Pioneering technology in the struggle against climate change: tecsis will contribute towards reducing the ecological footprint of air travel. As part of the European ?Clean Sky? programme, the force specialists within the WIKA Group are collaborating with Liebherr Aerospace to build up a force transducer ideal for aerospace applications.
EU project: Force transducer for electric drives
The project presents a particular challenge. Products for aviation should be stated in accordance with extremely strict requirements. The DO254 (guidelines for the development of electronic hardware in the air) and DO160G (environmental conditions and test procedures for aviation equipment) standards, for instance, are applicable here.
Force transducers will play an extremely important role in aircraft manufacturing in the future. Machines are increasingly being controlled by electric drives. They are replacing the hydraulic and pneumatic on-board systems that are common today. Future aircraft designs depends on the ?More-Electric and All-Electric Aircraft? concept. This can contribute towards reduced weight and better energy management through the reduction of CO2 and NOX emissions. Force transducers are an important element of these electric drives. They perform a key function in the control and tabs on the systems, e.g. on the landing gear and flaps.
Absolute innovation in aviation
In the implementation of the project, tecsis can draw upon its a long time of experience and its own comprehensive expertise in neuro-scientific force sensor technology. The core of this new product is a reliable sensor technology together with application-specific electronics. In the field of measurement technology, this solution can be an absolute innovation, and constitutes an alternative solution to comparable products available.
In collaboration with Liebherr Aerospace, tecsis is assuming full responsibility for developing this new sensor. An iterative process, i.e. a continuing sequence of improvement steps and validations up to the finished product, should lead to the goal. In this way, tecsis aims to provide a force transducer by 2021 that is able to deliver Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5-6 and that provides a robust platform for further developments.
Note
Further information on our force measurement products can be found on the WIKA website. If you have any questions, your contact will gladly assist you to.
Lifetime : The content of the article reflects only the writer?s view. The Clean Sky Joint Undertaken is not in charge of any use that may be made of the info it contains.
This project has received funding from the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 821135. The JU receives support from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the Clean Sky 2 JU members other than the Union.