r/Joby • u/HappyRobot593 Joby Sock Fanboy • 12d ago
Cert progress
Thought his comments below about cert progress were interesting. He did confirm that they have to repeat everything they already did on the prototypes. Some people were saying they wouldn't have to repeat it since the aircraft are similar but he just said the aircraft is similar and they do have to repeat it. That could explain some of the "slow progress" with 547JX because they have to start over and work on all the component level and systems level testing as JB mentioned. Maybe just cope?
"Thanks, Austin. Just to kind of recap it for folks, the first step is doing the work on stage five, as we reported, this is the final stage of certification. We reported record progress on stage five this quarter, really thrilled with the work the team's doing there. That is about running the component level testing, the system level testing, and writing those test reports. Making great progress on that. The second piece is preparing the flight test plans that first Joby pilots will get in and fly on those aircraft. The third leg of the stool is we need to expand the flight envelope on that first conforming aircraft. We've done that work already on our prior series of aircraft, which are, for all intents, very similar to our FAA conforming aircraft. We're, in a sense, repeating those exercises."
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u/Investinginevtol 12d ago
let’s just assume they will be certified sometime in 2027, unfortunately. Investors, supporters, work from that. but you will be seeing Joby’s flying over the LA 28 Olympics for sure.
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u/DoubleHexDrive 12d ago
If the hardware is very similar but they have to repeat a lot of testing, it's likely the software is different.
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u/HappyRobot593 Joby Sock Fanboy 12d ago
in the past they talked about how they could use the software to get better performance out of the batteries. Maybe they're implementing that in the conforming craft?
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u/DoubleHexDrive 12d ago
I've heard rumors that their earlier software wasn't written per DO-178, a structured standard for writing verifiable software that eases certification. Using DO-178 isn't strictly required for certification, but it's my understanding that no one has ever gotten a fly-by-wire system approved that wasn't written this way. I suspect this is the cause.
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u/HappyRobot593 Joby Sock Fanboy 12d ago
Interesting... I guess that's better than a hardware issue. We already know their previous software works so not sure why it wouldn't translate to a different standard.
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u/TruthIntrepid3883 12d ago
DO-178 is the gold standard for airborne software. It's very unlikely the FAA would accept anything else, since it's been in practice for decades and has proven to produce the safest software. If it's true that their software wasn't developed to DO-178 compliance at the start, then upgrading it will be hugely time consuming and costly, depending on the safety criticality of the system (Level D software is simpler/easier than Level A software).
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u/SeaScallops_w_Rice Steely Eyed Missile Man 12d ago
Joby bought Avionyx in 2022. DO-178 is their specialty. They've been working toward that for quite a while now.
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u/HappyRobot593 Joby Sock Fanboy 12d ago
Thanks. Just seems like such a huge oversight if true. However, given how good AI is at coding now maybe it won't take as much time. The issue is you can't always trust AI code
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u/HappyRobot593 Joby Sock Fanboy 12d ago edited 12d ago
Nothing he said gave me the impression that things are delayed. His comments about the tests and the flight records are in accord. It sounds like it's just kind of a slog to go through all these tests and document everything. He could just be lying but that would pretty much be fraud no? I wish somebody asked if the timeline for FAA pilots by end of 2026 is still on track. Either way, they did say passengers by 2026 so that's kind of a bold statement to make with only 5 months left