Page 87 - World Airnews Magazine December 2019 Edition

TECHNICAL TECHNICAL

MAKING ORIGAMI STRUCTURES

FOR SPACE FROM MALTA TO

DUBAI

foldable electronics. He is now working on scaling up the work, as
Xin Ning, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering well as adding sensors to the modules to monitor such things as
at Penn State, is applying the ancient folding art of origami to temperature, humidity, radiation and more.
“There are a lot of stressors in space that could negatively impact
reconfigurable, multi functional materials that could be used to the electronics and larger components of these structures,” Ning This Embraer KC-390 was seen transiting
build structures in harsh environments, such as outer space. said. “Of course, we want to make them as flexible as possible for through Malta on its way to the Dubai
His work was recently recognised by the Applied Mechanics travel, but they also need to be strong enough to resist degrada- Air Show. The aircraft was delivered to
Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). tion that could result from any of these stressors.” the Brazilian Air Force on 4th September.
The division awarded Ning a Haythornthwaite Foundation Ning will present his progress at the 2020 International It carries the serial number FAB2853.
Research Initiation Award, which provides one year of seed funding Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition meeting. Embraer has high hopes for this new
to continue pursuing his project. “It’s nice to be recognised by my field, and I hope this year’s work airlifter especially as the tie-up with
Ning received the award at the ASME’s annual International will lay the foundation for more funding,” Ning said. Boeing should be sealed by March
Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in November in Ning’s research involves both graduate and undergraduate next year. Photo by Rowen Aquilina
Salt Lake City, Utah. researchers. In addition to his research activities in foldable and
“I’m very excited that the potential of this work is being deployable structures, Ning developed and teaches a combined
recognised by the ASME Applied Mechanics Division,” Ning said. senior- and graduate-level course: AERSP 497/597 Deployable
“I’m just starting my second year as an assistant professor at Penn Structures.
State, and this recognition helps me feel like I’m on the right track “With the integrated research and educational approach, I hope DRONES
with my current research.” to educate the next-generation aerospace engineers who can push LEONARDO INVESTS IN
Ning studies how to make electronics as thin and flexible as the boundaries of future large-scale space structures,” Ning said.
possible. The Robert M. and Mary Haythornthwaite Foundation
As a post-doctoral research associate, he worked in the labora- supports scientific SOLAR-POWERED DRONES
tory of John A. Rogers, the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey research, primarily
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical research in the field of
Engineering and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University. theoretical and applied
There, Ning developed electronic devices with the aim of improv- mechanics. Robert
ing human health monitoring and medical care. Haythornthwaite
“It’s different, to go from human bodies to outer space, but the was the founder and
underlying principles are similar,” Ning said. first president of the
“Ultimately, the electronics need to be super thin, highly flexible American Academy of
and able to constantly monitor and adjust to external stressors. Mechanics.
This project is just taking it to a much larger scale.” Students in Xin Ning’s
In his current research, Ning works to develop electronics that course made origami
can be folded for their journey to space and then assembled into a models to represent
larger structure once in orbit. potential foldable struc- Italian defence and aerospace group
“You can’t put a full structure into a rocket and launch it,” Ning tures to be deployed in Leonardo has invested in a company
said. “There’s not enough room for large structures. With this space. Q developing solar-powered drones poten-
work, we can fold up the components, reducing the space they Article courtesy: tially capable of unlimited flight with no
occupy, making it easier to transport them to space.” https://news.psu.edu/ refueling, it said.
Ning has already made a few small and simple structures out of The drone, which is expected to begin
autonomous flights next year and go into
production in 2021, can operate from
existing airbases around the world and
remain airborne for much longer than
current aircraft. aircraft will be carried out at the Skydweller that had successfully circumnavigated the
Leonardo gave no financial details of facility in the Castilla-La Mancha region of globe in 2016.
the deal, but said it would become lead Spain, Leonardo said. Its aircraft division Its first development phase would focus
investor in and main industrial partner will help development and engineering via on converting the aircraft from a manned
to Skydweller Aero Inc, and would lead a dedicated team. platform to an “optionally piloted vehicle”
marketing of the drone in Italy, the United Various groups including Airbus (AIR.PA), by building in autonomy algorithms.
Kingdom and Poland. Boeing (BA.N), Facebook (FB.O) and Google A second phase would develop a fully
Chief Executive Alessandro Profumo said (GOOGL.O) have looked at solar-powered autonomous unpiloted aircraft, capable of
the deal would, “improve the company’s aircraft. standing up to a range of environmental
competitive advantage in the aerospace However, development has been conditions.
business for the next 20 years”. hampered by issues such as installing solar Drones capable of flying as long as
Mechanical engineering PhD Leonardo said the system would comply panels that generate enough power for the sun shone would have widespread
student Shannon Zirbel and a team with European export laws and would not flight without adding too much weight to applications in areas ranging from the
of students work on a solar array be subject to international arms trafficking the aircraft. military to communications, navigation,
prototype that uses Origami restrictions. Leonardo said Skydweller had already and weather and environmental, and
Development and construction of the developed a “proven and mature” aircraft infrastructure monitoring. Q

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