Reducing the annoyance related to the noise generated by aircraft flyovers near airports is a major concern of the aeronautical industry. Noise source reduction is one of the pillars of the balanced approach of the International Civil Aviation Organization of, but further research is still needed to understand and reduce unpleasantness and annoyance due to aircraft noise. From a psychoacoustics point of view, it is particularly important to understand and assess the effects related to perceived phenomena such as tonality, roughness, and beats created by produced tones whose frequencies can be more or less close to each other. Indeed, these phenomena increase unpleasantness at similar noise levels. This article describes optimized tools and overall process used for studies applied to current and future aircraft noise perception such as: noise source modeling, simulation of the propagation to the ground, 3D sound rendering on a multi-speaker system, perceptual evaluation, statistical analysis, and regression analyses between measured unpleasantness and Effective Perceived Noise Level (EPNL) and other indicators.

The phase delay introduced by photodetectors can be affected by intensity, reverse bias, and temperature through different effects. An optical pilot tone superimposed on the detected signal allows an independent measurement of such phase errors in the complete photodetection chain and provides an opportunity to correct them. This allows to further separate readout noise from the measurement, providing a more performant and intensity-invariant phase readout. We test the functional principle on a setup demonstrating an improved phase noise performance and a reduced phase walk below 10 mHz in particular. This benefits applications that require accurate timing or signal phase determination with photodiodes.

The purpose of this study was to use a machine-learning approach for the classification of holdings for all flights arriving at Dubai International Airport (IATA DXB) in a period of one year. The study used data from ADS-B for all flights arriving and departing DXB for the period 15 February 2018 and 15 February 2019. For all 189,999 arrivals analyzed, it was identified the Standard Terminal Arrival Route (STAR) flown, the occurrence of holdings, the aircraft flying (for the determination of wake turbulence category), the visibility, and data related to the interception of a circle centered around DXB with a radius of 50 NM (geographical position, number of aircraft entering the circle for several time windows, number of aircraft flying within this circle etc), along with the number of aircraft taking-off and landing during a given time period. These features were tested, in different combinations, to determine their impact on metrics used to evaluate the classifier output quality. After running classifiers designed with different algorithms and combinations of features, it was identified the one which, with the CatBoost algorithm, gave the best F1 (0.777), Precision (0.847) and Accuracy (0.912) for a period of 10 minutes after interception. The F1 increased to 0.85 when the altitude and the speed at the interception of the circle were included as features, but they were discarded as they introduced an undesirable bias in the final model.

Models for Manufacturing (MfM) is a methodology currently under development with a novel approach to applying Ontology-Based Engineering concepts to manufacturing. MfM is based in a 3-Layer Model (3LM) framework: a Data layer that collects all the information, e.g. in databases, an Ontology layer for ontological definition containing the domain knowledge, and a Service layer comprising all necessary software services. The Ontology layer is the core of the 3LM framework and is made up of 4 models: Scope, Data, Behaviour, and Semantic models. The 3LM framework is supported by user-friendly modelling tools and guarantees independence between the 3 layers. This work aims to evaluate the MfM methodology through the development of a real use case based on previous work by the authors: an experimental test plan to study sheet metal formability in hole-flanging operations by Single-Point Incremental Forming (SPIF). The test plan includes the definition of the main geometrical parameters of the specimens, the generation of the forming tool paths and G-code for a CNC machine, the evaluation of the manufactured parts and the analysis of the material formability. The paper presents the definition of the Ontology layer for the developed use case using various graphical modelling tools and a simple implementation of Data and Service layers as well as the interfaces between the 3 layers. The conclusions of the work highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the application developed and point out the main lines of future development of the MfM methodology.

Airbus has revealed ZEROe, three concepts for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft which could be brought to market by 2035. The ZEROe concept aircrafts, which support Airbus’ commitment to lead the decarbonisation of the aviation industry, all rely on hydrogen as a primary power source, which would be deployed via a hybrid-hydrogen configuration featuring modified gas-turbine engines complemented by fuel cells for electrical power. Although the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology is one of the most matured fuel cell types, Airbus Central Research and Technology (CRT) is also investigating novel SOFC concepts for potential hybrid-hydrogen configurations.The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) offers major benefits, namely electrical efficiency and fuel versatility, for hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion. Although the SOFC’s area specific power density has drastically increased within the last decade, more needs to be done to make the technology accessible for aviation applications. The combined development of novel SOFC concepts and corresponding manufacturing processes are regarded as key objectives for the SOFC activities at Airbus Central Research and Technology. Airbus is designing, manufacturing and testing SOFC concepts with the aim to achieve highest gravimetric power densities.Novel manufacturing technologies for metallic and ceramic materials have the potential to enable lighter functional layers for SOFCs with increased intrinsic mechanical stability and surface area. Different cell concepts with an optimized current collection are currently under development at Airbus. The micro-tubular and monolithic SOFC are seen as the most promising concepts, whereas around 2 kW/kg on a cell level has recently been achieved in a performance test at Airbus.

Mechatronics and Robotics (MaR) have recently gained importance in product development and manufacturing settings and applications. Therefore, the Center for Space Emerging Technologies (C-SET) has managed an international multi-disciplinary study to present, historically, the first Latin American general review of industrial, collaborative, and mobile robotics, with the support of North American and European researchers and institutions. The methodology is developed by considering literature extracted from Scopus, Web of Science, and Aerospace Research Central and adding reports written by companies and government organizations. This describes the state-of-the-art of MaR until the year 2023 in the 3 Sub-Regions: North America, Central America, and South America, having achieved important results related to the academy, industry, government, and entrepreneurship; thus, the statistics shown in this manuscript are unique. Also, this article explores the potential for further work and advantages described by robotic companies such as ABB, KUKA, and Mecademic and the use of the Robot Operating System (ROS) in order to promote research, development, and innovation. In addition, the integration with industry 4.0 and digital manufacturing, architecture and construction, aerospace, smart agriculture, artificial intelligence, and computational social science (human-robot interaction) is analyzed to show the promising features of these growing tech areas, considering the improvements to increase production, manufacturing, and education in the Region. Finally, regarding the information presented, Latin America is considered an important location for investments to increase production and product development, taking into account the further proposal for the creation of the LATAM Consortium for Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics, which could support and work on roboethics and education/R+D+I law and regulations in the Region. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-04-025 Full Text: PDF