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Listen in as Dr. Ravi Rajamani discusses his new book, the history of electric flight, and electric propulsion. Learn more at books.sae.org/t-135.

“Spotlight on Design: Insight” features an in-depth look at the latest technology breakthroughs impacting mobility. Viewers are virtually taken to labs and research centers to learn how design engineers are enhancing product performance/reliability, reducing cost, improving quality, safety or environmental impact, and achieving regulatory compliance. When automotive and aerospace manufacturers look for a material with superior lightweight and strength characteristics, they often look no further than composite materials. In the episode “Composite Materials: New Trends in Automotive Design” (10:20), an engineer from Molded Fiber Glass Research Company demonstrates how they develop and test the properties of composite materials, and an engineer at MirTEQ Incorporated discusses designing molds for an aftermarket composite part.

“Spotlight on Design” features video interviews and case study segments, focusing on the latest technology breakthroughs. Viewers are virtually taken to labs and research centers to learn how design engineers are enhancing product performance/reliability, reducing cost, improving quality, safety or environmental impact, and achieving regulatory compliance. In the episode “Diagnostics and Prognostics: Proactive Maintenance and Failure Prevention” (21:04), Delphi engineers explain how they leverage the growing number of sensors and computing power in vehicles to diagnose and proactively solve emerging mechanical or electronic problems, before a breakdown occurs. This video also looks at the next generation of automotive telematics, with HEM Data demonstrating how in-vehicle data acquisition is used to monitor the inner workings of vehicles.

Finding ways to reduce the amount of fuel burned per flight takes top priority in aircraft operations and design. Three experts show how the smallest on-board components can make a huge difference.

There are many macro drivers that are creating opportunities for transportation electrification. They include the environment, dependence on foreign oil, national security, battery technology and government incentives to name a few. In light of this growing momentum consumers will have choices to where they can charge ? at home, workplace or publicly. Electrical vehicle supply equipment will drive value throughout the supply chain ? installer, building owner, automaker, suppliers, utilities and consumers. Market acceptance will occur when consumer?s needs and wants are met. To meet these needs access to products through multiple channels will be required. Presenter Manoj Karwa, Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc.

It is a challenge to write a good motor specification. Typical spec. problems are omitted or ambiguous requirements, or overly tight tolerances that drive up cost but not value. These problems create hidden penalties in cost, performance, reliability, and development time. This presentation will describe common problems in traction motor specifications and associated penalties, as well as recommendations to avoid them. Topics will include spec.?s for demagnetization, mechanical considerations, torque ripple, performance, and others. Presenter David A. Fulton, Remy Inc.

The copper-rotor induction-motor made its debut in automotive electric traction in 1990 in GM's Impact EV. Since then, this motor architecture has covered millions of miles on other vehicle platforms which will soon include Toyota's RAV4-EV. With the industry's attention focused on cost-effective alternatives to permanent-magnet traction motors, the induction motor has returned to the spotlight. This talk will overview where the copper-rotor induction-motor is today, how the technology has evolved since the days of the GM Impact, the state-of-play in its mass-manufacturing processes and today's major supply-chain players. Presenter Malcolm Burwell, International Copper Association Inc.

This presentation will cover an overview of challenges and key discussion points for advanced electric motor and drive testing . Voiko will visit some examples of how D&V approaches these issues and also some suggestions for how the industry can view these intriguing problems as opportunities. The presentation will also delve into current testing developments that involve resolver, load bank and power measurement devices by highlighting solutions in the market today. There will also be a cursory look into the future of electric motor testing and what we can expect in the near term. Presenter Voiko Loukanov, D&V Electronics Limited

Historically, the opposed-piston, two-stroke (OP2S) diesel engine set combined records for fuel efficiency and power density that have yet to be met by any other engine type. However, with modern emissions standards, wide-spread development of this engine for on-highway use stopped. At Achates Power, state-of-the-art analytical tools and engineering methods have produced an OP2S engine that, when compared to a leading medium-duty engine, has demonstrated a 21% fuel efficiency gain and engine-out emissions levels meeting U.S. EPA10 with conventional after-treatment. Among the presentation topics covered are thermodynamic efficiency, demonstrated engine results, cost and weight advantages, and overcoming two-stroke engine challenges. Presenter David Johnson, Achates Power Inc.

Combustion engines are typically only 20-30% efficient at part-load operating conditions, resulting in poor fuel economy on average. To address this, LiquidPiston has developed an improved thermodynamics cycle, called the High-Efficiency Hybrid Cycle (HEHC), which optimizes each process (stroke) of the engine operation, with the aim of maximizing fuel efficiency. The cycle consists of: 1) a high compression ratio; 2) constant-volume combustion, and 3) over-expansion. At a modest compression ratio of 18:1, this cycle offers an ideal thermodynamic efficiency of 74%. To embody the HEHC cycle, LiquidPiston has developed two very different rotary engine architectures ? called the ?M? and ?X? engines. These rotary engine architectures offer flexibility in executing the thermodynamics cycle, and also result in a very compact package. In this talk, I will present recent results in the development of the LiquidPiston engines. The company is currently testing 20 and 40 HP versions of the ?M?

