Laboratory for Aircraft Electronics and Computer Science (G211)

Hull and capsule of a stratospheric balloon — Stratospheric balloon

The Aircraft Infomatics and Electronics Laboratory offers a variety of facilities for teaching and research in manned and unmanned aviation. A flight simulator and, more recently, a motor glider to be converted to an electric aircraft are just some of the "toys" in our laboratory.

Goals and idea

In a multidisciplinary team, the focus is on the development of real-time software applications for aircraft and automobiles as well as the practical application of the teaching content in the development of certification-relevant avionics components in aircraft.

Laboratory G211

Laboratory equipment and activities

Prototyping of flight control systems, mission systems and operating concepts with different sensor configurations:

Flight simulator with 5 channel outside view
Test of prototypical operating concepts, e.g. touch screen, gesture control, physical strain
Simulation data for testing the developed avionics components
Networking capability with live telemetry data from the aircraft

Unmanned aircraft as a flexible platform for application development:

Multi-rotor, fixed-wing and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft for payloads up to 1.5kg and flight times up to 40min at v=25m/s
Automated departure of a predefined flight route
Autonomous reaction to sensor data
Mission systems for the deployment of the aircraft
Live transmission of video images and telemetry data to the ground
Mobile ground station for operation and flight control
Connection and fusion of different environmental sensors (optical camera, thermal imaging camera, LIDAR, 3D camera, sonar)

Manned aircraft with LBA flight certification:

Conversion of the THI motor glider to an electric aircraft
Practical application of the course content in the development of avionics components in aircraft relevant to certification
Prototyping of the user interface and displays with the test pilot
Working in multidisciplinary teams
Conception of the hardware and software of the user interface
Planning and documentation of the development steps
Implementation of the approval regulations for the software used in the battery management system (BMS) and for the safety-relevant displays
Verification and test of the components
Preparation of the certification documents for the German Federal Aviation Authority

In addition to the usual supervision of bachelor and master theses, the laboratory offers a wide range of internships in the field of aviation and aircraft electronics: