This Week in Engineering explores the latest in engineering from academia, government and industry.
Episode Summary:
Robotic drone delivery for small parcels and last mile applications are in development everywhere these days, and major air framers like Boeing have been working on cockpit automation for decades, but what about the space in between? California startup Xwing has demonstrated fully autonomous gate to gate operation of a Cessna 208 cargo aircraft, a type commonly used for short intercity light cargo operations. The technology may fill the gap between heavy lift between major hubs and local door-to-door delivery.
General Motors has pressed the gas pedal on electric vehicle development with the announcement of second large battery factory in conjunction with LG. The big new plant, located next to the Spring Hill, Tennessee assembly operation will create packs for automobiles and light trucks, and will support Spring Hill as GM’s third electric vehicle assembly complex.
And, over a year into the Covid 19 global crisis, supply chains everywhere are strained. American manufacturing however is enjoying steady growth, and this week the Institute for Supply Management reports that April is the 10th consecutive month of steady growth, despite serious issues in commodity pricing and logistics.
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Transcript of this week’s show:
Segment 1: San Francisco-based aviation startup Xwing has demonstrated fully autonomous cargo aircraft operation from gate to gate. The company, founded in 2016, has been developing autonomous flight technology quietly, acquiring a Federal Aviation Administration Part 135 Air Carrier certificate allowing it to operate charter services in the air cargo market. The test flight used a Cessna 208B, a common commercial aircraft use for short range light freight operations. The test is significant in that the aircraft not only flew autonomously from point to point, but navigated the complex ground environment at the airport, taxiing among traffic and obstacles autonomously. The test flight started and originated in Concord California, and carried a safety pilot onboard, although all aircraft operations were handled autonomously. Aircraft control communications were directed from a ground team. The company’s system called called Autoflight, and is designed to be retrofitted into existing airframes and can be integrated into existing onboard flight control systems. Like Garmin’s recently announced auto land safety system, Autoflight is a combination of navigation software and a sensor suite and announces itself to air traffic control. The successful test suggests that autonomous flight may be ready to move beyond the last mile drone delivery space hotly contested by package delivery companies and major retailers like Amazon and into the controlled airspace used by commercial aviation. How air traffic control will handle drone aircraft sharing space with commercial pilots remains to be seen, but the development overcomes a major hurdle in autonomous cargo aviation: the ability to safely share airspace at altitudes and speeds used by current commercial aviation. The human pilots’ days may be numbered.
Segment 2: With the Biden administration’s signal that the US will accelerate the switch to alternate energy sources, demand for electric vehicles is expected to increase rapidly. Batteries are a known bottleneck, and to address this the GM and LG energy joint-venture Ultium has announced a $2.3 billion investment to build a second battery cell manufacturing plant, in Spring Hill Tennessee. The new plant will be built on land leased from GM and will feed the Spring Hill assembly operations, formerly the home of Saturn. The 2.8 million square-foot facility is already under construction, and is scheduled to open late in 2023. The new operation will create 1300 new jobs. The battery technology used by the consortium is a large-format pouch cell, designed to be stacked vertically or horizontally inside the battery pack. The systems are designed for flexibility, allowing energy options from 50 to 200 kWh for applications ranging from small cars to large SUVs. GM applications are designed for level II DC fast charging with 400 V battery packs charging at 200 kW, and 800 V packs for truck platforms at 350 kW capability. The Spring Hill facility is GM’s third electric vehicle production operation, joining the existing Orion assembly and GM’s extensively revamped Hamtramck assembly complex, now named Factory ZERO. The company plans to launch 30 electric vehicles globally by the end of 2025, with two thirds available in North America. Vehicles be marketed under the Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet and Buick brands.
Segment 3: The US manufacturing sector racked up the 10th consecutive month of growth in March according to executives reporting in the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing report on business. New orders, production, order backlogs and employment all registered growth month over month, however survey committee members reported severe supply chain issues due to the lingering effects of Covid 19. Both basic raw materials and component parts are supply constrained or have extended lead times while commodity prices and transportation costs are rising. Critical factors limiting industrial production according to respondents are worker absenteeism, part shortages and difficulties in filling open positions. All of the six top industries covered by the report reported strong growth in March: Computer & Electronic Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco; Transportation Equipment; Chemical Products and Petroleum & Coal. Imports slowed slightly in March, due to serious port backlogs, and this was reflected in upward pricing pressure for inputs. A major global issue is the shortage of shipping containers. According to global logistics firm Kuehne+Nagel, there are four causes. A reduced overall number of containers in circulation, congestion in ports induced by Covid caused labour shortages, a reduction in the number of seagoing container vessels available, with fewer sailings and idled vessels, plus a shift in trade patterns, resulting in excessive container capacity in some ports and shortages in others. The problem is acute enough that some vessels are sailing with empty containers to alleviate the problem. Despite these issues, overall sentiment expressed by industrial leadership was positive, with an optimistic outlook outnumbering pessimism 8 to 1 in survey responses.