In this episode, we explore how the mechanics of bird wings are inspiring new approaches to prevent airplanes from stalling and learn how bio-mimetic designs from nature are paving the way for innovations in aviation, enhancing stability and safety for future flights.

Podcast: Scared of Flying Boeing? Nature Might Be The Solution

This article was discussed in our <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/613afcf0-5191-4293-a6a1-7f18ec73fe53?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> The full article will continue below.<hr>“These flaps can both help the plane avoid stall and make it easier to regain control when stall does occur,” said <a href="https://mae.princeton.edu/people/faculty/wissa" data-type="link" data-id="https://mae.princeton.edu/people/faculty/wissa">Aimy Wissa</a>, assistant professor of <a href="https://mae.princeton.edu/">mechanical and aerospace engineering</a> and principal investigator of <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409268121">the study</a>, published Oct. 28 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.The flaps mimic a group of feathers, called covert feathers, that deploy when birds perform &nbsp; certain aerial maneuvers, such as landing or flying in a gust. Biologists have observed when and how these feathers deploy, but no studies have quantified the aerodynamic role of covert feathers during bird flight. Engineering studies have investigated covert-inspired flaps for improving engineered wing performance, but have mostly neglected that birds have multiple rows of covert feathers. The Princeton team has advanced the technology by demonstrating how sets of flaps work together and exploring the complex physics that governs the interaction.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzMwMTYzMTAzMjIwLVdpc3NhLXBsYW5lLWZlYXRoZXJzLWhlcm8tZm9yLXdlYi0yMDQ4eDExNTIuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Princeton researchers at the Forrestal campus. Left to right: Ahmed K. Othman, Girguis Sedky, Hannah Wiswell and professor Aimy Wissa. Photo by Lori M. NicholsGirguis Sedky, postdoctoral researcher and the paper’s lead author, called the technique “an easy and cost-effective way to drastically improve flight performance without additional power requirements.”The covert flaps deploy or flip up in response to changes in airflow, requiring no external control mechanisms. They offer an inexpensive and lightweight method to increase flight performance without complex machinery. “They’re essentially just flexible flaps&nbsp;that, when designed and placed properly, can greatly improve a plane’s performance and stability,” Wissa said.A wing’s teardrop form forces air to flow quickly over its top, creating a low-pressure area that pulls the plane up. At the same time, air pushes against the bottom of the wing, adding upward pressure. Designers call the combination of this pull and push “lift.” Changes in flight conditions or a drop in an aircraft’s speed can result in stall, rapidly reducing lift.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzMwMTYzMTIzMjAxLWZvci13ZWItMDkxMjI0LVBSTi1XaW5kVHVubmVsLUxNTjI2NDcxLTE1MzZ4MTAzMC5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The researchers explored the physics behind the flaps’ performance in a wind tunnel at Princeton.Wissa’s team designed a series of experiments in the wind tunnel at Princeton’s Forrestal Campus to understand how flaps mimicking the feathers would affect flight performance, especially near stall, which usually happens when the plane is at a steep angle, when covert feathers were observed to deploy. The tunnel allowed the team to examine the way different flap arrangements affected variables like air pressure around the wings, wind speed over the wing and vortices that impact performance.The team attached the covert-inspired flaps to a 3D-printed model airplane wing and mounted it in the wind tunnel, a 30-foot-tall metal contraption that simulates and measures air flow. “The wind tunnel experiments give us really precise measurements for how air interacts with the wing and the flaps, and we can see what’s actually happening in terms of physics,” Sedky said.The wind tunnel is equipped with sensors that read the forces felt by the wing, as well as a laser and high-speed camera that measure precisely how air is moving around the wing.The study uncovered the physics by which the flaps improved lift and identified two ways that the flaps control air moving around the wing. One of these control mechanisms had not been previously identified. The researchers uncovered the new mechanism, called shear layer interaction, when they were testing the effect of a single flap near the front of the wing. They found that the other mechanism is only effective when the flap is at the back of the wing.The researchers tested configurations with a single flap and with multiple flaps ranging from two rows to five rows. They found that the five-row configuration improved lift by 45%, reduced drag by 30% and enhanced the overall wing stability.“The discovery of this new mechanism unlocked a secret behind why birds have these feathers near the front of the wings and how we can use these flaps for aircraft,” Wissa said. “Especially because we found that the more flaps you add to the front of the wing, the higher the performance benefit.”Following the results of the wind tunnel experiments, the team moved outside the lab and into the field to test the covert-inspired flaps on a scaled model aircraft. Princeton’s Forrestal Campus was once an airport and still features an operational helipad. So, the researchers teamed up with Nathaniel Simon, graduate student in mechanical and aerospace engineering who researches drone flight, and demonstrated the technology in real-world conditions by equipping a radio-controlled (RC) airplane with covert-inspired flaps.The researchers worked with members of the Somerset RC model aircraft club to select a model plane. The researchers then modified the airplane body to outfit it with an onboard flight computer, and Simon drew on his experience piloting drones to fly it. They programmed the flight computer to stall the aircraft autonomously and repeatedly. Simon said it was amazing to see the flaps deploy in-flight and to see that they helped delay and reduce stall intensity, just as they did in the wind tunnel. “It’s cool to be able to collaborate in the shared space at the Forrestal campus, and to see how many areas of research this project touched,” he said.Sedky said that in addition to improving flight, their findings could be extended to other applications where modifying the surrounding fluid would benefit performance. “What we discovered about how coverts alter the airflow around the wing can be applied to other fluids and other bodies, making them applicable to cars, underwater vehicles, and even wind turbines,” he said.Wissa said that this study could open the door to collaborations with biologists to learn more about the role of covert feathers in bird flight, and that the results of this study will help form new hypotheses that can be tested on birds. “That’s the power of bioinspired design,” she said. “The ability to transfer things from biology to engineering to improve our mechanical systems, but also use our engineering tools to answer questions about biology.”<hr>The paper, “Distributed feather-inspired flow control mitigates stall and expands flight envelope,” by was published Nov. 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Besides Wissa, Sedky and Simon, authors include Ahmed K. Othman, and Hannah Wiswell, graduate students in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Support for the project was provided in part by the National Science Foundation.

