Murzilli Consulting and Hionos partner together to offer specialised software-based consulting to the drone and advanced aviation industry

The new U-space regulations have empowered drone and advanced aviation organisations to further develop and implement their solutions in Europe, but there are still significant barriers that stand in the way before they can begin to integrate and sell their products on the commercial market. Some of these barriers include certification requirements, while others point to more complex issues like software development and testing.

At Murzilli Consulting, we have senior software consultants who are able to support certification and strategy efforts for drone-based software solutions, but when it comes to the actual development or practical implementation of various software solutions, we need to call on one of our partners for support. 

The new U-space regulations have empowered drone and advanced aviation organisations to further develop and implement their solutions in Europe, but there are still significant barriers that stand in the way before they can begin to integrate and sell their products on the commercial market. Some of these barriers include certification requirements, while others point to more complex issues like software development and testing.

Bern, Switzerland, 31 May 2023 — At Murzilli Consulting, we have senior software consultants who are able to support certification and strategy efforts for drone-based software solutions, but when it comes to the actual development or practical implementation of various software solutions, we need to call on one of our partners for support. 

This is the context surrounding our decision to partner with Hionos. 

Hionos is a company based in France that has developed a certified autopilot software as well as certified software development environments for uncrewed aerial systems (UAS). Hionos started as a flight controller developer to help drone operators navigate and control drones, which is similar to a flight management system you might expect to find on a computer.

Because most organisations pride themselves on their in-house flight management systems, Hionos quickly moved to propose a new product: Pulsar Factory, which is a development environment that allows organisations to create their own systems with required specifications while simultaneously being backed by the existing autopilot system. 

All products offered by Hionos are in compliance with the current, demanding aviation standards that are in place, thanks to the team's extensive experience developing safety-critical software systems for crewed aviation.

The experts at Hionos are able to tackle a variety of highly complex software-specific problems that perfectly complement the regulatory and certification expertise of the Murzilli Consulting team. 

For drone manufacturers, this means that we are able to offer end-to-end services from product development to consulting services for both crewed and uncrewed aviation software solutions. 

Services include the following: 

• DO-178C compliant software development
• Software environment and testing
• Software implementation
• Software adaptation to specific needs
• Regulatory and strategic consulting
• Certification services on a software and product level

When asked about the new partnership with Hionos, Lorenzo Murzilli, CEO of Murzilli Consulting, said, “Partnering with Hionos will allow us to offer a full range of software-based solutions from development and implementation to strategy and certification. It’s a rare opportunity for drone manufacturers to be able to have this expertise throughout the entire product lifecycle.”

Hionos CEO added to this that “To help drone manufacturers face regulations and, in particular, certification issues, it is important to accompany them all along the process from safety analysis at the system level to the actual certifiable software. Partnering with Murzilli Consulting allows us to do that in a highly efficient way. We provide solutions to manufacturers from the beginning of the certification process to the actual certified software.”

Murzilli Consulting is a digital aviation consultancy firm founded in 2020 by Lorenzo Murzilli and based in Bern, Switzerland, with further subsidiaries in Germany, Hungary and Poland. Our organisation is committed to helping clients succeed with their regulation and compliance strategies. We do this by acting as a digital outsourced regulatory department and working with clients to support them in establishing a high-performing internal regulatory function. Our primary focus is on emerging technologies in the sectors of crewed and uncrewed aviation, advanced air mobility and U-space (including all derivative focuses). 

Our team offers governments and private enterprises alike the opportunity to establish a high-performing internal regulatory function capable of tackling emerging technologies. Murzilli Consulting also can develop and implement regulatory strategies and roadmaps as well as execute specific projects such as UAS and USSP certification, design verification, SORA approvals and CE marking, among other services. Our customer base is unrivalled in the consulting industry and reflects the trust that leading drone organisations have in our services.

Hionos, created in 2016, has experience in software development for critical aeronautic embedded systems. Hionos develops Pulsar, an autopilot system that complies to the most demanding software standard used in avionics – DO-178C – required for the use of drones in places where security and safety are critical. It also develops Pulsar Factory, a software framework for modifying Pulsar, in order to get a perfect adaptation to the aircraft. Hionos French offices are located in Paris and Grenoble, and the company targets drone operations in the fields of logistics, inspection and public safety.