= 3 MIT partnered with the United States Air Force to create a drone rocket capable of top speeds aver 960 km/h and can sustain those speeds for three minutes or longer. IT's AeroAstro labs is working to develop. aa drone that can fy at speeds up to Mach (0.8, or roughly 988 km/h, Dubbed the Fire fy, the drone is essentially a mini-rocket and has a similar shape to a zeppelin. tis designed to launch from a fighter jet and collect data or distract enemy weapons systems The Firefly is designed to meet a challenge pre sented by the USS. Air Force: develop a UAV no ‘more than 63.5 mm wide and 432 mm long that could be air-launched from a fighter jet and fly at Mach 08 for 2 to 5 minutes, he development comes after MIT recent suc cess building the Peredix swarming drones that also launch from a fighter. Inthe trials, three F/A-18 Su- per Hornets released 103 Perdix drones, which then, ‘communicated with each other and went about performing.a series of formation fying exercises that mimic a surveillance mission, But the swarm doesn't know how, exactly, it will perform the task before its released, Wiliam Roper he Department of Defense explained. Perdix are rot pre-programmed synchronised individuals, they are a collective organism, sharing one distributed brain for decision-making and adapting to each other like swarms in nature. Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every other Perdix, the swarm has no leader and can gracefully adapt to drones entering or exiting the team. Releasing drones from a fast-moving jet srt straightforward, as high speeds and turbulence buffet them, causing them damage. But the Perdix drone, originally developed by MIT researchers and named after a Greek mythical character who was turned into a partridge, is now in its sixth iteration Nr 4 ~ DezemberSource Christine Danilo and able to withstand speeds of Mach 0.6 and tem: peratures of -10 °C during release, Now, the MIT team feels confident they are up to the new challenge and have developed the Firefly drone. “There was no vehicle with this speed, at this size, that could deploy offan aircraft" john Hansman, [MIT professor of aeronautics and astvonautics, said to Aviation Week. It is too small fora turbine and 100 fast for electric, while a pube-jet presents ther mal problems.” {solid rocket presents some unique challenges, and the team had to slow the fuel burn rate to meet the requirement that the rockets fly at Mach 08 for 2 +105 seconds. A typical rocket this size burns its fuel injusta few seconds, and slowing the burn rate can reduce the pressure to the point that combustion is not possible at all Burn-rate suppressant powers drone The solution was found by mixing ammonium per- chlorate propellant with an oxamide inhibitor. "We use this burn-rate suppressant, which - via chemical decomposition - cools the flame and changes the flame structure so that it actually burns slower, says doctoral student Tony Tao to MIT Technology Re- view. The slow-burn propellant will power the 2-to 3:pound Firefly for up to 3 minutes, well within the Ait Force’ requirement. The Firefly’ motor burn its Fuel from the aft end forward, rather than the inside out, with exhaust travelling through a graphite/ceramic nozzle. The top half ofthe drone contains its payload, avin: ies, and a flight contro system, while the bottom is outfitted with a pop-out wing and a deployable tail for guidance. Built out of titanium through additive manufactur ring, the Firefly s one ofthe first 30-printed rockets Difficulties emerged due to the combustion’ prax- imity to the electronics, asthe temperatures could ‘overwhelm the drone’s controls. After considering design modifications, the MIT team decided to put an insulating layer between the engine and electeo ies instead, The Firefly is still a year or so away from being, ready fora flight test. Work on the engine is pro- ceeding in partial burn tests, and an igniter charge is Used to increase chamber temperatures and pressu- res to start the motor. RBAKUL Senior President Engineering (SCM), R&D Suzlon Energy Limited feature Further research: Engineers at MIThave taken a fiststep in designing a computer chip tat uses fraction ofthe power of layger drone computers and stalled fora drone assmrall asa botlecap.