Developing Flight Management and Mission Planning Software for Electric Aircrafts

Technology never stops, and all-electric airplanes are now a reality. More than that, passenger jets have already been tested and will hopefully soon carry people across states and countries. The electric aircraft market is actually projected to grow sixfold by 2032, from $7.91 billion to $50.86 billion.

This kind of increase is owing to the field’s versatility, as both commercial and army models are seeing interest, fueling investments in the industry. But, while the industry is changing rapidly, faster than its players thought, the only way it can keep up such a pace is by using the best tools at its disposal.

That doesn’t just include batteries, charging stations, and plane parts. Software is just as integral as it has to calculate the plane’s capacity for travel, assess the onboard electronics, and use very little energy. Although batteries have been a consistent sticking point, a high-quality flight management platform for aircraft is just as vital in supporting EV flights.

Giving the crew, those in the aircraft and on the ground, the tools to control the plane, monitor its performance, and ensure its safety is crucial. However, such software requires custom development as the market isn’t yet saturated with popular solutions. In this article, we will describe how to create flight management systems for all-electric aircraft and what makes them usable.

Key Features of Flight Management and Mission Planning Software for Electric Aircraft

As with any type of software, some foundational functionality forms the base of a good electric aircraft solution. This section will discuss the most important features to include during custom software development for electric aircraft. We’ll touch upon each feature’s value and show how they lay the groundwork for more unique functionality.

Route Optimization and Energy Efficiency

A must-have for any aircraft, a system that calculates energy usage and builds the perfect route elevates any vehicle. It improves resource use, stretching the battery capacity to prolong flights and ensure the best results. Thanks to that, an already good aircraft can truly shine and set a new bar, attracting investments and cementing its spot on the market.

Implementing this feature requires map integration with real-time data sync so that the flight management systems for all-electric aircraft can update the route regularly. Plus, AI in aircraft can constantly assess energy usage, find ways to limit it, and analyze flight info for the future.

Energy Usage Forecasting

Building off the previous feature and the potential for AI enhancement, onboard software should be able to calculate the aircraft’s energy expenditure in flight. While you may have specific quotations pre-takeoff, weather conditions and changes in flight path affect them greatly. As a result, real-time forecasting can even determine whether your aircraft will make it to its destination.

The algorithm should calculate all variables, including the aircraft’s systems and battery capacity, to assess how energy usage fluctuates during the flight. This makes scheduling easier, as control teams can estimate the length of training flights and log results for further analytics.

Weather Forecasting

As we’ve mentioned, weather can play a pivotal role in electric aircraft flights, especially as these vehicles tend to be lighter than their regular counterparts. A system that analyzes current weather and predicts changes can help protect the aircraft and prolong its flight.

For example, if the system detects an oncoming storm, using data from local forecasters or its own analytics, you can change the route to avoid putting the aircraft at risk. Or, if the weather seems to be clear with a favorable wind, the onboard systems can recalculate the flight speed and length.

Landing and Charging Station Mapping

The current crop of electric aircraft doesn’t match their traditional alternatives in terms of “fuel” capacity yet, which makes charging stations essential. In addition to mapping routes, your flight management platform for aircraft should account for charging stations and possible landing spots.

Keeping the aircraft’s map connected to accessible databases makes it easier to update with newly built stations. Integrate your software with existing APIs to guarantee that your data is always up to date.

Air Traffic Tracking

While the sky isn’t exactly a New York City street in terms of traffic jams, it’s still absolutely necessary to track what aircraft is in the sky, where it’s headed, and what route it’s taking. This makes traffic management tools essential for flight scheduling and routing.

Integrate your solution with global flight tracking APIs to make sure you can see all objects in the sky. This lets you decide on takeoff and landing and guarantees uninterrupted flights.

Battery Health Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance

Few things could be worse for an electric aircraft outside of the battery failing mid-flight. Monitoring its capacity and health allows the company to provide maintenance services before they become emergency work. This extends battery life, prevents accidents, and allows you to easily schedule flights without any disruption.

Flight Data Logging and Post-Flight Analysis

There’s a lot to glean from an aircraft’s flight, from understanding ways to minimize energy use to studying weather patterns. That’s why your flight management platform for aircraft should collect analytics on each flight and provide tools to go through them after the landing. This is yet another feature where AI may come in handy to offer a more in-depth look at the data.

