India@75 | How Indian engineers are contributing to faster, safer, cleaner air travel

Rolls-Royce's Spirit of Innovation all-electric plane. (Image source: twitter.com/rollsroyce)

We have all admired the changing aircraft that we fly in. Superior, light-weight bodies. Technology which helps save fuel. And planes that are flying longer distances. Some of us have also been pleasantly surprised to see touch screens at some airports and robots guiding passengers at others. At the heart of these changes which are making the flying experience safer and more comfortable, is advancing technology.

The general assumption is that these new technologies are being brought in by international manufacturers like aircraft majors Boeing and Airbus and engine manufacturers like Rolls Royce and Safran Aircraft Engines. Yes, they are, with help from the Indian talent pool and Indian companies that are contributing to enhance technology and digitisation of the aviation space in a big way.

Take, for example, Boeing. Says Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India, “Of (the) close to 4,000 employees in India today, the 3,000-strong engineering workforce at the Boeing India Engineering & Technology Centers (BIETC) in Bengaluru and Chennai contributes to global aerospace growth by delivering cutting-edge R&D, innovation, and high-quality engineering work for Boeing's defence, space, and commercial businesses in India for India, and for the world.”

Gupte adds that in collaboration with teams in the US, BIETC has been applying machine learning (ML) technology and automation tools.

Explaining ML/artificial intelligence (AI), Gupte says that thousands of wires are tucked into the walls of every aircraft which lead to complexity in maintenance and in keeping a check on aircraft health. While each wire has a purpose, having fewer wires can enable more efficient production and maintenance and, as a result, improve safety and quality, and reduction in human error.

Manual upgrades from legacy formats to digital enterprise data standards typically require extensive manual data formatting. It could take, on average, 18 hours to transfer a single design while synchronizing wiring data, capturing cable length, and adding individual component part numbers. This also increases the margin of human error.

The ML technology and automation tools are being used for improving and accelerating the transition of wiring designs from legacy formats to digital enterprise data standards.

“The team brainstormed and defined four core tenets for automation to resolve these issues: First-time quality—imperative in all aspects of electrical design; engineering productivity—constantly drives speed and efficacy; digital thread—must exist through all design phases; automation—drives quality and engineering efficiency,” Gupte says.

This is not all. Indians are also contributing to the development of the next-generation zero-emission aircraft.

Rémi Maillard, President and Managing Director, Airbus India and South Asia, points out that India, with its immense human competencies and engineering and IT talent pool, will take an active part in the development of the next generation zero-emission aircraft. “This will make India a vital, indeed an indispensable, contributor to the global aerospace industry,” he says, adding that the Airbus engineering centre in Bengaluru is already contributing to the ZEROe project.

ZEROe aircraft will emit no CO2 into the atmosphere during both energy production and aircraft operations.

We believe that India's tech talent will contribute significantly to aviation decarbonisation.

- Rémi Maillard, President and Managing Director, Airbus India and South Asia

Since the focus is squarely shifting to a cleaner environment, Airbus has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with five other global companies to conduct a joint study on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and its potential in India.

“The objective of the study is to understand and evaluate the demand, opportunities and challenges of supply, infrastructure and fuelling, as well as to prepare a business case for SAF production in India for all types of aviation purposes,” Maillard says. “This is just the beginning. India, with its vast talent pool, stands at the cusp of a revolution when it comes to digital and futuristic technologies. We believe that the tech talent of the country will contribute significantly to aviation decarbonisation,”
he adds.

Engine manufacturers are doing their bit too. Kishore Jayaraman, President, India and South Asia, Rolls-Royce says, “Globally, we are working (to) improve our existing products while making sure all our new products are net-zero compatible. On that journey, we have engineering talent in India working with global teams on various programmes to improve the sustainability performance of our products across our aerospace and power systems businesses.”

Jayaraman adds, “Our data experts are helping us analyse data from millions of flights every year and our analytical insights help our customers save fuel and improve time-on-wing, helping airlines use engine life to the maximum thus reducing the carbon footprint.”

For example, the digital team of engineers and data scientists at the R2 Data Labs in India have contributed to the success of the Spirit of Innovation, which recently achieved the world speed-record for the fastest all-electric plane and is positioned as a net zero carbon urban mobility solution suited for air taxis.

Airports, too, are fast catching up. Delhi and Bengaluru airports have introduced robots and taxi bots to help airlines. Taxing robots or alternate taxing equipment help the aircraft start its engines just before take-off thereby saving the environment, reducing airlines' cost of burning expensive aviation turbine fuel and also preventing damage that could happen to the engine if anything gets sucked in while taxing for take-off. India is the only country where taxi bots are being used.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Mumbai International Airport recently launched an integrated security checkpoint for international and domestic passengers. A first of its kind initiative across airports, it helps to accelerate passenger movement at different security checkpoints coupled with the Automatic Tray Retrieval Systems (ATRS), executed to closely monitor and combat the issue of congestion during heavy traffic.

The airport will also soon have an AI-enabled queue management system to efficiently manage air traffic flow. Internet-of-Things enabled smart trollies and buggy system will also be initiated, enabling the tracking and monitoring of the availability of baggage trolleys and buggies in real-time across the airport.