The space launch industry in the 21^st century has been characterized by a shift away from traditional, large aerospace companies to smaller startup firms. Light and medium lift to low earth orbit is widely believed to be a huge growth opportunity in mid-century, if costs can be kept under control.

Reusability is widely believed to be the key to low cost, and a new entrant, Stoke Space, is developing a medium lift launch system called Nova which promises to compete with the SpaceX Falcon 9 system, with full reusability and rapid vehicle turnaround. Nova is being developed with advanced technologies, especially in the second stage, including a regeneratively cooled metallic heatshield, and a propulsion system that takes advantage of aerospike principles. 

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During the Cold War, most nations on Earth had three choices: ally with United States, with the Soviet Union, or attempt to maintain nonaligned status. With rapid advancement in aviation technology after World War II, most nations realize the need for high-performance military aircraft for national security, but the highest performance airplanes and weapon systems came from either the United States or the Soviet Union. Until French aerospace company Dassault developed the Mirage 3.

The Mirage 3 offered supersonic capability on a par with the fastest military aircraft in the world, combined with a simple, maintainable airframe and critically, used French derived engines, radars, and weapon systems. And to the Mirage weapon system could be purchased on a cash and carry basis, giving nonaligned nations the ability to procure high-technology aircraft without the political entanglements of the Cold War power structure. In the process, it cemented France as a major global power in the advanced aerospace sector, a status the country enjoys today. 

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At the Farnborough Airshow in July 2024, Siemens and BAE Systems announced a five-year collaboration to accelerate digital innovation in engineering and manufacturing. Using Siemens’ Xcelerator platform, this partnership seeks to transform processes within BAE Systems’ Air sector through FalconWorks, its Research and Development (R&D) division. The R&D center fosters an open innovation ecosystem, connecting suppliers, SMEs, governments, research organizations, and academia to “accelerate the innovation of future air power through the development of technology and capabilities.” It unites approximatively 2,000 experts across 11 sites in the UK.

This agreement builds on a longstanding relationship, deploying Siemens’ advanced digital software, such as NX and Teamcenter to enhance sustainability, industrial digitalization, and supply chain modernization. Leaders from both companies emphasized the collaboration’s potential to drive Industry 4.0 advancements and achieve significant digital transformation in aerospace manufacturing. Iain Minton, BAE Systems’ Technology Capability Delivery Director, noted, “Siemens understands the complexities of our operating environment, so we can very quickly mature an idea to the point where it is put into practice, for example when we are looking to implement and optimize new engineering, support, or manufacturing capabilities.”

A digital engineering ecosystem for open innovation

BAE Systems’ FalconWorks is not only looking at solving today’s challenges; “it is the agile innovation powerhouse driven by […] technology teams that will develop the game-changing technologies of the future.” Simply put, it focuses on scanning the technology horizon to identify and develop groundbreaking building blocks of the future in the Aerospace and Defense sector. Maintaining an edge in such competitive landscape implies developing industry standards, working with regulators to ensure these are acceptable to the society from a safety and sustainability perspective, while focusing on effective routes to market for successful commercialization.

Fostering an open innovation ecosystem, the company embarked on a multi-year strategic investment in Digital Engineering (DE) to digitalize its systems engineering and integration capabilities, “investing in digital infrastructure and virtual, collaborative Digital Engineering Capabilities Labs (DECL) to drive rapid innovation, state-of-the-art digital technologies, and cloud migration.” This includes collaboration with SMEs, academia, legislators, and industry leaders, along with co-funding start-ups to develop new technologies.

Per a 2020 whitepaper, BAE systems elaborated on its Advanced Integrated Data Environment for Agile Manufacturing, Integration and Sustainment Excellence (ADAMS) reference architecture to fulfil this vision: “this digital enterprise is built on a model-based, integrated development or data environment that supports multi-disciplinary, multi-organization stakeholders and leverages product-line reference architectures and a shared model library to develop, deliver, and sustain a system through its lifecycle.” Clearly, the digital ecosystem is only an enabler, part of a data layer foundational to drive process and product innovation.

