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Power

Improving Battery Design for eVTOL Aircraft With Simulation

Batteries for eVTOL aircraft need to deliver high power for efficient takeoff and landing, as well as high energy for the cruise period. To meet these demands, designers must consider the power–energy tradeoff of batteries and integrate a reliable battery management system into the overall design. Read on to learn more.

Application Briefs

Aerospace

Morphing Aircraft Systems

Inspired by natural phenomena, a Purdue research team is developing morphing systems for hypersonic vehicles that respond to their environment.

Application Briefs

Power

Lilium Starts Production of eVTOL Jet Batteries

The company describes its battery back as comprised of lithium-ion cells with silicon-dominant anodes that will allow for higher energy, power, and fast-charging capabilities than graphite anode cells. The battery packs are being designed to meet EASA’s aircraft safety requirements.

Briefs

Materials

New Research on Noise Reduction for Next Generation Aircraft Engines

A study published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, reveals for the first time how noise is generated and propagated from these engines, technically known as boundary layer ingesting (BLI) ducted fans.

Briefs

Aerospace

‘Nanostitches’ Enable Lighter and Tougher Composite Materials

To save on fuel and reduce aircraft emissions, engineers are looking to build lighter, stronger airplanes out of advanced composites. These engineered materials are made from high-performance fibers that are embedded in polymer sheets. The sheets can be stacked and pressed into one multilayered material and made into extremely lightweight and durable structures.

Application Briefs

Data Acquisition

UAV In-Flight Software Upgrades

During a recent demonstration, Collins Aerospace and Parasanti proved they could use UAVs to install software upgrades on other UAVs to update them in-flight.

Technology Report

Manned Systems

UAE Previews Autonomous Future at DriftX

Publicly available autonomous vehicles have been operating in Abu Dhabi since 2021, providing over 16,000 rides covering more than 300,000 km (186,400 miles). If the organizers and supporters of...

Application Briefs

Design

Airbus to Fly Prototype eVTOL This Year

The CityAirbus NextGen prototype electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft made its public debut during an unveiling ceremony in Donauwörth, Germany on March 7, 2024.

Application Briefs

Aerospace

Flight Testing Microvanes and Riblets

The Air Force Operational Energy Office (SAF/IE), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have partnered together in seeking well-developed, commercially viable technologies to reduce drag, and therefore fuel consumption, on a number of USAF legacy aircraft, including the C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules, and KC-135 Stratotanker.

Articles

Aerospace

Advances in Multi-UAV Operations

As technology matures and operational concepts evolve, MUM-T missions, synchronized flights, and the corresponding required advances in UAV flight control systems will undoubtedly become cornerstones of modern military strategies.

Articles

RF & Microwave Electronics

RF-Cyber for Counter-UAS

Enabling the emerging associated drone-powered economy will require a new generation of counter-drone or counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) to support the growth of safe and secure drone adoption.

Application Briefs

Aerospace

New Satellite Connectivity for Air Force Research Aircraft

Intelsat will supply new satellite connectivity terminals on several different U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) aircraft, according to a Feb. 14 announcement by the satellite network operator.

Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

AI Co-Pilot Enhances Human Precision for Safer Aviation

Meet the Air-Guardian, a system developed by researchers at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. As modern pilots grapple with an onslaught of information from multiple monitors, especially during critical moments, Air-Guardian acts as a proactive copilot.

News

Unmanned Systems

Q&A: Owl AI Making Better ADAS Systems with Help from Drones

Owl AI has steadily been improving the SWaP-C (Size, Weight, Power and Cost) of the electronics in its thermal camera sensors while also improving capability. The company’s...

Articles

Energy

Approximating the Material Stresses and System Requirements for Hypersonic Flight

The challenges associated with hypersonic flight are significant in that the drag forces, temperatures, and heat flux put large demands on materials. First and foremost is managing the exposure to high temperatures that will be in excess of 1,000 °C.

Briefs

Electronics & Computers

New Method to Measure Wind Speed Could Unlock Drones’ Potential

Dr. Marc Compere, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach Campus, recently described a new approach to measuring wind effects.

Briefs

Robotics, Automation & Control

Report on Human Factors Issues Likely to Affect Air-Launched Effects

Air-Launched Effects (ALEs) are a concept for operating small, inexpensive, attritable, and highly autonomous unmanned aerial systems that can be tube launched from aircraft.

Application Briefs

Propulsion

Hybrid Electric Aircraft Demonstrator

After several years of travelling between Tarbes and Toulouse on a regular basis to oversee EcoPulse’s development, Airbus Project Leader William Llobregat found himself back onsite in November 2023 with his team, and those of Daher and Safran. The occasion? The first EcoPulse test flight.

Application Briefs

Materials

Cold Spray Technology

Naval Air Systems Command
Naval Air Station North Island, CA
(619) 545-3415
www.navair.navy.mil

In the realm of naval aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul, a transformative technology is...

News

Electronics & Computers

GM Hydrotec Boss Readies Fuel Cells for Commercial Deployment

Call it a “technology-meets-the-moment” place in the transportation sector’s innovation timeline. After decades of concentrated development work, GM’s fuel-cell...

Articles

Communications

More Airports Test RF as Counter Measure for UAS in Restricted Airspace

More airports are starting to adopt and test the use of radio frequency (RF) mitigation techniques to counter the operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in violation of civilian airspace rules.

Briefs

Robotics, Automation & Control

A Simpler Method for Learning to Control a Robot

Researchers from MIT and Stanford University have devised a new machine-learning approach that could be used to control a robot, such as a drone or autonomous vehicle, more effectively and efficiently in dynamic environments where conditions can change rapidly.

Application Briefs

Aerospace

Mobile Counter Unmanned Aircraft System

Teledyne FLIR Defense has signed a contract with Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Norway to provide its Cerberus XL mobile counter-unmanned aerial system as part of a total C-UAS solution for Ukraine.

Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Learning Defects From Aircraft NDT Data

Non-destructive evaluation of aircraft production is optimized and digitalized with Industry 4.0. The aircraft structures produced using fiber metal laminate are traditionally inspected using water-coupled ultrasound scans and manually evaluated.

Application Briefs

Unmanned Systems

PHASA-35 Stratospheric Flight

British engineers have successfully completed a stratospheric flight trial of BAE Systems’ High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) - PHASA-35.

Application Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Multispectral Airborne Reconnaissance System

Collins Aerospace has announced the completion of flight testing for the MS-110 Multispectral Airborne Reconnaissance System to enter operational service.

Application Briefs

Aerospace

Next Generation Airborne Navigation System

Northrop Grumman Corporation has conducted a successful flight test of its advanced airborne navigation solution, Embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) / Inertial Navigation System (INS) Modernization, known as EGI-M.

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

Deep Image Prior Amplitude SAR Image Anonymization

Synthetic Aperture Radar images are a powerful tool for studying the Earth’s surface. They are radar signals generated by an imaging system mounted on a platform such as an aircraft or satellite. As the platform moves, the system emits sequentially high-power electromagnetic waves through its antenna.

Articles

Unmanned Systems

Advances in Military Avionics Technologies Create New Challenges for RF Test and Measurement

One of the common features of modern military avionics systems is the adoption of high-frequency and millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications to achieve higher data rates and enhanced resistance to interference.