Recent progress of electric systems has raised attention towards hybrid-electric and full-electric aircraft. Nevertheless, the current low battery energy density limits the application of these propulsive architectures to large transport aircraft. In the context of the general aviation category, full-electric aircraft for the so-called Urban Air Mobility scenario are gaining increasing interest. These air taxis, […]
Hybrid-Electric
A new paper published in Mechanics & Industry (EDP): “THEA-CODE: a design tool for the conceptual design of hybrid-electric aircraft with conventional or unconventional airframe configurations” (Open Access)
The aviation world is dealing with the development of new and greener aviation. The need for reducing greenhouse gas emission as well as the noise is a critical requirement for the aviation of the future. The aviation world is struggling with it, and a compelling alternative can be the electric propulsion. This work aims […]
A new paper published in Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology (Emerald): “Preliminary design of a box-wing VTOL UAV”
This paper aims to present a preliminary study on a disruptive vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) configuration based on the best wing system concept by L. Prandtl. A preliminary design has been addressed from several points of views: a conceptual design has been carried out thanks to in-house optimization tool; aerodynamic performances, propulsion design and […]
HYPSTAIR results published in the proceedings of the “Variational Analysis and Aerospace Engineering” Workshop (Erice, Sept. 2015)
HyPSim: A Simulation Tool for Hybrid Aircraft Performance Analysis This work presents performance prediction contribution provided by the research team at the University of Pisa. The results are part of the HYPSTAIR (Development and validation of hybrid propulsion system components and sub-systems for electrical aircraft) European project on the development and validation of hybrid propulsion […]
A new paper published in Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology (Emerald): “Mission architecture for Mars exploration based on small satellites and planetary drones”
The purpose of this paper is to deal with the study of an innovative unmanned mission to Mars, which is aimed at acquiring a great amount of detailed data related to both Mars’ atmosphere and surface. The Mars surface exploration is conceived by means of a fleet of drones flying among a set of reference […]