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14 Platform one Researchers in a European consortium have developed a low- cost wireless current sensor to remotely monitor the power lines in an airframe (writes Nick Flaherty). As power lines are embedded in composite materials, they are more difficult to monitor. The sensor, developed in the consortium’s Ampwise project, measures the amount of current at different points across the power network and monitors the long-term effects or failures caused by reverse current. The project also includes the definition of a sensor architecture that can harvest energy from the power lines to drive the sensor and a wireless comms network at 4.2-4.4 GHz. The consortium includes sensor developer Senis of Switzerland and airframe specialist Serma Ingenierie of France. It also includes researchers from Imperial College London and CSEM in Switzerland. CSEM was instrumental in developing the wireless comms transmission protocols and the low-power combination of hardware and software to ensure the Ampwise system consumed as little energy as possible. Damien Piguet, project manager of integrated and wireless systems at CSEM, said, “The comms system supports thousands of wireless sensors scattered throughout an aircraft in star topologies. Intelligent hubs then manage up to 300 wireless sensors each and control their operating cycle to minimise power consumption.” The electronics developed by CSEM can measure the physical quantities of the power lines and manage the system’s activity and recovered energy to ensure continuous operation. The comms system consumes less than 25 µA on average, the accuracy of the electrical current sensor is 1% and the system is self-powered by an inductive energy harvester that generates 0.4 mW from a current flowing in the aircraft structure.  CSEM also integrated robust communication elements using custom antennas optimised for metallic environments with secure and efficient protocols, node management and self-healing. The technology from the project can be extended to other transport vehicles, including trains and EVs. Lines monitor Airborne vehicles Dr Donough Wilson Dr Wilson is innovation lead at aviation, defence, and homeland security innovation consultants, VIVID/futureVision. His defence innovations include the cockpit vision system that protects military aircrew from asymmetric high-energy laser attack. He was first to propose the automatic tracking and satellite download of airliner black box and cockpit voice recorder data in the event of an airliner’s unplanned excursion from its assigned flight level or track. For his ‘outstanding and practical contribution to the safer operation of aircraft’ he was awarded The Sir James Martin Award 2018/19, by the Honourable Company of Air Pilots. Paul Weighell Paul has been involved with electronics, computer design and programming since 1966. He has worked in the real-time and failsafe data acquisition and automation industry using mainframes, minis, micros and cloud-based hardware on applications as diverse as defence, Siberian gas pipeline control, UK nuclear power, robotics, the Thames Barrier, Formula One and automated financial trading systems. Ian Williams-Wynn Ian has been involved with unmanned and autonomous systems for more than 20 years. He started his career in the military, working with early prototype unmanned systems and exploiting imagery from a range of unmanned systems from global suppliers. He has also been involved in ground- breaking research including novel power and propulsion systems, sensor technologies, communications, avionics and physical platforms. His experience covers a broad spectrum of domains from space, air, maritime and ground, and in both defence and civil applications including, more recently, connected autonomous cars. Professor James Scanlan Professor Scanlan is the director of the Strategic Research Centre in Autonomous Systems at the University of Southampton, in the UK. He also co-directs the Rolls-Royce University Technical Centre in design at Southampton. He has an interest in design research, and in particular how complex systems (especially aerospace systems) can be optimised. More recently, he established a group at Southampton that undertakes research into unmanned aircraft systems. He produced the world’s first ‘printed aircraft’, the SULSA, which was flown by the Royal Navy in the Antarctic in 2016. He also led the team that developed the ULTRA platform, the largest UK commercial UAV, which has flown BVLOS extensively in the UK. He is a qualified full-size aircraft pilot and also has UAV flight qualifications. Unmanned Systems Technology’s consultants February/March 2022 | Unmanned Systems Technology Ampwise’s sensor is intended for use in airframes but can be applied to vehicles such as trains and EVs