Aerospace digital twins and data management

PLM serves as the backbone, integrating technologies, data, and processes to ensure seamless information flow across business functions and the entire product lifecycle—from concept and design to manufacturing, maintenance, and recycling. PLM processes require connected data flows across the manufacturing and extended enterprise ecosystem. Through integration and workflow automation, all product data, from design to production, must be digitized and interconnected, facilitating seamless communication between systems, machines, and teams. Such integration allows for real-time monitoring, data-driven decision-making, and automation, ensuring that the factory operates efficiently and can quickly adapt to changes in demand or production requirements.

Additionally, PLM supports continuous improvement by enabling feedback loops from the factory floor back to design and engineering, leading to optimized processes and product quality. For instance, this includes the implementation of advanced manufacturing techniques, such as additive manufacturing, 3D printing, and automated assembly, connecting CAD and software data with production processes by ensuring that all design and manufacturing data are centrally managed and accessible. In the context of BAE’s vision, PLM can facilitate the integration of Digital Twins, virtual representations to allow real-time monitoring and optimization of manufacturing processes—ensuring that the factory can respond dynamically to changes and demands. Aerospace Digital Twins are crucial for driving Industry 4.0 by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, driving quality adherence, compliance, and sustainability. The top five Digital Twins essential for this purpose include:

1. Product Digital Twins: Represent physical aircraft or components throughout their lifecycle, enabling real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and performance optimization to reduce downtime and extend asset lifespan.
2. Process Digital Twins: Model and optimize manufacturing and assembly processes, allowing for quick identification of inefficiencies, waste reduction, and overall production quality improvement.
3. Supply Chain Digital Twins: Provide a real-time, end-to-end view of the supply chain, managing disruptions, optimizing logistics, and ensuring timely delivery of components.
4. Operational Digital Twins: Monitor in-service aircraft and systems, enabling optimization of flight paths, fuel consumption, and maintenance schedules for better performance and reduced costs.
5. Human Digital Twins: Simulate interactions between humans and machines, optimizing human factors, enhancing training, and improving safety by modeling human responses to various scenarios.

Connected, sustainable asset optimization

A connected intelligent factory is a data-driven manufacturing environment that uses advanced automation, real-time analytics, and interconnected systems to optimize aerospace component production, assembly, and maintenance. The Aerospace industry strives to balance cutting edge innovations to foster competitive advantage with through-life optimization of complex assets to effectively capitalize long-lifecycle products. Asset compliance traceability and throughout monitoring is essential to enable Aerospace and Defense, and other heavy regulated operations, supporting new business models—from product development to full in-service operations management.

To that effect, BAE Systems’ Digital Intelligence division acquired Eurostep in 2023 to accelerate the development of its digital asset management suite, PropheSEA, a platform to “consolidate and share […] complex asset data securely, allowing assets to be managed proactively, reducing operating costs and maximizing asset availability.” Mattias Johansson, Eurostep CEO, highlighted that “Eurostep has collaborated with BAE Systems for many years with […] ShareAspace sitting at the heart of Digital Intelligence’s Digital Asset Management product suite [to help organizations] securely collaborate across the supply chain and cost effectively manage their assets through life.” Regulators also require through-life carbon footprint measurement, which can be difficult to forecast with products whose asset life can span 40 to 50 years.

As presented in one of the ACE conferences championed by Aras in 2016, Kally Hagstrom, then Manager of Information Systems with BAE Systems, explained why complex long-lifecycle products require a PLM strategy that enables high-level of resiliency. BAE Systems then initiated the implementation of Aras Innovator alongside its legacy Teamcenter platform to consolidate several PLM business capabilities, from requirements to change management, systems engineering, supplier collaboration, process planning and MBOM management, document and project, as well as obsolescence management. Clearly, based on the recent Siemens partnership extension, the legacy Teamcenter environment is also there today at BAE Systems, regaining ground in the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) space and/or expanding further into downstream manufacturing digitalization. Furthermore, it would be interesting to hear if/how BAE Systems is possibly driving the coexistence of multiple PLM platforms in its DE ecosystem to drive open innovation and manufacturing, possibly leveraging its 2023 investment in Eurostep.

