Flightworks Control

Flightworks Control — Open-Source GCS Built on SwiftVector Principles

Bringing aviation-inspired determinism to autonomous drone operations. First demo target: overnight fire perimeter monitoring. Alpha target: Q2 2026.

Follow Development Discuss Partnership / SBIR

What it is

Operator-first GCS with deterministic governance

Flightworks Control is an open-source Ground Control Station prototype in Swift/SwiftUI. It demonstrates deterministic state governance, explicit human approvals, and auditable decision trails for safety-critical drone operations.

Capabilities

Key features

Multi-asset task leases

Fleet-wide coordination through bounded, revocable task assignments. No authority escalation through delegation.

Deterministic reducers

Reducers enforce every state transition with explicit, reproducible rules. Same inputs always produce the same outputs.

Escalation-tier governance

4-tier deterministic escalation from Routine through Emergency, each with specific authorization requirements.

Degraded mode authority

Less information means less authority, never more. When comms fail, the autonomy envelope contracts.

Explicit approvals

Human approvals are recorded as state transitions with operator ID and timestamp.

Deterministic replay

Reproduce decisions exactly. SHA-256 hash chain audit trail supports incident analysis and SBIR review.

Roadmap

Fire-focused development phases

Flightworks Control development targets overnight fire perimeter monitoring as the first demonstration of governed autonomy. Alpha target: Q2 2026.

Phase 1 — Core Flight + Telemetry

Telemetry overview, map view, deterministic state transitions, and PX4 SITL integration.

Phase 2 — Sector Planning + Task Leases

Perimeter sector definition, asset assignment, and bounded task lease governance.

Phase 3 — Escalation + Degraded Mode

4-tier deterministic escalation, degraded mode authority contraction, and timeout ladders.

Phase 4 — Evidence + Replay

SHA-256 audit chain, deterministic replay, and exportable evidence packages for review.

Phase 5 — Fire Demo Integration

Full overnight perimeter monitoring scenario: multi-asset governance, battery rotation, after-action debrief.

Scope boundaries

What this prototype is NOT

Not a full-featured GCS with complete payload configuration.
Not a replacement for OEM applications or proprietary integrations.
Not a BVLOS-compliant flight system or certification-ready product.
Not certified through regulatory audits.
Not designed for hardware diversity beyond PX4 SITL.
Not cloud-dependent for critical decision making.

Architecture

SwiftVector control loop

Every decision flows through a deterministic control loop. Agents propose, reducers authorize, and state is the single source of truth.

Lead Demo

Fire perimeter monitoring

FireLaw is the first jurisdiction to exercise the full governance stack — multi-asset task leases, 4-tier escalation, degraded mode discipline, and overnight autonomous operations. The hardest problem where deterministic governance justifies its cost.

4-tier escalation model: Routine → Elevated → Critical → Emergency