A cyborg-human application straight out of science fiction and Tie Fighter designs inspire an engineer to make a radar discovery.
Episode Summary:
Engineers can find inspiration anywhere. Past designs, nature and scientific breakthroughs are great fodder for these new ideas. However, one of the oldest sources for the dreams we have of tomorrow is the art of science fiction.
On today’s special May the 4th episode, we see how engineers can dream up future technologies to expand the quality of life for the differently abled. Obvious examples are prosthetics, like Luke Skywalker’s hand. But Vader’s suit reminds us that not all disabilities are visible. These conditions can also benefit from new technologies.
Then, we learn about Jared Hansen, manager of Electronics Engineering Solutions at Rand Simulation. He was inspired to discover if the Rebel Alliance could use ground radar to track Tie Fighter attacks. In doing so, he stumbled upon something that correlates to the technology behind a famous stealth bomber! See what he found in this video.
Access all episodes of This Week in Engineering on engineering.com TV along with all of our other series.
Transcript of this week’s show:
Segment 1:
Star Wars has a rich heritage of powerful and memorable heroes and anti-heroes. But did you ever think that two of our most beloved main characters are Cyborgs?
There are also many side characters that can claim to be Cyborgs, sporting some level of machine-to-brain or machine-to-body interfaces.
Like my reliable and ever-loyal buddy, Lobot. You remember, Lando’s right-hand man? And yes, his name is Lobot. He has a cybernetic implant that allows him to interface directly with Cloud City’s central computer, just like some people are attempting today.
These characters have different abilities that are restored or enhanced cybernetically. This is not only inspiring to those with physical or mental challenges in the real world, it also sparks the imaginations of engineers to design and build new tools or devices to help them.
Take Luke’s well-known prosthetic arm in that memorable scene from Empire: it restored the budding Jedi’s arm to its full dexterity after a failed encounter with his FATHER.
Prosthetics may not be there quite yet, but we’re getting closer, and the technology is improving daily. But the advanced fictional technology in Luke’s prosthetic arm helps our engineers dream what may be possible. Like designing a prosthetic that is indistinguishable from a real human arm, with all the sensations that come with it.
But the characters in Star Wars also remind us that disability isn’t always visible — sometimes it’s hidden in plain sight. Take our old pal Vader — voted the third best villain of all time by AFI by the way. He is in a walking life support suit that we’d just as easily assume is advanced protective armor.
In reality, this bad boy suit keeps Anakin’s lungs breathing and his heart pumping, much like a pacemaker or an iron lung. Just as art inspires science, science can inspire art. So, perhaps these inventions inspired the filmmakers to dream up Vader’s mobile life support suit — to make sure he can wreak havoc against the Rebels any chance he gets.
Well, like Vader, I am a bit of a cyborg myself. I wear this little guy called a Dexcom on my belly to keep me appraised of my blood sugars—technology that wasn’t even around dozens of years ago. Ever since I got it, I wondered what the chest controls on Vader’s suit do — does that blinking light on his chest warn him that his blood sugars are dropping?
So, the Dexcom tests my sugars every five minutes and sends the result to my phone and smart watch via Bluetooth. If this system realizes my sugars are too high, or too low, it sets off alarms to ensure I’m in the know. It’s woken me up and saved my life on a few occasions. It will even send app notifications to my wife if it gets worried.
That’s right I am now a Thing on the Internet of Things.
Perhaps medical devices, prosthetics, and suits like Vader’s will continue to inspire engineers to create new and improved life support systems that will enable more freedom to others, of varying degrees of disability, like the freedom Dexcom offers me.
Segment 2:
So, that last example begs a question: What would it look like to live the moment that a sci-fi film inspires an engineer?
Well, I found a person that fit the bill perfectly: Jared Hansen Manager of Electronics Engineering Solutions at Rand Simulation.
He wondered what the radar signature a tie fighter looks like?
Would it be strong enough to warn the rebels that an imperial tie fighter squadron is parsecs away, or would they learn about it just in the knick of time to prepare a last-minute defense?
Inspired by this question, he created a simulation of the radar signal on a tie fighter’s cross section. It took Ansys HFSS and its SBR+ solver – the simulation software he used for analysis – 4 hours to compute the results.
That is some intense analysis just to answer one curious question.
Now before we show you the results of the analysis, let’s look at a few of parameters: due to bilateral symmetry, Hansen only needed to analyze one area of the ship. He could then apply the same results to other areas, by rotating and mirroring the results. Focusing on the cross section, you’ll notice a few interesting things about the analysis.
The cross section only focuses on the spherical center of the craft. So, areas in blue and green do a good job of limiting the signal’s reflection to the receiver. Areas in orange and red however, will tip off Leah and the Rebel Alliance that an attack is imminent.
The areas on the fighter that give off the larger signals corresponds to points that deviate from the curve of the ship’s core.
By removing the Tie Fighter, we can read the results more clearly.
If we plot this on a 2D access, you’ll have an even better ability to read the data. It appears that the largest signal detectable at the Rebel base is about 33 decibels.
That’s about as intense as a whisper.
So, what can engineers learn from this fictional example of simulation technology? Well, what I find most interesting are the curved areas. They have the best ability to trick the radar.
So what’s a real-world example of this?
Northrop Grumman’s B-2 Spirit, better known as the Stealth Bomber, has a 170-foot wingspan. The tie Fighter, only 21ft. However, the Bomber has been intentionally designed to have a radar signal similar to that of a large bird. A lot of computer modeling, testing and simulation was used to optimize the shape of the craft to reflect radar. The resulting geometry is curved and capable of reflecting radar signals 90 degrees away from a receiver!
Now I’m not saying that a Star Wars fan studied a Tie Fighter’s radar signature, stumbled upon this, and then used it to design the B-2. What I’m saying is that a real-world engineer had a science fiction question. On a lark, he tested it out and made a discovery that correlates to a real-world design.
If this information wasn’t known ahead of time, this could have been how it was discovered. After all it was a moldy sample that led to Alexander Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin. Stranger things have happened.
Perhaps if Hansen continues to study the whole radar signature from the Tie fighter and other Star Wars ships, he could stumble upon something interesting. Perhaps that will be an episode far far away.
So, that’s what it looks like when science fiction inspires real-world engineers.
