5G, AI Team Up to Optimize Military Fueling

Armed with 5G network technology, AI, and edge computing resources, a pilot project under development at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island aims to create an optimized refueling system designed to boost readiness for military aircraft.

Drones Navigate Unseen Environments via Liquid Neural Networks

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have introduced a method for robust flight navigation agents to master vision-based fly-to-target tasks in intricate, unfamiliar environments.

Training a Quadrotor Drone to Cope with Collisions

Advanced technology plays a vital role in search and rescue operations after natural disasters such as earthquakes. Thermal imaging equipment and sensitive listening devices are deployed to seek out signs of life.

Using 3D Printing to Strengthen Jet Engines

Skoltech engineers have used a 3D printer to fabricate — and investigate the mechanical characteristics of — samples of bronze-steel alloys previously unknown to materials science.

Robotic Wing Could Improve Drone Performance

Ornithological animals have always benefited from folding their wings during upstroke. So, a Swedish-Swiss research team has constructed a robotic wing that can flap like a bird.

Shark Skin Inspires Functional Surface Film for Aircraft

Following nature's example, Lufthansa Technik and BASF have jointly developed the functional surface film AeroSHARK for commercial aircraft.

Using Small Drones to Monitor Volcanoes

A team at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has recently been assessing the potential for using a small, portable observation drone in remote regions.

New Coatings Reduce Impact Ice Adhesion Strength

Researchers at NASA Langley are developing polymer coatings that reduce impact ice adhesion strength.

Enhancing Fault Isolation and Detection for Electric Powertrains of UAVs

NASA’s System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is developing innovative data solutions to assure safe, rapid, and repeatable access to a transformed National Airspace System.

Laser-Light-Based Accelerometer

The tiny device accurately measures acceleration in smaller navigation systems and other devices.

Small But Mighty: Stratospheric Microballooons

A zero-emission reusable stratospheric balloon developed by Urban Sky for remote sensing could one day be used for real-time wildfire monitoring.

3D-Printed Catalysts Propel Hypersonic Flight

Ultra-efficient catalysts were developed that are cost-effective to make and simple to scale.

AI Pilot Can Navigate Crowded Airspace

A team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University believe they have developed the first AI pilot that enables autonomous aircraft to navigate a crowded airspace.

Vertiport Assessment and Mobility Operations System

It is widely believed that Advanced Air Mobility is poised to have a significant societal impact in the coming years to move people and cargo more rapidly and efficiently.

Self-Healing Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite

NASA has developed a new metal matrix composite (MMC) that can repair itself from large fatigue cracks that occur during the service life of a structure.

A Systems Engineering Approach to Sustainable Power Systems

Research and development work continue to deliver cleaner, more efficient, and more diverse ways of generating the energy we need to power modern society.

Teaching Drones How to Navigate Real-World Weather

For drones to autonomously perform necessary but quotidian tasks, they must be able to adapt to wind conditions in real time.

Active Flow Control System for Simple-Hinged Flaps

This simple, elegant invention can control flow separation resulting from the high flap deflections required by simple-hinged flap systems making such flaps a viable option for aircraft designers.

Unmanned Hover Plane

The Trojan Unmanned Hover Plane (UHP) is a one-of-a-kind system that bridges the gap between the need to hover and the need to reach long ranges, giving it the ability to perform aerial missions with pinpoint precision.

Method Pinpoints Microscale Damage in Metal

The process predicts when and where microscopic cracks will occur before they become catastrophic.

Fixed-Wing Angle eVTOL

New design removes the need for mechanisms to perform active tilting of the wings or rotors, reducing system mass.

Anti-Phase Noise Suppression Rotor Technologies

Acoustic optimization for anti-phase asymmetric rotor.

Improved Fixed-Wing Gust Load Alleviation Device

Gust load alleviation is an increasing concern for the design of fixed-wing aircraft with ultra-high aspect wings.

Outer Aileron Yaw Damper

A lightweight alternative to rudders for aircraft with spanwise adaptive wings.

Aeronautics in the 21st Century: Safe. Sustainable. Smart.

Aviation is emerging aggressively from the pandemic to turn setbacks into comebacks.

Propelling the Future of Sustainable Aviation

Electric aircraft hold tremendous potential to improve emission, noise, and operating economics across a range of different applications in support of the goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Painting 3D-Printed Objects

Engineers have created a highly effective way to paint complex 3D-printed objects, such as lightweight frames for aircraft and biomedical stents, that could save manufacturers time and money and provide new...

Embracing Agile Product Development

We've made some impressive strides from both a societal and industry perspective in the face of this unrelenting pandemic. And while the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry has been hit exceptionally...