Princeton researchers equipped the wings of an RC plane with wing feather-inspired flaps, and flew it at Princeton’s Forrestal Campus to prove that the flaps help prevent airplanes from stalling. Photos by Lori M. Nichols

Taking inspiration from bird feathers, Princeton engineers have found that adding rows of flaps to a remote-controlled aircraft’s wings improves flight performance and helps prevent stalling, a condition that can jeopardize a plane’s ability to stay aloft. 

Bird wings inspire new approach to flight safety

Uninterrupted consistent network coverage has historically been, and still is, hard to achieve. Cellular and wireless networks come with particular limitations, offering fragmented connectivity and use across devices. Power efficiency makes this challenge even more difficult as devices require a continuously active connection.To solve this challenge, we set out to test LTE CAT-1 as a new solution.Our goal was to test continuous strong connectivity even in the remotest of areas where the technology infrastructure significantly lags behind the developed world and connectivity is low.&nbsp;The question we asked ourselves was, could we bridge this wide gap and provide reliable internet access even in the areas with the weakest connectivity infrastructure?Turns out, we could.Sodaq leads the world&nbsp;in low-power sensing and tracking. To tackle the connectivity challenge, we partnered&nbsp;with Monogoto &ndash; a&nbsp;software-defined connectivity platform that offers cloud-based connectivity for next-gen devices.&nbsp;&nbsp;<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://monogoto.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/6Y3A0857-1024x683.jpg" alt="An Epic Quest to Validate Continuous Global Connectivity" width="800" height="534" srcset="https://monogoto.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/6Y3A0857-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://monogoto.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/6Y3A0857-300x200.jpg 300w, https://monogoto.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/6Y3A0857-768x512.jpg 768w, https://monogoto.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/6Y3A0857-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://monogoto.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/6Y3A0857-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" class="fr-fic fr-dii">&nbsp;Through this partnership, we live-tested multiple tracking devices across Europe and Africa. An airplane carried multiple SODAQ-manufactured devices with the NINA/LENA series of U-blox, powered by Monogoto connectivity. Each tracking device showed the route traveled and reported from each landing location.The journey covered 10 countries, beginning in Europe, following the Nile River through Egypt and Sudan, and continuing towards the east African coastal region of Tanzania before heading further south to Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and finally South Africa.&nbsp;Other technologies haven&rsquo;t solved it yetAt the Mobile World Congress 2018, it was highlighted that LTE-M and NB-IoT, both&nbsp;<a data-wpel-link="external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-power_wide-area_network" rel="external noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">low-power wide-area network</a> <a data-wpel-link="external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_communication" rel="external noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">radio communication</a> technologies for connected devices, could not solve the connectivity challenge in countries with limited IoT capabilities. It would take years to deploy these technologies due to the resource-intensive work required for roaming contracts with multiple providers. This may contribute to the reason why chip and module vendors have noted that sales of LPWAN modules did not meet original estimations.&nbsp;Testing a new way: LTE CAT-1LTE CAT-1 is a ubiquitous technology used by smartphones all over the world and we believed it could offer low-cost and low-power connectivity. CAT-1 technology has been in development for years and its potential to revolutionize global connectivity has been long anticipated. Devices with LTE (Long-Term Evolution) technology are capable of achieving higher data transfer speeds compared to older generations like 2G or 3G.&nbsp;Because it is compatible with older network technologies such as 2G and 3G, even countries with outdated infrastructure can leverage their existing 2G and 3G networks. Plus, the focus on wider coverage allows network providers to extend their services to remote or rural areas that may not have had access to cellular connectivity before.&nbsp;What we learnedWe learned that true global connectivity could be achieved.&nbsp;Our key takeaway is that CAT-1 is well positioned to provide continuous coverage even in the remotest of areas &ndash; it has the benefit of being highly efficient, and needing low power usage, without the downside of CAT-M or NB-IoT coverage limitations. Our partner Monogoto was able to provide that connectivity directly and we look forward to seeing what comes next of the partnership.

In today’s world, continuous connectivity sounds like an everyday given. But delivering it is far from simple.

