Dreamliner battery nightmares have troubled the dreams of electric flight for the past two years. Michael Ricci, Vice President of Engineering with LaunchPoint Technologies, gave attendees at this year’s Electric Aircraft Symposium a crash course (pun intended) in the many types of failure modes electric aircraft face. Luckily, he also provided ways to mitigate and eliminate those failure modes. He introduced a concept called “Propulsion by Wire” (PBW), the main thrust for electric aircraft and roughly akin to the commonly discussed “Fly by Wire” concept. Asking what product specifications for electric propulsion will look like, he answered his own rhetorical question with the technical requirements for reasonable interaction, a useful user interface, airworthiness, and safety. Starting with the last issue first, safety (which should always come first), we need to be able to continue safe flight after a single component failure. There are some surprising, counter-intuitive things at work here. Depending on whether we start with a qualitative hazard analysis …
Making the Siemens Motor Light and Powerful
Siemen’s recently-announced 260 kilowatt (348.5 horsepower) motor has brought several comments, one from a skeptical blog reader who asked some interesting questions. “VO” or “Volker” comments on Siemen’s claims for the motor, and throws in speculation as to the company’s veracity. (Note to readers who submit comments: please don’t attribute conclusions not intended by the editor, as in the last sentence of VO’s comment, and avoid speculating on the honorable intentions of those who announce new concepts or projects.) “The first three you mention are kind of concepts but with reasonable or high efficiency. What is the efficiency of the Siemens motor? And whose tech are they using? They have been circling the makers you mentioned for years. Did they license something or steal again? On most you mention, I could find efficiency numbers (Emrax with a whopping 98%?) and more or less detailed specs. I don’t know. Looks like a marketing ploy. “Typically, you would see boasting with efficiency …
EAS IX to be A Gala Gathering
Dr. Seeley sent this along today. On May 1, 2, 2015, the world’s leading experts will converge for the 9th Annual CAFE Electric Aircraft Symposium in the beautiful Sonoma Wine Country. The confirmed presenters include: Airbus on “The e-Fan Design” Michigan’s Satki3 CEO Ann Marie Sastry on “Solid State Energy Storage” Italy’s Eric Raymond of GFC I Team-eGenius on “Sunstar and the SunSeeker Duo” Slovenia’s Tine Tomazic of GFC I Team Pipistrel USA on “Converting GA Aircraft to Electric Propulsion” UCR’s Zach Favors on “Beach Sand for Long Cycle Life Li-ion Batteries” Northrop-Grumman’s J. Philip Barnes on “Regenerative Electric Flight” NASA’s Dr. Eric Darcy on “Battery Safety” Ford/Ricardo’s Neil Johnson on “Li-ion BMS & Gauging” Launchpoint’s Michael Ricci on “Propulsion by Wire” Also expected are Northrop-Grumman’s Barnaby Wainfan on “Low Aspect Ratio Electric Aircraft”, Ray Pekar of Autoliv on “Airbags for Impact, Rafts and EMAS”, Bose Automotive Suspension lead Neal Lackritz on “Active Suspension for Sky Taxis” and Jeff DeGrange of …