This Week in Engineering - Engineering.com https://www.engineering.com/category/watch/this-week-in-engineering/ Thu, 12 Sep 2024 17:25:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://www.engineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/0-Square-Icon-White-on-Purplea-150x150.png This Week in Engineering - Engineering.com https://www.engineering.com/category/watch/this-week-in-engineering/ 32 32 Manufacturing AI will struggle without focus https://www.engineering.com/manufacturing-ai-will-struggle-without-focus/ Wed, 11 Sep 2024 16:13:21 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/?p=131790 New study says lack of direction a key headwind in manufacturing adoption of AI.

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Artificial intelligence is not only widely anticipated but is expected to dramatically change the manufacturing landscape worldwide, forever.

The promise is huge, but to deliver on that promise, manufacturers need to develop coherent strategies for implementation, and more importantly, understand where the use cases exist for AI implementation.

New research from AI software provider IFS suggests that American firms are sceptical of artificial intelligence in its current form.

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Blended wing body: the future of air transportation? https://www.engineering.com/blended-wing-body-the-future-of-air-transportation/ Wed, 28 Aug 2024 20:00:58 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/?p=131344 Eight decades after the birth of the large flying wing, the blended wing body may be ready for prime time.

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For the 100 years or so of air transport, the form factor of airplanes has been essentially consistent: a fuselage, usually cylindrical, with attached wings and tail.  While relatively simple to build, with a good strength to weight ratio, aerodynamically, this form factor is not the most efficient.

Eliminating the fuselage and building the aircraft as a flying wing has long been recognized as a path to greater efficiency and performance, and since the late 1940s, multiple flying wing designs have been proposed. Very few have made it into hardware, but a form of hybrid concept, called the blended wing body, appears to be a practical way to reduce drag, and consequently fuel burn, and commercial aircraft.  

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Hyperscale Defense Manufacturing in a Five Million Square Foot Plant  https://www.engineering.com/hyperscale-defense-manufacturing-in-a-five-million-square-foot-plant/ Wed, 21 Aug 2024 18:56:19 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/?p=131079 Anduril’s Arsenal-1 will focus on autonomous systems, at large scale.

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If successful, Anduril’s new facility may become the prototype for a paradigm shift in armaments design, development, manufacturing and procurement. Swarms of low cost, AI driven and fully autonomous drone weapon systems in the air, on the ground and into the sea, may replace the crewed, highly capable but costly armoured vehicles, aircraft and submarines. Part of conflict in Ukraine may have shown us the way wars will be fought in the future. 

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Boeing addresses quality control allegations, buys back Spirit AeroSystems  https://www.engineering.com/boeing-addresses-quality-control-allegations-buys-back-spirit-aerosystems/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 21:23:07 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/?p=52580 737 production comes back under Boeing control, while Airbus acquires Spirit contracts.

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Boeing has reacquired their former subsidiary, Spirit AeroSystems, in any $8.3 billion debt plus equity deal. Spirit, maker of 737 fuselage assemblies for the 737 Max program, has been implicated in the Alaska Airlines door plug blowout incidents that caused an emergency depressurization at altitude.

The repurchase of some 737 manufacturing assets brings the major part of that program’s supply chain back under direct Boeing control, including quality procedures. Spirit AeroSystems also operated foreign plants building components for Boeing’s major competitor, Airbus.

In a separate agreement, Airbus will acquire assets building for their programs, effectively re-shoring major Airbus component production to Europe. With the disappearance of spirit, a major Tier 1 supplier to the commercial aircraft industry, the global major air-frame duopoly now has fewer points of engineering commonality.

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Why the Future of Gas Turbines Lies in 3D Printing https://www.engineering.com/why-the-future-of-gas-turbines-lies-in-3d-printing/ Tue, 16 Jul 2024 17:21:14 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/?p=52398 Aerospace veteran Donald Godfrey on why additive is the future of jet engines.

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Additive manufacturing has been the hottest topic in part making for years, offering unprecedented design flexibility for engineers. Hollow parts, parts with complex internal support structures, and three-dimensional compound curvature that would be impossible to machine are all available with 3D printing, and the aerospace industry is all in with this technology. But what about the tough applications, in propulsion?