To paint the full picture, it would be necessary to dig more into how BAE Systems collaborate with its supply chains and manage its intellectual property. This would also comprise a broader understanding of how the OEM connects the dots across its PLM, ERP and MES landscape to drive a truly end-to-end digital and data connected landscape. By enabling sustainable design and efficient resource management, integrated PLM can help reduce the environmental impact of aerospace manufacturing. This aligns with BAE’s broader goals of innovation and sustainability, ensuring that BAE Systems’ Factory of the Future is both technologically advanced and environmentally responsible.

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NASA’s Artemis Program plans to send humans back to the moon to establish a lunar ground base and space station. Known as Gateway, the space station will be powered by the Power and Propulsion Element, or PPE, module, which uses large arrays of advanced, multi-junction solar cells to generate 60 kilowatts of power.

To ensure the PPE’s success, it’s crucial to test the solar arrays with advanced simulation that replicates sunlight and measures each circuit’s performance. Engineered by Angstrom Designs Inc., the solar simulator heads must be positioned at numerous points along the length and width of the solar arrays.

That process is usually accomplished using automation frames that consist of linear motion stages. Because the PPE’s solar arrays are so large, standard frames built for conventional array sizes could not provide the necessary vertical and horizontal motion.

Bell-Everman designed, engineered and fabricated a custom motion system that enables the Angstrom Designs solar simulator heads to test the PPE’s solar panels. And to ensure that the simulator heads are fully calibrated, we also built the I-formation gantry robot that calibrates and validates the simulator performance against solar cell standards.

Here’s a deep dive into the mechanical challenges of meeting the motion system’s special requirements.

Bell-Everman finds the most cost-effective design

An early design featured two bending tracks — one on the ground and the other roughly 30 ft. high near the top of the panels. The tracks would support the LED solar simulators — a 3,500-lb. load — allowing them to test one deployed array, then go around the bend and test an array on the other side of a massive scaffold structure.

But this solution, which would operate like an I-formation gantry, required specialized bearing systems. This increased design complexity and quickly drove the project beyond budget, given the height and load requirements.

As an alternative design, Bell-Everman engineered a motion system that uses a mobile base for X and Y motions, and a servo-controlled Z to raise the solar simulators up a three-story tall vertical tower. This mobile-robot gantry design was the most cost-effective option and drastically reduced system complexity.

Frame, motion system must stay upright

Due to the solar simulator payload, the entire frame of the mobile-robot gantry had to bear a lot of weight and keep the simulator LED arrays parallel to the solar array. This required a significant amount of finite element analysis to ensure the subframe could withstand the forces of hoisting the load — and survive a seismic event without toppling over.

Also, the fully constructed motion system is large and must be able to make a turn around the end of a deployment structure in a very tight floor plan.

Originally built to test the PPE’s panels, NASA can continue to use the motion system to test future space-going technologies.

Heavy cantilevered lifting handles forces

The 240 solar simulator heads are nested in a pantographic morphing array in three balanced pivoting segments, which transitions between two arrangements: a 2-by-18-ft. grid and a 6-by-6-ft. grid. As the array actuates, it imparts high moment forces on the motion system’s frame.

To accommodate these forces, we used heavier-than-usual linear bearing rails and crossed roller bearings with an 8-in. bore to pass Ethernet communication and 40 kW of electrical power per segment.

The array and morphing structure represent a 3,500-lb. cantilevered load on the vertical tower, requiring a counterbalance to both balance moment loads on the tower and provide something close to neutral buoyancy.

Gross movement of the combined payload and LED array is provided by a 10,000-lb. drum hoist. To achieve vertical motion, a single ServoBelt Heavy Linear is used with Bosch Rexroth drives and large redundant cables.

The counterbalance design ensures that the vertical drive only sees a weight imbalance of 50 to 300 lb. — more than enough breathing room for the ServoBelt Heavy LoopTrack drive, which can accommodate up to 600 lb. of linear force.

Also, thanks to the counterbalance, any drive failure would not result in dropping this valuable load. Threading these cables through pulley redirects enables the counterweight and payload to be raised together to their mid-height from a parked position at the bottom.

This interesting and fully redundant cable layout allows full neutral buoyancy throughout the range of the coarse positioning hoist.

Tower constructed piece by piece

The vertical tower supporting the solar simulator load will reach three stories high when fully constructed. Because it was too tall to fit inside the building where it was made, the tower was built in three pieces.