Key Technology Stack and Tools

Here are the tools and technologies we recommend for building modern flight management software for electric aircraft.

• Backend Development: Our team prefers Python or Node.js as both guarantee ease of integration and scalable processing. Meanwhile, RESTful API and GraphQL are perfect for instant data sync.

• Frontend Development: React or Angular are our prime picks for flight software, as they allow the design to be responsive, straightforward, and easy to adjust.

• Data Processing and Machine Learning: It’s between TensorFlow and PyTorch for the title of our favorite tool for forecasting and algorithm training. These help your software estimate energy use, build optimized routes, and assess weather conditions.

• Real-Time Data Integration: MQTT, WebSockets, or Kafka will help to provide instant information on weather and routing changes, energy use, and other objects’ flight paths.

• Mapping and GIS Tools: Google Maps API, OpenStreetMap, or ArcGIS are suitable for building and visualizing routes, mapping charging stations, and tracking flights in the area.

• Battery Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Tools: Nuvation and Honeywell both offer solutions to manage your energy use and battery life, making it easy to spot the need for maintenance work in the aircraft. The same tools should be used to monitor battery temperature, as overheating could lead to the aircraft being disabled or damaged.

• Data Encryption and Security: TLS/SSL is a must-have to keep communication between your aircraft and the ground system secure and provide privacy and document control. Also, OAuth 2.0 will prevent unauthorized access to your software through the API.

Challenges in Developing Flight Management Software for Electric Aircraft

Even if you rely on project outsourcing to create your flight management platform for aircraft, it’s important to know the typical challenges that may arise in the process. This will help you understand the pivotal parts of your software and find ways to navigate its complexities.

Battery Constraints

No matter how well-made your software is, it can’t physically change the aircraft’s battery limits. Granted, a good system will stretch those limits by optimizing energy usage and routing, but there is a hard line that you just can’t cross. That means that, strangely enough, a system that’s too powerful and has too many advanced features could be a poor fit.

Placing sprawling flight management systems for all-electric aircraft into models with weak batteries would just result in excessive energy drain. Instead, try to adjust your software’s performance and energy consumption based on each generation of aircraft you service.

Data Integration

As we mentioned above, there is plenty of data to collect, sync, and analyze for electric aircraft and its flights. However, that data comes from different sources, in various formats, and doesn’t always match your processing protocols. Finding ways to efficiently convert it, clean it up, and ensure that it’s error-free is a prime challenge for your software.

Consider something as simple as a crew roster shared from another operator's system. That data may be encrypted, incomplete, or just stored in a format you don’t use. It’s up to your solution to untangle that and present a clear visual with all the necessary info to your own crew.

Regulatory Compliance

The Federal Aviation Administration in the US has its own rules for electric aircraft, and other regions are sure to follow suit. While Transport Canada hasn’t released any specific rules yet, they are working on it. This puts software developers in a position to keep their solutions compliant with local regulations or risk having the aircraft grounded for good. Always make sure to have legal counsel who can confirm your software ticks all regulatory boxes.

User Experience Design

Control panels for aircraft are notoriously hard to parse, but your ground controllers and pilots should have no such problems. Keep the UX straightforward with minimal intervention required to get data and analytics and manage the aircraft’s flight.

Conclusion

The promising electric aircraft industry will only keep expanding, driving demand for flight management systems of all-electric aircraft. With Integrio’s guide to developing flight software, you can take your own approach to the field and create a unique custom solution.

We’ve given tips on addressing typical challenges, implementing essential features, and choosing an optimal tech stack. However, theoretical knowledge doesn’t replace real-life experience with cases in this field. Integrio is ready to offer help with flight management software development.

Our team has worked with the aviation industry before and we can offer consultations on the best way to structure a project, achieve regulatory compliance, and make an impactful solution. Alternatively, we can also lend our skills in creating a custom flight management platform for aircraft.

Integrio works with dedicated developers and full outsourcing models, providing a full-stack team that handles everything from research to design to testing. Ultimately, you get a complete product with a high level of polish made by a team of professionals.

Over 20+ years in the custom development market, we have worked with clients from the US, Canada, and Europe. Though our initial expertise lay in Java, we have since expanded to a variety of new technologies to accommodate our devs’ ambition and thirst for knowledge. If you’d like to see all we have to offer, let’s schedule a consultation and see how we can help.