Donald Godfrey, gas turbine veteran with decades of experience at companies like Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, is Global Director of Business Development for Aviation and Defense with SLM Solutions and Is a global expert who has written a textbook on the subject.

Engineering.com’s  Jim Anderton spoke with him in Los Angeles at the recent RAPID-TCT conference about the challenges and advantages of using additive technology in gas turbine applications. 

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EV sales growth flattens. Time for hybrids to shine? https://www.engineering.com/ev-sales-growth-flattens-time-for-hybrids-to-shine/ Tue, 25 Jun 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/?p=51965 The replacement of fossil fuels and transportation will take longer than many imagined.

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Sales growth in electric vehicles, led by Tesla and BYD has long suggested the end of gasoline and diesel fuel in the transportation sector. While fuel cells are a viable clean option, lower costs in battery production have made pure electric vehicles the sales leader in green transportation.

But can the momentum of early adopters be maintained? Market surveys suggest that EV sales growth is flattening, as MSRP’s and a lack of public charging infrastructure dampen demand.

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Japanese automakers caught in safety certification scandal. https://www.engineering.com/japanese-automakers-caught-in-safety-certification-scandal/ Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:59:00 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/japanese-automakers-caught-in-safety-certification-scandal/ Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha are implicated in falsified certifications.

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In a shocking and wide-ranging scandal, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha have been implicated in the falsification of crashworthiness data and engine power testing by the Japanese government. 

The Japanese transport ministry has ordered Toyota, Mazda and Yamaha to suspend shipment of affected vehicles. 

The revelations come in the wake of a ministry requested Japanese automaker self review of their vehicle certifications following a safety test scandal at Daihatsu, Toyota’s small car division. 

The ministry determined that the affected companies had falsified reports or manipulated data in testing. 

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Human spaceflight: Boeing in orbit, Sierra Nevada moves forward https://www.engineering.com/human-spaceflight-boeing-in-orbit-sierra-nevada-moves-forward/ Fri, 07 Jun 2024 14:38:00 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/human-spaceflight-boeing-in-orbit-sierra-nevada-moves-forward/ America’s third and fourth crewed launch systems get ready.

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Boeing’s entry into NASA’s commercial crew program for the International Space Station, has suffered multiple technical delays, but has launched with two astronauts. The test flight is critical both for Boeing and for NASA, who need a backup system to guarantee crew access to orbit with two redundant systems. 

The fourth system besides NASA, Boeing and SpaceX, is the Sierra Space Dream Chaser lifting body vehicle. An uncrewed cargo version is now at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for testing and will be launched by a ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket. Soon, there may be four separate ways to lift humans into orbit from US soil.

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Volvo’s Autonomous, Production Ready Class 8 Truck Rolls Out https://www.engineering.com/volvos-autonomous-production-ready-class-8-truck-rolls-out/ Tue, 28 May 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/volvos-autonomous-production-ready-class-8-truck-rolls-out/ US-made, and ready to debut driverless line-haul operations.

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Volvo Autonomous Solutions has unveiled Volvo’s first-ever production ready autonomous truck at the recent ACT Expo in Las Vegas. The Volvo VNL Autonomous combines Volvo’s commercial vehicle expertise with autonomous driving technology from Aurora to create a purpose-designed and purpose-built autonomous truck that will be able to operate on line haul routes across the United States. 

The vehicle is part of a Volvo platform which will be applied to other use cases, including off the highway vehicles. The technology stack includes redundant steering, braking, communication, computation, power management, energy storage and vehicle motion management systems. 

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A new, massive V-16 for possibly the world’s most exotic sports car https://www.engineering.com/a-new-massive-v-16-for-possibly-the-worlds-most-exotic-sports-car/ Wed, 22 May 2024 16:10:00 +0000 https://www.engineering.com/a-new-massive-v-16-for-possibly-the-worlds-most-exotic-sports-car/ This may be the last, great, gasoline engine.

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Bugatti, the maker of ultra high-performance cars is making what may be the last hypercar internal combustion engine: a monstrous V16 that is expected to generate over thousand horsepower. The car it will power may challenge the current hypercar speed record, which is over 300 mph. 

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