An Epic Quest to Validate Continuous Global Connectivity

This article is a part of &nbsp;our&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wevolver.com/student-program" target="_blank">University Technology Exposure Program</a>. The program aims to recognize and reward innovation from engineering students and researchers across the globe.Community voting is now live. Vote for your favorite submission by visiting:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/utep-community-vote/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University Technology Exposure Program Community Vote</a>.<h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Abstract</h3>This submission introduces Blake Hament&rsquo;s (University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Mechanical Engineering; Ph.D. Student) Hosing-Drone unmanned aerial system (UAS) project. This is a multicopter that can fly close to bridges, overpasses, and other pieces of large infrastructure to perform high-pressure washing. Water is pumped to high pressure on the ground, then sent to the drone via a hose. As water sprays from the actuated nozzle on the drone, the flight controller must compensate for high reaction forces and torques due to the spraying.<h3 dir="ltr">Mission</h3>Currently, United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) workers put themselves in danger everyday to clean bridges and overpasses with pressure washing. Often, workers are suspended beneath or beside the infrastructure while spraying at &gt; 3000 PSI. Water and debris can splash back into the workers eyes, nose, and mouth, or worse dislodge them from their precarious perches. Frequent injuries are reported.&nbsp;To keep humans out of harm&rsquo;s way, I am working on a &ldquo;Hosing-Drone&rdquo; UAS for concrete infrastructure cleaning. To properly clean graffiti and dirt, the surface should be sprayed with flow of approximately 3000 PSI and 3.5 gal/min. Such a flow creates very strong reaction forces at the hose outlet and at any bends in the hose -- comparable to that of a handgun! Mounting such a hose on an aerial vehicle requires full knowledge of the hose dynamics, UAV dynamics, and behavior of the coupled system.&nbsp;<h3 dir="ltr">Technology</h3>The Hosing-Drone UAS consists of a high-pressure pump and hoses for pressure washing, a custom designed and built multirotor vehicle, and an array of sensors for capturing real-time fluid dynamics and robot dynamics. Custom mechanisms have been developed for: (dis)engaging the outlet valve autonomously; landing gear to compensate for the weight of the heavy-lift drone; and 2 DOF hose aiming. Graffiti and dirt image segmentation with deep learning has also been explored.The UAV is designed for coupling with an industrial pressure washing system. The system has a gas powered engine for compressing incoming fluid to pressures &gt;= 3000 PSI. The fluid flows from the pump to pressure and flow speed transducers for real-time fluid dynamics monitoring. From the transducers, the flow continues through a long hose to the UAV. Onboard the UAV is a trigger-valve mechanism to engage and disengage flow to the outlet. From the trigger-valve, flow continues down a metal barrel, finally exiting at a small aperture nozzle.The metal barrel is secured to the UAV via a quick-release rail system. At the point of attachment, a 6 DOF force/torque sensor is mounted to capture reaction forces/torques from the hose acting on the UAV. The UAV is designed with heavy-lift motors and propellers to compensate for the reaction forces/torques. The UAV actuators are controlled via a Pixhawk 4 flight controller running a modified version of the open-source PX4 flight control stack. The flight controller receives data streams from the flow transducers and force/torque sensor for real-time reaction compensation. The Robot Operating System (ROS) and the MAVROS library for multirotor aerial vehicles are used to facilitate this communication and to run modified control algorithms. Because the UAS is often operating close to buildings, GPS position estimation can be unreliable or fully denied. To aid with position estimation (and therefore stable trajectory tracking), visual inertial odometry (VIO) with a Realsense T265 camera is also implemented.