makes it suitable for unpressurized bays. The supply range is 6.5 V to 36 V, covering common 12 V and 24 V aircraft buses as well as higher-voltage battery systems. Redundancy is triple, the design assurance level is DAL-B and the software stack is proprietary.

For integration the autopilot offers CAN, I2C, RS-232, RS-485, PWM, analog and discrete I/O interfaces. It supports a companion computer for payload processing or higher-level autonomy, and it speaks STANAG 4586 as well as a proprietary protocol. Veronte Ops serves as the ground control software. A 4G communications module and a built-in ADS-B IN and OUT module are described by the maker for links to air traffic control and unmanned traffic management systems. Every unit goes through environmental stress screening with vibration and temperature stress before delivery.

On certification, the maker states that the hardware and software were developed with DO-178C and DO-254 design compliance at DAL-B, that the product is tested to DO-160G, and that a certification datapack with reliability evidence is supplied to support eVTOL and UAV certification programs.

Applications include multirotor, tilt-rotor, tilt-wing, autogyro and hybrid eVTOL aircraft, whose control modes can be adapted without changing the source code, as well as large unmanned aircraft, optionally piloted aircraft and dual-use military and civil platforms with manned or unmanned operation.