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Honeywell equips Middle East Airlines with new cockpit tech

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Honeywell has signed a selection agreement with Middle East Airlines, the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, to provide cockpit technologies to support the airline’s new fleet of 19 aircraft.

The deal, which includes four of Airbus’ latest variant, the A321XLR, will see Honeywell provide its latest full avionics suite to help Middle East Airlines maximize safety and ensure regulatory compliance.

Middle East Airlines’ (MEA) purchase of Airbus aircraft includes 11 A321NEOs, four A330NEOs and four A321XLRs, the latest evolution of the successful A321NEO aircraft. [Read more…] about Honeywell equips Middle East Airlines with new cockpit tech

UPS attains FAA’s first full approval for drone airline

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UPS subsidiary UPS Flight Forward says it has received the US government’s first full Part 135 Standard certification to operate a drone airline.

The company will initially expand its drone delivery service further to support hospital campuses around the country, and to provide solutions for customers beyond those in the healthcare industry.

UPS Flight Forward plans in the future to transport a variety of items for customers in many industries, and regularly fly drones beyond the operators’ visual line of sight. [Read more…] about UPS attains FAA’s first full approval for drone airline

NASA takes delivery of first all-electric experimental aircraft

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The first all-electric configuration of NASA’s X-57 Maxwell now is at the space agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

The X-57, NASA’s first all-electric experimental aircraft, or X-plane – and the first crewed X-plane in two decades – was delivered by Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) of San Luis Obispo, California on Wednesday, October 2, in the first of three configurations as an all-electric aircraft, known as Modification II, or Mod II.

The X-57’s Mod II vehicle features the replacement of traditional combustion engines on a baseline Tecnam P2006T aircraft, with electric cruise motors. [Read more…] about NASA takes delivery of first all-electric experimental aircraft

Strange spacecraft lands on Earth carrying humanoid robot

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An unmanned spacecraft recently landed on Earth carrying a humanoid robot. But, perhaps disappointingly for UFO buffs, neither is alien in origin.

The spacecraft is the Soyuz MS-14 space capsule, which made a “first of its kind test flight” to the International Space Station.

The vehicle is Russian, and so is its passenger, a humanoid robot called Skybot F-850, also known as “Fedor”, apparently (main picture). [Read more…] about Strange spacecraft lands on Earth carrying humanoid robot

DJI uses Ubuntu in drone computer

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Ubuntu, the most popular Linux operating system for the Internet of Things, is now available on the Manifold 2, a high-performance embedded computer offered by drone manufacturer, DJI.

The Manifold 2 is designed to fit onto DJI’s drone platforms via the onboard SDK and enables developers to transform aerial platforms into truly smarter drones, performing complex computing tasks and advanced image processing, which in-turn creates rapid flexibility for enterprise usage.

As part of the offering, the Manifold 2 is planning to feature snaps. Snaps are containerised software packages, designed to work perfectly across cloud, desktop, and IoT devices – with this the first instance of the technology’s availability on drones.

[Read more…] about DJI uses Ubuntu in drone computer

The Future of Automation in the Aviation Industry

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Recent years have seen a considerable buzz build up around the prospect of automated transport. But in the aviation industry at least, this revolution has been going on for a while.

Every commercial flight, including those undertaken by private jets, takes place with some aspects being handled entirely by a computer.

As artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, it’s a near-certainty that a greater portion of piloting duties will be handed over to automated systems. [Read more…] about The Future of Automation in the Aviation Industry

DHL launches last-mile drone delivery service in China

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DHL Express has partnered with autonomous aerial vehicle company EHang to jointly launch a fully automated and intelligent smart drone delivery solution to tackle the last-mile delivery challenges in the urban areas of China.

The launch ceremony was held today at the EHang Command and Control Center in Guangzhou, with the attendance of senior executives from both companies.

This cutting-edge solution takes its inaugural flight for a DHL customer, making DHL the first international express company to provide such a service in China.

[Read more…] about DHL launches last-mile drone delivery service in China

Lilium launches air taxi. Flying cars could take to the skies next

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Flying cars have been around a long time, but only as test vehicles, often engineered and built by tinkerers who may have been seen as somewhat eccentric for even dreaming up such a machine.

But in the past couple of years, these “eccentric tinkerers” have been usurped by corporate bigwigs who maybe see a big market for the technology.

In the most recent development, a German company called Lilium has completed a successful test flight with its all-electric flying car.

[Read more…] about Lilium launches air taxi. Flying cars could take to the skies next

UTC begins work on hybrid electric aeroplane

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United Technologies (UTC) has recently launched the advanced projects group within the company, which moves at speed to build and pilot ambitious product and service demonstrators.

The group’s first product demonstrator is a hybrid-electric X-plane under the project name, Project 804.

The number “804” represents the straight-line mileage between the Pratt & Whitney facility in Longueuil, Québec, and the Collins Aerospace facility in Rockford, Illinois.

[Read more…] about UTC begins work on hybrid electric aeroplane

Boeing 737 crash could lead to planes being fitted with thousands of additional sensors

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On the 10th of March this year, a Boeing 737 plane crashed in Ethiopia, killing all 157 on board. 

Investigators have released their early findings into another accident involving a 737 operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air, in October last year, and they suggest the cause was “an erroneous angle-of-attack sensor”.

An angle-of-attack sensor is usually positioned to the side of the plane’s nose and detects oncoming air flow, to which it adjusts and sends back data to the plane’s computer system.  [Read more…] about Boeing 737 crash could lead to planes being fitted with thousands of additional sensors