Dubai 2015: Auto refuelling for MRTTs 09 Nov 2015 Grant Turnbull
“A human boom operator on the A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) could soon be a thing of the past as Airbus Defence and Space (DS) study ways to automate passing fuel to receiver aircraft.
Feasibility studies of aerial refuelling using an automatic boom are currently taking place, said Miguel Angel Morell, Airbus DS’s head of engineering. ‘This is like automatic parking in cars,’ he explained....
...Morell said that instead of manoeuvring the boom into a receiver aircraft’s receptacle, a boom operator’s workload would be simplified. ‘The only thing the operator would have to do is manage the extension and retraction of the boom.’ ‘With this we reduce the workload and improve efficiency in the system,’ he said.
In cases of severe turbulence, a boom operator could take manual control of the system but Morell explained that in such a scenario a computer’s reaction times would be quicker than a human operator....”
http://www.shephardmedia.com/news/mi...-future-mrtts/
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Airbus to test automatic boom mode for A330 MRTT 30 JUN 2016 CRAIG HOYLE
“...Operation of the boom is currently a manual task performed by a qualified “boomer”, but the technology being trialled involves the use of real-time video and image processing to track a receiver aircraft’s exact position.
Under the Airbus concept, the operator will control the boom manually – including commanding its extension – until it has been positioned within a required area, close to the receiver aircraft. At this point, its automatic mode would be engaged to complete the contact procedure. “Once in contact it’s hands-free to operate, until manual disconnect,” Morrell says.
Airbus says use of such an automatic capability would result in “improvements in operational and safety aspects” of air-to-air refuelling, and also save time during the process....”
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...0-mrtt-426852/