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H Y B R I D E L E C T R I C R E S E A R C H C O N S O R T I U M
Seizing on the global push for more cost- efficient, environmentally responsible and innovative transportation solutions, Embry-Riddle has teamed with private industry and government laboratories to collaborate in precompetitive research of electric and hybrid aircraft. The resulting Hybrid Electric Research Consortium is investigating the electric propulsion design space to find a commercially viable green airplane. The consortium identified two focuses early on. One route is to electrify conventional-looking commuter aircraft, referred to as a thin haul, to reduce dependence of fossil fuels and carbon emissions. The other focus is to use electrification to enable a quiet and extremely reliable replacement for the helicopter to be used as the UAM platform. Multiple patents and successful hybrid and electric aircraft projects are leveraged and shared with the membership as researchers examine classic aerodynamics and new, alternative propulsion systems.
The Eagle Flight Research Center, which is dedicated to applied engineering, develops high quality hardware and measures actual systems through modeling and simulation.
What’s Next?
The technology for commercially viable UAM is available now. We must now overcome the obstacles of integrating existing technologies in a novel way to realize the next generation of quiet, efficient and reliable helicopters.
Electrifying conventional- looking commuter aircraft will provide reduction in emissions, but its commercial realization is critically tied to battery specific energy. It is clear that basic discoveries in battery chemistry are necessary for the goal of high speed commercial aircraft to be fully realized. Our goal at the Eagle Flight Research Center is to advance state-of-the-art in these concepts and make sustainable urban mobility a reality. This will require developing technologies, advanced engineering and design tools as well as a favorable regulatory environment. Here at Embry-Riddle we are working on all of these requirements to bring the third revolution in aircraft propulsion to market.
Members
Argonne National Laboratory Airbus The Boeing Company Evation Honeywell GE Aviation Textron Rolls-Royce Hartzell Cape Air
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