Professors Larry Howell, Brian Jensen, and Spencer Magleby were invited presenters at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) / Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Workshop on “Compliant Mechanisms in Aerospace System Design” held adjacent to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, March 26th and 27th.
The primary objective of this workshop was to investigate the feasibility of applying Compliant Mechanism (CM) design methodology to general air vehicle design. Other objectives included trying to understand past/current/future research needs in this application and establish collaboration between compliant mechanism design and DoD researchers, taking advantage of each plan for a more affordable and reliable future vehicle design.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has expressed interest in improving aero performance of a vehicle using compliant mechanisms. Compliant Mechanisms can eliminate or reduce shortfalls and eventually extend the design space. AFRL is interested into extending this application to general aeronautics and aerospace systems to solve immediate and futures challenges using CM technology.