<h3 dir="ltr">Development</h3><h3 dir="ltr"><grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="cGcvT"></grammarly-extension><grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="cGcvT"></grammarly-extension><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ4MzAxNzU4NjkzLWltYWdlMy5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" class="fr-fic fr-dii" alt="hose robot dynamics">Left: hose motion was analyzed with infrared tracking. Right: coupled hose-robot dynamics were probed with a custom actuated gantry system.*</h3><h3 dir="ltr"><grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="cGcvT"></grammarly-extension><grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="cGcvT"></grammarly-extension><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ4MzAxNjY2OTQ0LWltYWdlOS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" class="fr-fic fr-dii" alt="testbeds, mathematical models to predict hose, robot">With data from the experimental testbeds, mathematical models were developed to predict hose, robot, and coupled motion.*</h3>In order to properly design the UAS, several experimental testbeds were developed to study the dynamics of pressure washing. A simple 1 DOF rail system was designed to test the reaction force at a hose outlet with varied flows and nozzle geometries. Next, experiments were conducted with a cantilevered hose underflow. Special markers were attached to the hose at regular intervals, and trials were captured with an infrared camera. The marker points were then transformed from pixel-space back to work-space coordinates, and the oscillatory motion of the hose was analyzed. Finally, a large gantry was constructed with 6 DOF force/torque sensing to study coupling between the hose and a robot as the hose was actuated through varied motion trajectories while spraying. Finally, mathematical models were fit to the observed data.&nbsp;With the dynamics now well-modeled, the UAS was designed with appropriate sensors and actuators to compensate for the expected high-pressure reaction forces/torques. In the current stage of the project, the Hosing-Drone UAS is being field-tested and the control algorithms are being refined.<grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="cGcvT"></grammarly-extension><grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="cGcvT"></grammarly-extension><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ4MzAwNjE0NTAxLTE2NDgzMDA2MTQ1MDEucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" class="fr-fic fr-dii" alt="hosing drone dynamics rules">Armed with the mathematical models describing Hosing-Drone dynamics, &ldquo;rules&rdquo; for vehicle design can be established to guide future UAS engineers.*<grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="cGcvT"></grammarly-extension><grammarly-extension data-grammarly-shadow-root="true" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none;" class="cGcvT"></grammarly-extension><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ4MzAyMjQ1ODg1LWltYWdlOC5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" class="fr-fic fr-dii" alt="graffiti segmentation">Early work towards graffiti and dirt image segmentation.*<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2EBRBdtsFGc?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe><h2 dir="ltr">About the University Technology Exposure Program 2022</h2>Wevolver, in partnership with <a href="https://mouser.com/" target="_blank">Mouser Electronics</a> and <a href="https://www.ansys.com/" target="_blank">Ansys</a>, is excited to announce the launch of the University Technology Exposure Program 2022. The program aims to recognize and reward innovation from engineering students and researchers across the globe. Learn more about the program <a href="http://www.wevolver.com/student-program" target="_blank">here</a>.<img alt="university-technology-exposure-program-mouser-ansys" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ4MzAwNjE0MTg0LTE2NDgzMDA2MTQxODQucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" class="fr-fic fr-dii"><hr>*Graphics from: &quot;A Pressure Washing Hosing-Drone &ndash; Mitigating Reaction Forces and Torques&quot; submission to ICUAS 2022, currently under review&rdquo;

