ILA 2008: A hands-on company

Research is exciting – and it’s a key area for high-tech companies such as EADS. Because that’s where the future is forged. Now everyone can find out for themselves how it’s done in practice. At ILA 2008 in Berlin, EADS Innovation Works displays selected research projects in its own showroom, covering protection, security and answers. EADS Innovation Works awaits you at the EADS static parc between Halls 7 and 8 at ILA. And here’s what you can see:

A focus of the EADS Innovation Works Advanced Design team is to design functional areas for aircraft cabins. Its innovations include a sleeping compartment, a lower-deck lounge, a multipurpose office and a waterless WC. Above the clouds, it's not only the horizons that seem endless. The same can often be said of time, especially on longhaul flights. This makes it all the more important for airlines and aircraft manufacturers to ensure that passengers feel comfortable and well cared for during long stays on board, which can last for more than 13 hours. That’s the idea behind the integrated wellness area concept. The device is designed to improve the wellbeing of passengers during long-haul flights. It includes a stepper, gym-bars, a massage pad and fresh-air nozzles, which enhance passenger well-being by:

The slim, wall-mounted unit is foldable and it can be integrated into partitions. Its dimensions allow it to be installed in various types of aircraft without taking up space or imposing restrictions when boarding, deplaning and in emergencies. The unit is operated by a touch-screen display that also serves as an information and entertainment tool (an earphone port is also included).

EADS Innovation Works presents the technology demonstrator of a “boarding card reader” equipped with an “artificial nose” based on a new laser ion mobility spectrometer (LIMS). This technology allows explosives and drugs to be detected in a few seconds when the bearer of a boarding card had previously been in contact with either of these substances. The sensor, that fits into a package the size of a paperback, is based on the principles of an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS). The key innovation from EADS Innovation Works is that the gas molecules to be examined are ionized by a laser beam rather than a radioactive source.

EADS Sodern presents a model of its portable neutron interrogation system designed to detect and identify any kinds of explosives, chemicals as well as radiological and nuclear substances that may be concealed in suspicious objects. ULIS is a portable case whose interior consists of a mini neutron tube, a gamma ray detector, an electronic module, batteries as well as a high-voltage transformer and two small video cameras. A suspicious item of luggage is trans-illuminated by placing the ULIS case next to it and starting it via a laptop computer. The ULIS software compares the measured gamma ray spectrum with a “library” of known signatures allowing it to unequivocally identify the contents of the luggage.

The exhibit shows an example how EADS Innovation Works is working on the replacement of surface coatings containing chromates with environmentally friendly materials and processes.

Flap, flap, flap – we’re all familiar with the “carpet-beater” noise made by a helicopter, especially as it prepares to land. It’s due to the air vortices generated at the tip of each rotor blade. The following blade strikes this vortex and produces loud noise – rather like a whip. The rotor flap system developed by EADS Innovation Works together with Eurocopter has a piezo-electrical drive. The flaps move up and down up to 35 times a second and change the vortex pattern. The result: less noise and hardly any vibrations. At ILA, visitors may choose between two scenarios at the exhibit and experience at close hand the difference in the noise produced by a helicopter with and without rotor flaps.

In the E-Cab (E-enabled Cabin Services) research program sponsored by the European Commission, a consortium of 30 organizations from the aviation industry and its research sector, led by Airbus and with the participation of EADS Innovation Works, is examining the logistics processes involved in flying. There are four focal themes, namely “People Moving”, “Passenger Services”, “Catering” and “Freight Forwarding”. The “People Moving” section is concerned with what passengers do before and after their flights, i.e. check-in, baggage handover, security checks and baggage reclaim. The E-Cab project is presented by an animated film which explains how the “People Moving” part of the project will give benefits to passengers, airlines and airports.

Bauhaus Luftfahrt is an internationally oriented creativity center that develops visions and new solutions characterized by high technological creativity for the future of aviation. This visionary think tank is funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and the three aviation concerns EADS, Liebherr-Aerospace and MTU Aero Engines.

Richard Kleebaur

The HighFlyer

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