Aircraft

Aiming at aircraft, Powell Electronics is offering high power connectors and cables from Glenair. The 972 series is designed for up to 2kVac, 1,500Hz and between 150 and 800A. With stainless steel bodies and shells, “the connectors feature a +230°C maximum operating temperature”, according to component distributor Powell, which added that rope-lay cables optimised for the connectors are available at ...

European unmanned aerial vehicle maker Tekever has signed a two-year partnership with US synthetic aperture radar maker Imsar. Under the agreement, the companies will integrate Imsar’s radars into Tekeler’s air frames. Tekever will also support Imsar’s radar development with knowledge of tactics and capabilities gathered on Ukraine’s front lines, and the agreement includes a preferred partner support package and volume ...

Airborne navigation without GNSS is the aim of a MoU (memorandum of understanding) signed between Australian ground observation hardware (right) company Advanced Navigation, and UK-based positioning software company Nileq, which has patent-pending technology that uses neuromorphic computing to match live scans of the terrain below to an existing database of the Earth’s surface (below). “In an increasingly uncertain world where ...

ProTek Devices has introduced a pair of 15kW transient voltage suppressors for 28V aircraft circuits. “The devices meet compliance for MIL-STD-704 and MIL-STD-19500, in addition to being RTCA DO-160G compliant,” according to the company. They are called: PAL704-P15K36 is 50 x 19 x 12mm 30g with flat terminals PAL704-P15K36T 63 x 23 x 17mm x 48g with turret terminals Both ...

Magnix has designed a range of batteries for electric aviation. The first product of the line, Samson300, is focussed on maximum energy density, according to the company, achieving 300Wh/kg. A cycle life of over 1,000 full-depth discharge cycles is claimed. “Patented safety technologies include cell level protections from thermal runaway and ability to store batteries for long periods at zero charge,” ...

American Aerospace Technologies has won an FAA waiver and exemption to fly its unmanned aircraft commercially beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight over the San Joaquin Valley, California. The AiRanger aircraft has a 5.7m wingspan, weights 100kg and can fly for 12 hours or 1,200km. Power comes from an 8hp engine. Rules constrain its altitude to 8,000feet (~2,500m) and a ~11,000km2 ...

Intending to map the ground from small aircraft and drones, researchers in China have made a singe-photon radar. It achieves resolution better than 40cm from 2.1km altitude using around two photons per pixel, in the face of 10,000 daylight noise photons per pixel. Created by the University of Science and Technology of China, the lidar combines three 150mA 1.55μm lasers ...

Microchip is aiming at 15kVA actuators in more-electric aircraft with a pair of three-phase power drive assemblies with silicon carbide power components. Both consists of a power module soldered to driver board “The companion gate driver boards are designed to be integrated with [power] modules to provide an all-in-one motor drive solution for the electrification of systems such as flight ...

Teledyne has introduced a high-voltage connector system for use up to 13.5kV and 70,000 feet (21km) altitude. Called DHM, they use the company’s self-contained ‘Hi/Mate’ inserts, pre-wired inside sub-D housings and back-shells – they are only available made-up onto cables. “These inserts leverage Teledyne’s advanced interface sealing system, rendering them suitable for a wide range of aerospace and defense electronic ...

Mouser Electronics and Texas Instruments have teamed up to explore the challenges of electric urban air transportation (think: ‘big drones’) in a 26 page ebook. “Over the next ten years, the urban air mobility market will mature sufficiently to make short distance, point-to-point travel commonplace and affordable in densely populated areas through driver-less air taxis,” according to Mouser. “The five chapters ...