We made a shorter counterbalance cable set to allow the bottom section to be used for full functional testing within the low ceiling of our assembly bay.

As the lift travels up the completed vertical tower, any vibrations induced by imperfections where each section is connected would affect the simulator performance and diagnostic quality. We joined each tower section with a special multigenerational method of splicing, similar to our long-travel gantry systems. These universal splicing joints enable smooth vertical motion across the splices.

Z-axis automation for getting around

The motion system’s actuation is manually operated except for the Z-axis travel, which is fully automated. Because of the high value of space-going solar arrays like this, it is far better to manually move axes of motion that have any chance of damaging the array.

An electric-powered tug pulls the entire system for large movements, including when the system is removed from or put into storage. When the system is brought near the PPE solar array, fine adjustments are made with lever arms attached to the system’s wheels. When the correct position is achieved, screw feet are lowered to the floor.

Electrical system designed to avoid flames

Because the simulator houses 240 of the 500-watt pLEDss heads, a large challenge of this project was managing over 120 kW of power.

Featuring many breakers and branches, the electrical system is designed to prevent overheating and fire damage should shorts occur at any level.

Calibration system is separate

To ensure that Angstrom Designs’ programmable LED solar simulators (pLEDss) perform successfully, they must be calibrated against solar cell standards called isotypes.

We also designed a calibration system for the PPE solar simulator to test against, consisting of an I-format gantry that houses the solar cell isotypes.

Known as the “Calibot,” this I-frame gantry robot is capable of calibrating the pLEDss heads while the system is in either morphing position.

When the Calibot is maneuvered to the pLEDss tester, control boxes are linked, and docking mechanisms preserve the optimum standoff distance during calibration. Both the PPE simulator system and the Calibot will be stored with NASA in the same facility.

The pantographic morphing array consists of three smaller subarrays that each contain 80 pLEDss heads. Each subarray has its own terminal blocks and cables.

Each head’s DC power supply is delivered 220 VAC to allow the use of smaller 18-gauge power wires. Because of the amount of harnessing, it is important to reduce weight and space for the nearly 400 cables running to the breaker boxes. 

Based on the early I-format gantry design — which needed to make a U-turn around the support scaffold holding two solar arrays, a floor mounted cable track and a guide system — the total cost for the power delivery alone was estimated to be roughly $200,000.

Thanks to the mobile-robot gantry design with simple extension cordage, this expense was reduced to $6,000 and only 150 feet of cable.

The entire project could have been accomplished with a large, track-based I-format gantry. But Bell-Everman simplified the design with mobile gantry robots, significantly reducing system complexity and costs.

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Aerospace dramatically influenced hydraulics’ evolution in the last century. The move from manual to hydraulic actuation happened quickly in the 1950s and 1960s, yet fundamental hydraulic designs in aircraft have not changed as much since.

“If you look at some of the pumps on the 787, for example, they are probably identical to the ones that were on the 747 in terms of design — even though there were 40 years between them — for several reasons, not least of which is that they work and they’re good,” said Simon Jones, CTO of Domin.

Today, many aircraft have three central systems, each with multiple pumps and reservoirs. Power transfer units may be present if a pump fails to transfer pressure between different systems. Each actuator also has redundancies with separate hydraulic and electrical systems. Plus, all this equipment requires extensive piping that adds immense weight, complexity, and assembly time.

“What you end up with are planes lugging between one-and-a-half and two-and-a-half tons of hydraulic equipment around with them all the time and burning hundreds of kilos of fuel per flight just to lift these hydraulics,” said Jones. “They generally all have two-stage valves constantly taking a few kilowatts of quiescent loss the whole time you’re flying. For an eight-hour flight, that’s a huge number of kilowatt hours just to power the hydraulics to do nothing. So, you’re caught in this world where hydraulics are great, but having that hydraulic system on board is hugely costly in terms of infrastructure, size, weight, and power.”

Jones has an aerospace background and previously worked on gas turbines to reduce the weight of certain parts by tens of grams, even single-digit grams at times. He was hard-pressed to take every little piece of weight he could off the engine to get more out of the fuel. Every hundred grams of weight salvaged improved fuel burn by 0.1% and saved the company hundreds of thousands.

