Geared Up – CMAS

Revolutionary hydrogen technology unveiled that could unlock the emerging hydrogen aviation market

Evolutionary hydrogen technology for aviation and urban air mobility has been unveiled today (2^ndMarch) by HyPoint – and the Californian fuel cell specialist is expecting to start shipping the product in 2022.

HyPoint says its NASA award-winning turbo air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell system will cut years off commercial delivery timelines for hydrogen aircrafts and unlock the emerging hydrogen aviation market.

The company claims its technology delivers an unprecedented combination of specific power and energy density and has passed key validation testing to prove its technical viability.

“Heaviest Black Hole Collision” Detected by Gravitational Waves Might Actually Be a Boson Star Merger

An international team of scientists led by the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics and the University of Aveiro, including an undergraduate from the Department of Physics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has proposed the collision of two exotic compact objects known as boson stars as an alternative explanation for the origin of the gravitational wave signal GW190521. The hypothetical stars are among the simplest exotic compact objects proposed and constitute well founded dark matter candidates. Within this interpretation, the team is able to estimate the mass of a new particle constituent of these stars, an ultra-light boson with a mass billions of times smaller than that of the electron. Their analysis has been published in the journal Physical Review Letters on February 24, 2021.

New Metamaterial Features Mechanical Properties That Can Be Reprogrammed

By EPFL JANUARY 20, 2021

Over the past 20 years, scientists have been developing metamaterials, or materials that don’t occur naturally and whose mechanical properties result from their designed structure rather than their chemical composition. They allow researchers to create materials with specific properties and shapes. Metamaterials are still not widely used in everyday objects, but that could soon change. Tian Chen, a post-doc at two EPFL labs — the Flexible Structures Laboratory, headed by Pedro Reis, and the Geometric Computing Laboratory, headed by Mark Pauly — has taken metamaterials one step further, developing one whose mechanical properties can be reprogrammed after the material has been made. His research appears in Nature.

Bentley completes its first reverse-engineered 1929 Blower

By Loz Blain

Bentley is 40,000 man-hours into its painstaking reverse-engineered, laser-scanned copy of the 1929 Bentley Blower, and has just announced the completion of “car zero” – the master prototype from which 12 “Continuation Series” cars will be built.

Entire Boston Dynamics robot line-up dances in the new year

By Rich Haridy

Boston Dynamics is sending off 2020 with its most impressive robot video to date – showing off its entire range dancing to the classic song “Do You Love Me?”. The fun video offers the first glimpse at two Atlas robots working together while also highlighting just how quickly this technology is developing.

Hydrogen-powered VTOL drone flies for 3.5 hours

By Ben Coxworth

VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) drones are quite versatile, as they combine the vertical flight of a helicopter with the fast and efficient forward flight of a fixed-wing airplane. This one features an extended range, thanks to a fuel cell power system.

Airbus’ head of urban air mobility talks CityAirbus, Vahana and the timeline to air taxi operations

By Gerrard Cowan

Airbus is taking a growing interest in the eVTOL and wider urban air mobility (UAM) market. Its direct work in the area includes the development of the Vahana single-seat demonstrator, which took its final test flight at the Pendleton unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) range in Oregon in the U.S. in November 2019. The OEM’s major focus is now the CityAirbus, a four-seat demonstrator that performed its first take-off in May 2019.

Joerg Mueller, head of UAM at Airbus, spoke to eVTOL.com about the company’s recent work in the domain and his thoughts on the broader potential of the market.

Rolls-Royce Will Power the World’s Fastest Passenger Plane

BY CAROLINE DELBERT

Boom Supersonic will pair with Rolls-Royce’s powerful aeronautics group to build the world’s fastest supersonic passenger jet.

Now that Boom has designed the airframe for its flagship Overture aircraft—the Denver-based startup will unveil XB-1, a 1:3 scale model of Overture, in October, with test flights to follow next year—it’s seeking a partner to help make the propulsion system. With a portfolio of existing and developing carbon-neutral technologies, Rolls-Royce is uniquely positioned to step into the spotlight.

Could it adapt the “densest airplane battery ever” and an all-electric propulsion system for a supersonic jet?

Category Geared Up