This is a multicopter that can fly close to bridges, overpasses, and other pieces of large infrastructure to perform high-pressure washing. Water is pumped to high pressure on the ground, then sent to the drone via a hose.

Modeling, Design, and Control of a Hosing-Drone Unmanned Aerial System

The Chair for Aerospace Systems is an integrating chair dealing with the aircraft in its entirety and the integration within civil and/or military aviation. In addition to civil and military aircraft design, its focus is on the derivation and analysis of aviation boundary conditions as well as on the evaluation of aircraft according to these boundary conditions and requirements. As an integrating chair of the Faculty for Aviation, Astronautics, and Geodesy at the Technical University of Munich, the Chair for Aerospace Systems covers the complex system of aeronautical engineering in teaching and research subareas.<h2>The research project:</h2>Within the framework of the European research project FLEXOP (Flutter Free Envelope Expansion for Economical Performance Improvement), new methods are being developed and validated from very light—and therefore flexible—wing structures for the design of active and passive systems for flutter damping. Under the European Union’s research and innovation program, Horizon 2020, research and industrial partners from six different nations work on control algorithms, actuators and design optimization as well as on unmanned flight demonstrators with 7 m wingspans and turbine drives on which the developed approaches will be tested.Several sensors on the flight demonstrator, such as the pitot tube for measuring flight speed, had to be oriented in the flight direction as accurately as possible for error-free measurements. In order to take into account errors in the measurement data caused by an installation angle deviating from 0°, this angle had to be determined very precisely by means of a 3D scan. The challenge is that the angle relative to the nose of the aircraft must be determined and the pitot tube is attached to the tip of nose boom that is approximately 0.5 m long.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611570103752-DSC_0265-1024x683.jpg" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Digitalization of the nose boom of an unmanned flight demonstrator&nbsp;The fuselage segment of the aircraft was scanned in the front area (30 cm) with Creaform’s HandySCAN 3D scanner to generate measurements in order to determine a reference plane. The nose boom was then digitalized and used to determine the exact installation angle. Without the 3D scanner, accurate measurements would have been very difficult to achieve. The HandySCAN 3D allowed for flexible operation, delivered quick results, and provided an accuracy of 0.025 mm. Before the Creaform 3D scanner, such measurements had to be performed with costly photogrammetric systems.<h2>3D scanning advantages</h2>A 3D scanner allows for a multitude of different measurements and offers numerous possible applications at the Institute for Aviation and Astronautics at the TU Munich—all of which cannot be fully undertaken by other systems. Potential applications include the scanning of parts and components in order to create precisely fitting attachments using 3D printing processes. Furthermore, the profile geometries of purchased aircraft wings or propellers can be defined. This can improve the accuracy and simplicity of certain measurement and research tasks. “The ability to scan relatively small parts with the HandySCAN 3D as well as large structures, such as wings with wingspans of several meters under static loads, using the MaxSHOT 3D camera has convinced our Chair of the Creaform systems. The scanning of components up to complete aircraft allows us to quantify uncertainties during the construction process and production. We can take into account their effects during flight testing for the validation of aircraft design simulations,” explained Prof. Dr-Ing Mirko Hornung, Head of the Chair of Aviation Systems at the Faculty for Aviation, Astronautics, and Geodesy of the TU Munich. <div class="fr-img-space-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611570203093-MaxSHOT3D-Creaform-portable-device-1024x683.jpg" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Creaform’s optical coordinate measurement system, the MaxSHOT 3D, allows for the measurement of structures several meters in length&nbsp;Experiences with the system are consistently positive. The acquisition and measurement of components can be quickly learned even by inexperienced personnel. These technologies can therefore also be integrated into a future university internship in which students are carry out measurement tasks.&nbsp;</div><hr><h3>History of the Faculty for Aviation, Astronautics, and Geodesy’s Chair for Aerospace Systems at the Technical University of Munich</h3>Thanks to the initiative of the then head of the Institute for Aviation and Astronautics at the Technical University, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harry O. Ruppe, the Endowed Chair for Aeronautical Technology was founded on September 18, 1989. At the start of the winter semester in 1989-1990, Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Gero Madelung, who had worked for many years in the management of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH, took over the Chair as the first professor ordinarius. After 5 years, the Chair was officially affiliated with the Technical University of Munich. After the retirement of Prof. Madelung, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Schmitt was entrusted with the lectureship in the summer of 1996. Since the departure of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Schmitt in September 2002, the Chair has been temporarily headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Horst Baier. Since January 2010, the former Chair for Aeronautical Technology is now lead by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mirko Hornung as the Chair for Aerospace Systems.

