Explore the key advances impacting propulsion technologies and applications involved in aircraft propulsion, turbo-electric distributed propulsion, and hybrid electric aircraft propulsion systems.
A spherical prototype that can change its surface from smooth to dimpled, cuts through drag and generates lift. Underwater or aerial vehicles with dimples like golf balls...
The race is on for leadership in cislunar space, considered a gateway to the future of space exploration. Yet operating in this domain introduces unique challenges for propulsion systems. Read on to learn more about the progress being made on the matter.
Inspired by the movements of a tiny parasitic worm, Georgia Tech engineers have created a 5-inch soft robot that can jump as high as a basketball hoop. Their device, a silicone...
The Harvard RoboBee has long shown it can fly, dive, and hover like a real insect. But what good is the miracle of flight without a safe way to land? A storied engineering achievement by the Harvard...
An electrospray engine applies an electric field to a conductive liquid, generating a high-speed jet of tiny droplets that can propel a spacecraft. These miniature engines are...
Springtails, small bugs often found crawling through leaf litter and garden soil, are expert jumpers. Inspired by these hopping hexapods, roboticists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and...
From mountain goats that run up near-vertical rock faces to armadillos that roll into a protective ball, animals have evolved to adapt effortlessly to changes in their environment....
An innovative circuit design could enable miniature devices, such as microdrones and other microrobotics, to be powered for longer periods of time while staying...
In a recent study published in the journal eLife, an international research group has studied the relationship between electrical stimulation in stick insects’ leg muscles and the resultant torque (the twisting force that makes the leg move). Read on to learn what they found.
The future of AI for aerospace manufacturing…3D‐printed engines propel next industrial revolution…engineering a new approach to satellite design. Read these and other advances in this compendium of...
DNA-nanoparticle motors are exactly as they sound — tiny artificial motors that use the structures of DNA and RNA to propel motion by enzymatic RNA degradation. Essentially,...
Hydrogen internal combustion engines (H2-ICE) and hydrogen fuel cells still have challenges to meet to bring production of commercial and off-highway vehicles to fruition. More than a high-level...
Engineering NASA's next great space telescope…how to build a better rocket…the groundbreaking material that could propel future space travel. Read about these and other exciting advances in this compendium of...
Cornell researchers in physics and engineering have created the smallest walking robot yet. Its mission: to be tiny enough to interact with waves of visible light and still move...
University of Virginia researchers showed for the first time that airflow in supersonic combusting jet engines can be controlled by an optical sensor. The finding could lead to more efficient stabilization of hypersonic jet aircraft. Read on to learn more.
In 2018, Google DeepMind's AlphaZero program taught itself the games of chess, shogi, and go, using machine learning and a special algorithm to determine the best moves to win a game within a...
A novel device couples magnetic fields and kirigami design principles to remotely control the movement of a flexible dimpled surface, allowing it to manipulate...
EPFL researchers have built a drone that can walk, hop, and jump into flight with the aid of birdlike legs, greatly expanding the range of potential environments accessible to unmanned aerial...
A novel micropropulsion system was developed for nanosatellite applications using a liquid-fed pulsed-plasma thruster. It uses a liquid propellant for a Lorentz-force pulsed-plasma accelerator and an extended lifetime ignition system driven by nanosecond-long pulses. Read on to learn more.
Kevin Kirkpatrick, Vice President of Aftermarket Global Operations, Pratt & Whitney, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast.
How much do you know about how hydrogen-powered aircraft work and the companies that are researching and developing hydrogen-powered aircraft programs? Find out with this quiz.
A peek through an optical microscope reveals a hidden universe teeming with life. Nature has devised ingenious methods for micro-organisms to navigate their viscous...
Electrical devices designed to transfer electrical power from one circuit to another without altering the frequency, power transformers function on the principle of electromagnetic induction. How much do you know about power transformers? Find out with this quiz.
Researchers have developed an artificial motor at the supramolecular level that can develop impressive power. The wind-up motor is a tiny ribbon made of special molecules. When energy is applied, the...
Inventors and researchers have been developing robots for almost 70 years. To date, all the machines they have built have had one thing in common: they are powered by motors. Even...
Propulsion systems that were once crafted in very limited quantities now need to be manufactured by the thousands. This scale-up necessitates a new design and development approach that blends modern manufacturing principles with legacy systems. Read on to learn more about it.
