Author name: Wendy Duivestein

ILS at Schiphol airport
Airport Operations

14 August 2023

R&D case: ILS inspection on airports with drones

Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) at airports are periodically calibrated using an aircraft equipped with a Flight Inspection System, such as the NLR Citation II research aircraft. If the ILS works well, and the transmission is free from disturbances, some periodic measurements can be carried out from or near the ground. This comprises Reduced Flight Inspection […]
Liquid hydrogen LH2 composite tank system
Sustainability and Environment

04 July 2023

R&D case: Liquid hydrogen composite tanks for aircraft

Hydrogen has been identified as a key priority to achieve the European Green Deal for a sustainable economy. By converting the construction of the hydrogen tank from existing metallic solutions to composites, the liquid hydrogen (LH2) composite tank will achieve weight savings that enable the advancement of liquid hydrogen as a sustainable fuel source for […]
Screenshot AURA (ATM U-space InteRfAce)
Air Traffic Management

05 June 2023

R&D case: ATM U-space interface (AURA)

The AURA (ATM U-space InteRfAce) project (SESAR 2020 project PJ34 ) investigated the development of concepts and technologies that are necessary to allow existing ATM systems and future U-space operations to interact in a safe, predictable and seamless way. One of the basic assumptions of the project is that manned and unmanned movements take place […]
ATTILA: Advanced Testbed for Tiltrotor Aeroelastics
Platform System Design

15 May 2023

R&D case: Advanced Testbed for Tiltrotor Aeroelastics (ATTILA)

The challenge Rotor blade designs have to be sufficiently strong for wind tunnel testing and must have dynamic characteristics that resemble the full-scale behaviour. This implies that the blade design should have a closely matching stiffness and mass distribution along its entire span in comparison with the target properties of the aeroelastically scaled blades. In […]
Metropolis 2: a unified approach to airspace design and separation management for U-space
Air Traffic Management

24 April 2023

R&D case: Unified approach airspace design and separation management U-space (Metropolis 2)

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concepts, such as flying taxis and package delivery drones, are increasingly viewed as an essential component of future transportation systems. But before UAM flights can occur on a meaningful scale, several challenges need to be tackled including airspace integration. Recognising the need to address this challenge, several initiatives are underway worldwide […]
Construction and Manufacturing

04 April 2023

R&D case: MovAbles for Next generaTion Aircraft (MANTA)

The challenge The objective was to manufacture three Ti-6Al-4V flaperon ribs by Direct Energy Deposition (DED). With conventional manufacturing processes, it can be very costly or even impossible to produce components with such complex shapes. However, DED is also challenging due to various features inherent in the design: bulky thin parts, asymmetric geometry, overhanging features […]
METSIS: Hyperlocal wind nowcasting for drones by drones
Airport Operations

29 March 2023

R&D case: Hyperlocal wind nowcasting for drones by drones (METSIS)

NLR develops advanced services supporting more complex operations in dense areas such as assistance for Detect & Avoid and U-space Weather Information Services. To provide drone operators with information about the actual and forecasted weather situation, NLR develops a service to provide hyperlocal wind nowcasting for drones by drones. Due to their light-weight nature, small […]
ITARO: Integrating SESAR Solutions
Air Traffic Management

03 March 2023

R&D case: Integrating SESAR Solutions (ITARO)

The challenge Over the past decades the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) programme has been working intensely to deliver sustainable ATM solutions. These SESAR Solutions are being brought towards higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) via Industrial Research (IR) projects and towards (pre-)deployment via Very Large Demonstrations (VLDs). The challenge is to combine and integrate […]
AIRTuB: Automated Inspection and Repair of Turbine Blades
Maintenance and Repair

23 February 2023

R&D case: Automated Inspection and Repair of Turbine Blades (AIRTuB)

Offshore wind energy plays a major role in the transition to green energy. The wind turbine blades require periodic inspection. The inspection and repairs are carried out by specialists who descend along the blade on a cable. This is very labour-intensive and an even greater challenge offshore. The AIRTuB consortium developed systems that are mounted […]