Hey everyone, it's time for another monthly update!
October has been another busy month here at Atmos Avionics, and we've got quite a bit to share. From finalizing hardware configurations and expanding Draco's capabilities to some exciting news about upcoming events, things are continuing to move in the right direction!
Hardware Updates
One of our biggest milestones this month has been finalizing the board configurations for both our power and sensor boards for production!
This is a significant step forward for us, as it means we now know exactly what will be in the aircraft. A lot of thought, testing, and revisions, so, so many revisions, have gone into getting these designs where we want them, and we're excited to see things coming together.
As part of these updates, we've also expanded Draco's RS-232 capabilities to support up to four independent serial channels. This gives us considerably more flexibility when it comes to communicating with other avionics, displays, and external systems. We are maintaining the Wi-Fi capability as well as Ethernet. Interoperability has been one of our primary goals with Draco from the beginning, and expanding the number of available communication interfaces is another step toward making that happen.
We've also added hardware support for audio alerts!
While the hardware capability is now accounted for, the software implementation will be coming at a later date through a free firmware update. Audio alert functionality will also depend on having a supported display configuration. We wanted to make sure the necessary hardware was included now rather than limit what Draco could do in the future.
(side note, all firmware updates regardless of features added will be free. If the hardware is capable you will not pay extra for the software to also be capable from an Atmos Avionics product.)
CAN Bus and Rotax Integration
Work is continuing on CAN bus integration, with our initial focus remaining on the Rotax 912 iS, 915 iS, and 916 iS engine families.
We've made progress on the groundwork necessary to support these engines, and we're continuing to work through the development and integration process.
Something we want to emphasize, though, is that our CAN bus implementation isn't being developed exclusively for Rotax.
Rotax is a natural starting point because it gives us an opportunity to support a very different engine management architecture than the conventional engines Draco was originally designed around. However, the underlying goal is much broader.
We're building this capability with future integrations in mind, and we've already been communicating with other industry partners about their CAN bus requirements and potential applications.
Ultimately, our goal is to make Draco flexible enough to work with a wide variety of engines, sensors, and avionics systems without forcing customers into a particular ecosystem. CAN bus support is an important part of that vision, and we're excited about the possibilities it opens up.
Atmos Avionics in EAA Sport Aviation!
If you missed it, Atmos Avionics was featured in the October 2026 edition of EAA Sport Aviation magazine!
This was a pretty exciting moment for us. We've put a tremendous amount of time and effort into getting Atmos Avionics and Draco to where they are today, and seeing our company featured in a publication like Sport Aviation is something we're incredibly proud of.
We also want to take a moment to thank everyone who has supported us along the way. Whether you've stopped by to talk with us at an event, reached out with questions, signed up to follow our progress, or simply told another pilot about what we're working on, we genuinely appreciate it.
We're a small company with some pretty ambitious goals, and the support we've received from the aviation community has meant a lot to us.
Looking Ahead: Sun 'n Fun and AirVenture 2027!
We're also excited to announce that Atmos Avionics is officially confirmed for the 2027 Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo!
You'll be able to find us at booth A-094, so if you're planning to attend, we'd love for you to stop by, check out what we're working on, and talk avionics with us!
We're also planning to return to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2027. We don't have our booth assignment confirmed just yet, but as soon as we do, we'll share that information in an upcoming update.
Getting to meet pilots, builders, and other people in the aviation industry face-to-face has been one of our favorite parts of building Atmos Avionics. We're looking forward to doing plenty more of that next year!
Until Next Time!
With the power and sensor board configurations finalized, expanded serial connectivity, continued CAN bus development, and some exciting events on the calendar, we've got plenty to keep us busy as we head toward the end of 2026.
There's still a lot of work ahead of us, but we're making steady progress toward bringing Draco to market, for real, and continuing to build the kind of flexible, affordable, and feature-rich avionics we've wanted to see in general aviation.
As always, thank you for following along and supporting Atmos Avionics. We look forward to sharing more with you next month!
Atmos Avionics
Dalton Software Engineer
Auto Hardware Engineer