“The scale of waste in terms of the amount of energy needed to carry huge systems around on these aircraft is just baffling,” said Jones. “Hydraulics is great, but electrified systems are also great. The best solution, therefore, should be bringing those two together and using the best of hydraulics without the clunky central stuff, giving it full digital control, and putting it into an electrified system.”

Domin poses to decentralize hydraulic systems and move toward hybrid-electric aircraft to leverage the best of both worlds while shrinking components, reducing weight, and decreasing energy consumption. Jones stated that hydraulics persists because of its power-dense force transmission but doesn’t lend itself well to lightweight electrified architectures, where digital signal transmission enables asset monitoring and optimization.

“The other nice thing is that you can manage redundancy by having multiple units or multiple redundant systems within a given actuator, for example. You can also locally manage energy storage, harvesting, and reuse,” he said.

However, capturing and reusing energy may not be feasible for all systems. For example, braking would be challenging due to its immense energy requirements, whereas flight controls have fully reversible cycles. Today, a big pump applies constant pressure through valves that are always on alert to lift and lower the flight control surfaces. This could be an opportunity to manage energy and eliminate losses so that no energy would be consumed.

“The reason it’s not done today is because it’s really hard to shrink hydraulics and get them to a point where they are efficient, small, compact, and lightweight. If you buy a pump, a valve, and an accumulator and bring all those together, you then have a big block. It just doesn’t work.” said Jones. “If you look at electrohydrostatic systems today, they look like a Frankenstein thing. There’s a few flying, but it hasn’t taken the industry by storm yet because it’s big, clunky, and generally prone to reliability issues.”

Since hydraulics don’t naturally shrink very well in this case, electromechanical actuators may seem like the sensible solution. However, for applications with high levels of shock, vibration, dirt, and temperature fluctuation, as is common for aircraft brakes, landing gear, and flight controls, such solutions can jam and compromise safety. They also must be sized according to the largest force they’d have to exert and hold, drawing power the entire time.

“There have been billions spent on electromechanical systems for aerospace, and there are almost none flying. And the ones that are aren’t competitive with traditional hydraulic solutions,” said Jones. “So, we’ve identified this niche in the market where everyone wants to use less energy and have less weight. Everyone wants these modern digital systems, but no one can shrink and integrate traditional hydraulic systems nicely. That is the sweet spot for us.”

Domin’s core technology comprises ultra-compact, high-performance pumps and high-speed switching valves. The company uses enabling tools, including metal 3D printing, to develop hydraulic products that allow electricity to generate and modulate pressure in a very complex, high-bandwidth manner. Though large-scale commercial aircraft are on their radar, the team has progressed in validating its products on helicopters.

“We’ve done a lot of work on helicopter braking systems. Today, they’ve got a pump on the top deck and pipe all these things down to the cockpit. The pilots have some pedals, and they control some valves. Then, there are more pipes down to the brakes, and you have a separate parking brake with another pump and accumulator. All those things can come out, and we can drop in a really small — the size of an apple — little hydraulic system next to the brake. That’s all control over wire, effectively, and we’re talking tens of kilos of weight savings, which is significant on one of those aircraft,” said Jones.

But Jones and his team aren’t just looking to compete in the market — they want to make a positive impact on society while decreasing humanity’s footprint. He isn’t convinced that hydrogen and other solutions will be ready for a long time, so he’s thinking about what he can do right now to improve flying today.

“There’s obviously a trend of people who are motivated to look at the sustainability of things and the scarcity of resources,” he said. “But being sustainable doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t fly. It just means that we should make flying easier with a lower overall penalty to the environment.

“Engineers have the power to increase prosperity across the world. We have the power to deliver things that allow more people to do great things and give more people choices. We would love it if we made technology that meant there weren’t necessarily fewer flights, but more people would get on a flight and go and connect with people or see the world or travel — but while recognizing that the [resources] we have in the world … are scarce. Therefore, we should do our best to deliver things that let more people experience all that, but at a lower penalty than today. That’s where we’d love to get to.”

