Digital assistants for reducing workload and increasing collaboration (DARWIN) aims to develop technology that enables AI-based automation corresponding to Level 2 on the EASA scale for cockpit and flight operations, ensuring the same or higher level of safety with the same or lower workload as today’s full-crew operations.

DARWIN will be a system installed in the cockpit and integrating three technological enablers:

1. trustworthy machine reasoning platform – an underlying technology providing capabilities for rule-driven, transparent, and explainable decision aiding or decision making across the whole solution.

2. pilot state and task load monitor – capable of detecting pilot drowsiness, sleep, incapacitation during the flight, and the current and predicted task load along the planned flight trajectory.

3. human-AI teaming – dynamically distributing cockpit tasks between the pilot and digital assistants, ensuring the pilot always stays in the loop and in charge.

The digital assistants will perform the tasks assigned to them by the human-AI teaming enabler. The development of these assistants is not within the scope of the project; only a selected subset will be prototyped and matured.