Once airliners are airborne, pilots typically connect and then monitor the performance of autopilots and flight-control computers until close to landing.
The company's goal is to create ways to direct planes taxiing around airports much like autopilots now routinely issue computer-generated commands during all phases of flight, they said.
Most airliners have autopilots which use sophisticated computer software to help pilots control the aircraft, used often during long periods of flying at the same altitude on long-haul flights.