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The Scaled Composites Vanguard has taken to the air, and like most designs from Northrop Grumman’s experimental division, it’s different. Small, light in weight and powered by a relatively low power jet engine, the aircraft has the look of a miniature stealth fighter plane, and can carry 2,000 pounds of ordnance, including two air to air missiles in an enclosed weapons bay. The airplane is clearly designed to have a low radar cross-section, essential for survival in any contested airspace today.

For Northrop Grumman, this may be a replay of the company’s low-cost, lightweight fighter concept, a big hit from the early 1960s: the F-5 Freedom Fighter. 

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Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, or eVTOLs, can fly like common commercial drones, taking off and landing without requiring long airstrips. While drones typically have blades affixed to motors pointing directly upward, more modern eVTOLs can take advantage of movable engines that allow for more forward thrust, thereby improving efficiency. Cables and connectors play a surprisingly important role in the viability of eVTOLs and their impact on overall mass. Knowing how the right connectors and cables will aid in design can help engineers create viable and sustainable eVTOLs.

Compared to helicopters, which are notoriously difficult to pilot, such vehicles are far easier to manage due to simplified controls. Additionally, the vast amount of software and hardware already developed to create autonomous drones means that eVTOLs are ripe for deploying autonomous flight systems, thus eliminating pilot error.

Most airspace above urban zones is virtually unused, so eVTOLs could move around at high speed, significantly reducing transportation times between locations. Thus, eVTOLs could ferry people and cargo within urban environments, reducing road dependency and making highways more ideal for transporting heavy goods.

Bridges and tunnels can increase road and rail traffic capacity, but the massive infrastructure cost makes such projects hard to justify. eVTOLs would merely need landing pads and charging stations. This not only reduces costs for taxpayers but also lowers maintenance expenses, as roads will experience less traffic if pedestrians use eVTOLs.

While they offer many benefits, eVTOLs face many design challenges if they are to become an effective mode of transportation. In this article, we’ll discuss these challenges while focusing on the interconnect design and its importance in the development of efficient and effective eVTOLs.

What challenges do eVTOLs face?

Despite all the advantages that eVTOLs present, they are still more of a concept than an actual solution that can be deployed in a commercial environment, and this reality comes down to numerous challenges that they face.

The first, and arguably the most critical factor, is weight. Because eVTOLs are entirely electric, they must carry hefty batteries. Compared to fossil fuels, batteries have far less energy density, meaning that any battery is far heavier than a tank of gasoline with the same energy capacity. For comparison, the energy density of gasoline is 47.5MJ/kg compared to lithium-ion batteries at 0.3MJ/kg.

Due to the need for heavy batteries, the rest of an eVTOL needs to be as light as possible. While modern materials such as carbon fiber can achieve this, they come at an added price and design complexity.

If eVTOLs become autonomous, communication between each eVTOL will be essential due to the severity of possible collisions. eVTOLs will need to be able to see the flight path of all other vehicles and plot a safe route accordingly. Such a network would need to handle vast amounts of data in real time with significantly reduced latency. According to researchers at KAUST, latencies down to 10 ms will be needed for autonomous flight control.

At a minimum, an eVTOL network would need to work on top of a 5G network, utilizing edge computing to have data immediately routed to other vehicles (i.e., not pass through ISPs). However, integrating cellular communication systems and onboard artificial intelligence for autonomous flight introduces additional systems and components, further increasing weight and reducing the energy available to the craft for flight. Energy efficiency is of paramount importance, and designers must reduce the weight of any and every component. Depending on the size of the craft, electronics can account for 20% or more of the total weight.

How do connectors and cables come into the picture?

Cables and connectors may not seem as critical as other components in the design of eVTOLs, but their importance is quickly realized when exploring each aspect.

Connecting and powering the various eVTOL systems requires long cabling lengths, sometimes adding up to miles, which can account for a significant portion of the aircraft’s total weight. Power cables alone can account for close to 1% of the total weight of a 5,000-lb. craft. The signal and data cables further increase this number. Power cable weight is seen as such a significant weight contributor that aerospace engineers at NASA have studied how the design of power cables can be optimized to minimize weight.

Since eVTOLs are entirely based on electricity, electrical stress can be extremely high, with high voltages and currents present. This means that any cable and connector used to deliver power from the batteries to the motors needs to handle such power levels safely and have sufficient insulation to provide adequate protection, which tends to lead to large, bulky cables. Ensuring the optimal conductor and insulation materials can help limit power cables’ impact on overall weight. Many engineers designing eVTOLs opt for solutions commonly found in aviation platforms, including aluminum cables that are designed with these concerns in mind.

