Aviation in Transition

For sustainable aviation, conventional drivelines must be replaced by (hybrid) electric drivelines (including hydrogen propulsion). New electrical cable systems are necessary to distribute high powers safely and with the lowest possible weight increase between components of these (hybrid) electric drivelines through the aircraft. At the same time, sustainability requires faster maintenance and control during and after flight via collecting large amount of sensor data across the planes at all times. With thousands of new sensors expected to equip the new planes, data networks start significantly contributing to the carbon footprint per flight hour. TUE works on wireless solutions that satisfy the extreme reliability requirements of flight control applications as a potential solution to the cabling weight problem. This requires new knowledge, technologies and products that are being developed in this project. This project involves collaboration between Dutch companies, knowledge institutions and universities.

Cabling in a modern airplane is reaching on average 55000 kilometers with several thousands of connectors and other necessary components. The total weight of all the cabling system contributes significantly to the CO2 emissions per flight hour. Are wireless technologies a viable solution for equally reliable and low weight data network in future avionics? This is the question TUE, together with other Dutch industry and knowledge institute partners, is trying to answer.