Varon Vehicles, RTI announce Collaboration on Autonomous System Software Frameworks

Varon Vehicles and Real-Time Innovations (RTI), a software framework company for autonomous systems, announced on August 17th that they will be collaborating to integrate RTI’s software connectivity framework into Varon Vehicles’ Traffic Management Systems (TMS).

The technology, dubbed RTI Connext® DDS enables the future of UAM by supplying the robust software connectivity framework for all UAM vehicle sensors and systems to communicate vehicle intelligence in milliseconds. Connext underpins vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications with security and resilience, while enabling the vehicle management infrastructure to scale according to demand, all while optimizing control and efficiency. Additionally, Connext offers commercial RTCA DO-178C and EUROCAE ED-12C DAL A certification evidence, accelerating the path to UAM safety certification and airworthiness.

Varon Vehicles is looking at urban air mobility as an answer to mobility infrastructure problems. Credit // Varon Vehicles

“We are proud to work with RTI as we plan for implementation of our operations and progress with the integration of the components required in our Infrastructure Networks. RTI Connext delivers the communication and data fusion capabilities necessary to enable high-end reliability and safety of all the systems we need to bring together,” says Felipe Varon, CEO and Founder. “Data management robustness, reliability, and real-time performance are critical in the highly automated environments required in our Infrastructure Networks.”

“Urban air mobility platforms and ground infrastructure systems have unique requirements and face complex challenges as they move towards wide-spread, commercial deployment,” said Chip Downing, Senior Market Development Director, A&D at RTI. “Futuristic transport systems like these provide the industry with safe, convenient options. We are pleased to work with Varon Vehicles as they drive UAM innovation and build a powerful infrastructure system for UAM in Latin America.”

RTI Connext serves as the connectivity framework for both autonomous air and ground support systems in over 1,700 design wins, including over 250 autonomous systems.

Why it’s important: Varon Vehicles’ decision to leverage out of the box, readily available integrations, including the RTI Connext system, should allow the aerial mobility company to more readily deploy their product while assuming the benefits of a software package that already has considerable application scope among current use cases. More generally, companies that offer full-stack solutions to traffic management and deconfliction, as well as detect and avoid technology are becoming common integration companies for aerial mobility upstarts that are managing multiple challenging aspects of new aircraft design, and seek opportunities to reduce degrees of freedom (especially with regards to entire new system ID and design).