Pioneering technology in the struggle against climate change: tecsis will contribute towards reducing the ecological footprint of air travel. Within the European ?Clean Sky? programme, the force specialists within the WIKA Group are collaborating with Liebherr Aerospace to develop 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 example, are applicable here.
Force transducers will play an increasingly important role in aircraft manufacturing later on. Machines are increasingly being controlled by electric drives. These are replacing the hydraulic and pneumatic on-board systems which 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 monitoring of 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 comprehensive expertise in the field of force sensor technology. The core of this new product is a reliable sensor technology together with application-specific electronics. In neuro-scientific measurement technology, this solution can be an absolute innovation, and constitutes an alternative to comparable products out there.
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 result in the goal. In this manner, tecsis aims to provide a force transducer by 2021 that’s in a position to deliver Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5-6 and that delivers a robust platform for further developments.
Note
Further information on our force measurement products are available on the WIKA website. Assuming you have any questions, your contact will gladly assist you to.
Disclaimer: The content of the article reflects only the author?s view. The Clean Sky Joint Undertaken is not in charge of any use that could be made of the information it contains.
This project has received funding from the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 821135. Lazy receives support from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the Clean Sky 2 JU members other than the Union.g