14 | MANE AEROSPACE, DEFENCE & SPACE | JANUARY 2018
14 | MANE AEROSPACE, DEFENCE & SPACE | MAY 2018
New space arm
Commercial flights will soon have less risk of being struck by lightning
Researchers have developed a minimalistic arm which will have substantial practical application in space.
The robotic arm is a unique and simple design; one motor propels across the arm of the robot which another rotating the joints, despite the simplicity it is capable of a wide range of movements. Because it is lightweight it is well suited to outer space missions, it could be used to fix things such as satellites.
The robotic arm operated in a similar way to the traditional ‘snake robot’ combining basic characteristics with existing technology the robot has a high level of accuracy and control as well as being relatively cheap. ■
At least once a year a commercial plane is struck by lighting. Research conducted by MIT and sponsored by Boeing has looked into a way to counteract the polarisation which occurs when an aircraft is flying through electric fields. As they become more polarised, they can set off a flow of plasma which is highly conductive known as a positive leader. This occurrence is what could cause a lightning strike.
Researchers discovered that charging an aircraft negatively would prevent the positive leaders from forming and therefore triggering a lightning strike. Their findings were published in the American Institue of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal and detail two scenarios. The charge scenario required a 50% higher electric field to order to initiate the positive leader, compared to the charged scenario.
The team are currently testing the scenario on a simple object such as metal spheres; they plan to conduct more elaborate experiments on flying drones during a thunderstorm to gather more data. ■