The Chair for Aerospace Systems is an integrating chair dealing with the aircraft in its entirety and the integration within civil and/or military aviation.

Flexible 3D Scanning In Research

The work blurs the boundary between materials and robots. In the self-propelled devices, the material itself makes the machine function. "Our examples show that we can use structured materials that deform in response to environmental cues, to control and propel robots," says Daraio, professor of mechanical engineering and applied physics in Caltech's Division of Engineering and Applied Science, and corresponding author of a paper unveiling the robots that appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences&nbsp;on May 15.The new propulsion system relies on strips of a flexible polymer that is curled when cold and stretches out when warm. The polymer is positioned to activate a switch inside the robot's body, that is in turn attached to a paddle that rows it forward like a rowboat.The switch is made from a bistable element, which is a component that can be stable in two distinct geometries. In this case, it is built from strips of an elastic material that, when pushed on by the polymer, snaps from one position to another.<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tBxb1A6boTI?&amp;wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 767px; height: 439px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>When the cold robot is placed in warm water, the polymer stretches out, activates the switch, and the resulting sudden release of energy paddles the robot forward. The polymer strips can also be "tuned" to give specific responses at different times: that is, a thicker strip will take longer to warm up, stretch out, and ultimately activate its paddle than a thinner strip. This tunability allows the team to design robots capable of turning and moving at different speeds.The research builds on previous work by Daraio and Dennis Kochmann, professor of aerospace at Caltech. They used chains of <a href="http://www.caltech.edu/news/utility-instability-51629" target="_blank">bistable elements to transmit signals and build computer-like logic gates</a>.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1564499883153-Screenshot_2019-07-30+Harnessing+bistability+for+directional+propulsion+of+soft%2C+untethered+robots+-+5698+full+pdf%281%29.png" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In the latest iteration of the design, Daraio's team and collaborators were able to link up the polymer elements and switches in such a way to make a four-paddled robot propel itself forward, drop off a small payload (in this case, a token with a Caltech seal emblazoned on it), and then paddle backward.&nbsp;"Combining simple motions together, we were able to embed programming into the material to carry out a sequence of complex behaviors," says Caltech postdoctoral scholar Osama R. Bilal, co-first author of the PNASpaper. In the future, more functionalities and responsivities can be added, for example using polymers that respond to other environmental cues, like pH or salinity. Future versions of the robots could contain chemical spills or, on a smaller scale, deliver drugs, the researchers say.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1564499825448-1.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Currently, when the bistable elements snap and release their energy, they must be manually reset in order to work again. Next, the team plans to explore ways to redesign the bistable elements so that they are self-resetting when water temperature shifts again—making them potentially capable of swimming on indefinitely, so long as water temperature keeps fluctuating.The PNAS&nbsp;paper is titled <a href="http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20180515-101708023" target="_blank">"Harnessing bistability for directional propulsion of soft, untethered robots."</a> Daraio and Bilal collaborated with Tian Chen and Kristina Shea from ETH in Zurich. This research was supported by the Army Research Office and an ETH postdoctoral fellowship to Bilal.

 An artist's rendering of the new design for a robot that uses material deformation to propel itself through water. 

Engineers have developed robots capable of self-propulsion without using any motors, servos, or power supply. Instead, these first-of-their-kind devices paddle through water as the material they are constructed from deforms with temperature changes.

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