MIT researchers developed a trajectory-planning model that helps drones fly at high speeds through previously unexplored areas, while staying safe. The model — named “FASTER” — estimates the quickest possible path from a starting point to a destination point across all areas the drone can and can’t see, with no regard for safety.

The complex network of veins that keeps us cool during the heat of summer has inspired engineers to create novel thermal management systems. A new computer program could be key to mimicking the body’s evolution-optimized cooling system in functional materials.

Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp., has been selected by the U.S. Army to provide a next-generation Mounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing System (MAPS) for manned ground vehicles. Known as ‘MAPS Gen II’ by the Army, the system will maintain the integrity of positioning and timing during operations in GPS-contested environments. Collins Aerospace will deliver new systems to be evaluated for a year with the potential for fielding up to 8,000 additional vehicles upon completion.

Is the U.S. ready for a chemical attack on the homeland? With the very real possibility of a chemical attack in public spaces like stadiums, religious buildings, museums and theaters, or even contamination of the food or water supply, the U.S. needs to be prepared to take appropriate action to save lives. This means having security measures in place to prevent or minimize the attack. It also means having effective medical responses that consider the quantity of medical supplies needed, transportation of those supplies to the scene, and medical facilities and personnel to care for the injured.

Satellites do a lot of things — they help people navigate from one place to another, they deliver television programming, they search for new stars and exo-planets and they enable the U.S. nuclear deterrence strategy. But until recently, one thing they haven’t done — or needed to do — is defend themselves. That may soon change.

NASA’s Pilot Breathing Assessment (PBA) program documents how pilots breathe in fighter aircraft while flying a variety of scripted profiles to better understand how flight conditions may cause pilots to experience a physiological episode during flight.

The leading edges of aircraft wings have to meet a very demanding set of characteristics. New research shows that a combination of steel composite metal foam (CMF) and epoxy resin has more desirable characteristics for use as a leading-edge material than the aluminum currently in widespread use.

In the high desert of California, where some of the most important aircraft in aviation history have been built and flown, the next airplane destined to make history continues to take shape on a legendary factory floor. That airplane is NASA’s X-59 QueSST (short for Quiet SuperSonic Technology), an experimental piloted aircraft designed to fly faster than sound without producing sonic booms.

Airbus has inaugurated a highly automated fuselage structure assembly line for A320 Family aircraft in Hamburg, Germany, showcasing an evolution in Airbus’ industrial production system. With a special focus on manufacturing longer sections for the A321LR, the new facility features 20 robots, a new logistics concept, automated positioning by laser measurement, as well as a digital data acquisition system. These will further support Airbus’ drive to improve both quality and efficiency while bringing an enhanced level of digitalization to its industrial production system.

Alloys (metals combining two or more metallic elements) are typically stronger and less susceptible to cracking than pure metals. Yet when alloys are subjected to stress and a harsh chemical environment, the alloy can fail.

Southwest Research Institute engineers are conducting tests that elucidate the conditions a future aircraft may experience traveling faster than 10 times the speed of sound. Because that environment is so unique, recreating realistic flight conditions to test vehicles for hypersonic flight is a challenge.

Porsche and Boeing have partnered to leverage their unique market strengths to study the future of premium personal urban air mobility vehicles.

NASA and U.S. industry are exploring electrified aircraft propulsion as a fuel- and- cost-efficient alternative to traditional jet engine-powered airplanes. But to make electric commercial flight possible, the aircraft must be able to produce and operate safely with at least a megawatt (MW) of power.

As part of an effort to address the gap the U.S. Army faces in its need for long-lasting power and batteries for warfighters, an Army-funded research team has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that officials say identifies a promising material for creating more-efficient fuel cells. Researchers said the system, developed at Cornell University, is a potential breakthrough in both materials science and machine learning. It relies on a collective of algorithmic bots, each performing a distinct task and sifting through hundreds to thousands of combinations of elements to create a map of phases—arrangements of atoms in relation to each other—that humans can then use to determine which might work as a new material.

How do weapons inspectors verify that a nuclear bomb has been dismantled? An unsettling answer is: They don’t, for the most part. When countries sign arms reduction pacts, they do not typically grant inspectors complete access to their nuclear technologies, for fear of giving away military secrets.

The Air Force Research Laboratory has developed liquid metal systems which autonomously change structure so that they become better conductors in response to strain. Conductive materials change their properties as they are strained or stretched. Typically, electrical conductivity decreases and resistance increases with stretching.

How many airmen does it take to change a cargo aircraft tire? Too many. The U. S. Air Force’s largest aircraft, the C-5M Super Galaxy, has 28 tires. The current tire changing method is performed several times a week. It is a complicated, multistep procedure that requires up to five people working together for an extended period of time with a number of safety risks due to the size and weight of the tires and tools.

Approach and landing are among the most complex phases of a flight. In order to enable pilots to fly as quietly as possible, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) developed the Low Noise Augmentation System (LNAS), a pilot assistance system that uses a display in the cockpit to show pilots exactly what action to take for a low-noise approach.

CT Software Solutions

Volume Graphics (Charlotte, NC) announced the latest generation of its software solutions for non-destructive quality assurance with industrial computed tomography (CT): Version 3.3 of VGSTUDIO MAX, VGSTUDIO, VGMETROLOGY, and VGinLINE.