Understanding in-use fleet operating behavior is of paramount importance when evaluating the potential of advanced/alternative vehicle technologies. Accurately characterizing real world vehicle operation assists in properly allocating advanced technologies, playing a role in determining initial payback period and return on investment. In addition, this information contributes to the design and deployment of future technologies as the result of increased awareness regarding tractive power requirements associated with typical operating behavior. In this presentation, the concept of vehicle duty cycles and their relation to advanced technologies will be presented and explored. Additionally, current research attempts to characterize school bus operation will be examined, and existing computational analysis and evaluation tools associated with these efforts discussed. Presenter Adam Duran, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

A review of the processes that lead to the conclusion that CNG was the best solution for the fleet, including the efforts to gain public support for alternative fuels for school buses. MISD is now home for 42 CNG powered school buses (of 200). The presentation will include training and design tips for safety and smooth operations along with maintenance considerations for using CNG. Alternative fuels, the dilemma of which comes first - refueling station or operational buses ? has an impact on grant approval and funding, bearing discussion of the option of a public/private model. Unlike other alternative fuels, CNG has a national security impact Presenter Charles Stone, Mansfield Indep School Dist

The Focus Electric is Ford�s first full-featured 5 passenger battery electric vehicle. The engineering team set our sights on achieving best-in-class function and efficiency and was successful with an EPA certified 1XX MPGe and range XXX then the facing competition allowing for a slightly lower capacity battery pack and larger vehicle without customer trade-off. We briefly overview the engineering method and technologies employed to deliver the results as well as sharing some of the functional challenges unique to this type of vehicle. Presenter Charles Gray, Ford Motor Co.

The rapid pace of recent progress in vehicle electrification technologies points to a bright future for electric-drive vehicles, but uncertainty regarding future technical trajectories and uncertainty in consumer response make possible a multitude of electric-drive vehicle futures. This presentation will examine a range of these possible electric-drive futures as a function of different technology and pricing scenarios. An exploration of initial conditions, market uptake, and resulting social benefits will show how HEV and PEV technology enable the attainment of stringent vehicle efficiency goals and unlock potential for lower-carbon futures. Presenter Jacob Ward, Department Of Energy

: Fiber Placement equipment has historically been very large and very expensive. Therefore, the AFP process has been mostly exclusive to the larger aerospace companies of the world. In order to achieve more widespread use of the AFP process, a wider variety of machine configurations must be offered and cost of the equipment must be decreased. Commercially available, articulated robotic arms have been identified as an attractive, low cost option for AFP machine platforms. However, incorporating AFP material delivery technology with robotic arms has many challenges. These challenges relate to both hardware and software issues. This presentation will address the technical challenges of using robots as a machine platform for the AFP process and review the current status of this composites lamination equipment technology. Presenter Frederic Challois, Coriolis Composites

The aerospace industry has long sought a solution for storing maintenance history information directly on aircraft parts. In 2005 leading airframe manufacturers determined that passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology presented a unique opportunity to address this industry need. Through the efforts of the Air Transport Association (ATA) RFID on Parts Committee and SAE International testing standards and data specifications are in place to support the broad adoption of passive RFID for storing parts history information directly on aircraft parts. The primary focus of the paper will be on the SAE AS-5678 environmental testing standard for passive RFID tags intended for aircraft use. Detail will be provided to help aerospace manufacturers understand their role and responsibilities for current programs and understand how this may impact their parts certification process.

Optical fiber has begun replacing copper in avionic networks. So far, however, it has been mainly restricted to non-critical applications (video transmission to the flight deck, IFE?). In order to take advantage of the high-bandwidth, low weight, no EMI properties of optical fibers in all data transmission networks, it will be necessary to improve the testing. One part of the puzzle, which is still missing, is the self-test button: the possibility to check the network and detect potential failures before they occur. The typical testing tool of a technician involved in optical fiber cables is the ?light source ? optical power meter? pair. With this tool, one can measure the insertion loss of the fiber link. A second important parameter, the return loss at each optical connector, is not analysed. In addition, this is only a global measurement, which does not allow the detection of possible weak points.

Edgewater Computer Systems Inc. product RTEdge Platform 1.2 is a software toolset supporting proof based engineering, implementation and deployment of software components, built using the RTEdge AADL Microkernel modeling subset. This is a small subset of the AADL component model and execution semantics, covering threads and thread-groups communicating solely through asynchronous event ports and through explicitly shared data ports. Threads behavior is expressed as state machines and dispatch run time semantics is encoded in a Run-time Executive, enforcing pre-emptive priority dispatch based on statically assigned event priorities, with ceiling priority protocol access to shared data. This simple AADL microkernel semantic core can support all dispatch policies, communication and synchronization mechanisms of a fully fledged AADL run time environment, permitting the systematic use of the RTEdge static analysis tools for AADL compliant software components.

In recent years, all major microprocessor manufacturers are transitioning towards the deploymenet of multiple processing cores on every chip. These multi-core architectures represent the industry consensus regarding the most effective utilization of available silicon resources to satisfy growing demands for processing and memory capacities. Porting off-the-shelf software capabilities to multi-core architectures often requires significant changes to data structures and algorithms. When developing new software capabilities specifically for deployment on SMP architectures, software engineers are required to address specific multi-core programming issues, and in the ideal, must do so in ways that are generic to many different multi-core target platforms. This talk provides an overview of the special considerations that must be addressed by software engineers targeting multi-core platforms and describes how the Java language facilitates solutions to these special challenges.

With the increase of functions in the next generation of aircrafts, it has become very important to address reconfigurability. The bottom line is that space and weight available for critical computers in an aircraft remain mostly unchanged. These new functions imply more computation power and so more redundant elements for safety. CPU power has been increased but the latest evolution with the new multi-core CPU's introduces additional difficulties in terms of certification. IMA first generation was the first answer to address some of these problems by enabling the concentration of several certified critical functions in the same physical computer. However, up to now, such implementations were very static and did not scale very well with the increase of functions need for the next generation aircraft. That?s why the avionics industry is looking for improvement of existing solutions and must work on what would be the next generation of IMA (IMA-NG).