The Boeing Company
Flexible hybrid electronic sensing system for UAV applications

Abstract:

In examples, systems and methods for a radiating system of an aircraft are described. The aircraft system includes a conformal antenna array having a flexible substrate configured to conform to a curvature of a portion of an aircraft. Additionally, the conformal array has a plurality of antenna elements coupled to a first surface of the flexible substrate, where the plurality of antennas are formed in an array. The aircraft system further includes radio front-end hardware configured to communicate signals to and from the plurality of antenna elements. Moreover, the aircraft system includes a radar processing system coupled to the radio front-end hardware. Yet further, the aircraft system includes a renewable energy source configured to power the radar processing system and the radio front-end hardware.