Whether high voltage or current is chosen, the final cable and connector choice must reduce weight as much as possible. Any extra weight in an eVTOL will increase the difficulty of takeoff and limit its range.

Such connectors must operate safely in extended temperature ranges while retaining a high IP rating to prevent damage during poor weather conditions. Consider, for example, the connectors found in the landing gear, rotary motors, antenna systems for GPS and radar for eVTOLS. Most of these systems have some or much exposure to the environment. When landing in cities such as Dubai these connections may face weather conditions that include sandstorms, extreme temperature changes, sudden torrential rain, and high winds.

Finally, as all these connectors and cables are being used in an environment subjected to shock and vibration generated by motors and landing/takeoff, any connector used must resist accidental disconnects over extended use. As such, simple screw terminals or clips will likely be insufficient, requiring locking nuts, press-fit connections and unique mating mechanisms.

How can RF connectors help power the future of eVTOLs?

A wide range of compact RF connector styles and mounting options is available to satisfy the various RF needs of an EVTOL. This includes connectors down to 1.0 mm, which can operate at frequencies up to 110GHz. This makes them ideal for all aviation tracking systems, including ADS-B and Pilot Aware. They can also be used with cellular systems, including 4G, 5G, and mmWave bands of 5G.

For designs that require communication speeds beyond copper’s capabilities, a range of optical connectors can help engineers achieve extremely high inter-device speeds across the entire eVTOL and do so at significantly reduced weight due to the use of tiny fiber-option cables. Such cables are also immune to electromagnetic interference, making them far safer for use in autonomous environments where sensor data cannot be compromised.

Not all connectors can be replaced with RF or fiber optics. For such applications, micro-D connectors become invaluable. Their design allows for either shielded or unshielded cables to be used. In cases where EMI is not a concern, the absence of shielding can help reduce size, weight, and cost. Their specific D shape also makes them polarized. Compared to standard D-sub connectors, micro-D connectors are significantly lighter and take up to 80% less space while offering the same performance in the harshest environments.

Conclusion

While there is a lot of hype surrounding eVTOLs, they are still in their infancy, and any existing systems are more of a concept than an actual viable design that could be supported economically. The extreme technical challenges faced by eVTOLs and endless amounts of legislation present numerous roadblocks to engineers when trying to get such ideas to take off. However, the industry has growing confidence that the necessary infrastructure can be built and that technological roadblocks, such as battery density, will be overcome.

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Orbital launch services are the key to the commercial development of space. Crude flight gets the headlines, but the vast majority of launches carry communications and Earth resources satellites, and of course, military applications.

But are there too many players in the market? Space X is in the low-cost launcher, but their major market is internal, with Starlink. And with the upcoming retirement of the ISS, the market for crewed flight is uncertain. The market may bifurcate into:
(1) fewer, heavy launch providers; and
(2) multiple small sat launchers with fast reaction capability.

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As software controlling everything from video games to jet airliners has become too complex to make completely error proof, the move to increasing flight automation continues to carry risk. No one knows this more than Boeing, but the fundamental problem of systems that are too complex for humans to check means that safety may ultimately be handed over to artificial intelligence.

First, for checking human generated code, then permitting the code itself, and finally, the piloting of the airplanes themselves. 

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As 3D printing advances, aerospace manufacturers have become increasingly reliant on the technology for disparate production processes. In large-part production, for example, aerospace manufacturers can now print complex parts using simple designs that begin with minimal components, reducing the risk of part failure.

While 3D printing with plastic filaments offers a reliable method for small-part production, it represents a considerable cost for large-part production. As a result, major companies in industries ranging from aerospace and automotive to foundry and healthcare have adopted pellet extrusion 3D printing technology, which offers lower total cost for both ownership and part production.

Production-grade 3D printers with industrial control systems minimize machine downtime, speed up production, and reduce costs, but choosing the right solution can be daunting. The following guide presents 10 factors to consider when choosing the right solution for large-format part production.

Your download is sponsored by 3D Systems.

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