Artificial intelligence is not only widely anticipated but is expected to dramatically change the manufacturing landscape worldwide, forever. The promise is huge, but to deliver on that promise, manufacturers need to develop coherent strategies for implementation, and more importantly, understand where the use cases exist for AI implementation. New research from AI software provider IFS suggests that American firms are sceptical of artificial intelligence in its current form.

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For the 100 years or so of air transport, the form factor of airplanes has been essentially consistent: a fuselage, usually cylindrical, with attached wings and tail. While relatively simple to build, with a good strength to weight ratio, aerodynamically, this form factor is not the most efficient.

Eliminating the fuselage and building the aircraft as a flying wing has long been recognized as a path to greater efficiency and performance, and since the late 1940s, multiple flying wing designs have been proposed. Very few have made it into hardware, but a form of hybrid concept, called the blended wing body, appears to be a practical way to reduce drag, and consequently fuel burn, and commercial aircraft.

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If successful, Anduril’s new facility may become the prototype for a paradigm shift in armaments design, development, manufacturing and procurement. Swarms of low cost, AI driven and fully autonomous drone weapon systems in the air, on the ground and into the sea, may replace the crewed, highly capable but costly armoured vehicles, aircraft and submarines. Part of conflict in Ukraine may have shown us the way wars will be fought in the future.

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Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Boeing has reacquired their former subsidiary, Spirit AeroSystems, in any $8.3 billion debt plus equity deal. Spirit, maker of 737 fuselage assemblies for the 737 Max program, has been implicated in the Alaska Airlines door plug blowout incidents that caused an emergency depressurization at altitude.

The repurchase of some 737 manufacturing assets brings the major part of that program’s supply chain back under direct Boeing control, including quality procedures. Spirit AeroSystems also operated foreign plants building components for Boeing’s major competitor, Airbus.

In a separate agreement, Airbus will acquire assets building for their programs, effectively re-shoring major Airbus component production to Europe. With the disappearance of spirit, a major Tier 1 supplier to the commercial aircraft industry, the global major air-frame duopoly now has fewer points of engineering commonality.

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Additive manufacturing has been the hottest topic in part making for years, offering unprecedented design flexibility for engineers. Hollow parts, parts with complex internal support structures, and three-dimensional compound curvature that would be impossible to machine are all available with 3D printing, and the aerospace industry is all in with this technology. But what about the tough applications, in propulsion?

Donald Godfrey, gas turbine veteran with decades of experience at companies like Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, is Global Director of Business Development for Aviation and Defense with SLM Solutions and Is a global expert who has written a textbook on the subject.

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Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Sales growth in electric vehicles, led by Tesla and BYD has long suggested the end of gasoline and diesel fuel in the transportation sector. While fuel cells are a viable clean option, lower costs in battery production have made pure electric vehicles the sales leader in green transportation.

But can the momentum of early adopters be maintained? Market surveys suggest that EV sales growth is flattening, as MSRP’s and a lack of public charging infrastructure dampen demand.

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There are significant changes in how quality control is conducted, especially in the automotive sector. Traditional touch-probing methods have evolved into the use of handheld scanners, which allow for faster, more accurate and more efficient measurement of complex geometries directly on the shop floor.

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In a shocking and wide-ranging scandal, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha have been implicated in the falsification of crashworthiness data and engine power testing by the Japanese government.

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Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.