@article{FingerGoettenBraunetal.2020,
  author    = {Finger, Felix and G{\"o}tten, Falk and Braun, Carsten and Bil, Cees},
  title     = {Mass, primary energy, and cost: the impact of optimization objectives on the initial sizing of hybrid-electric general aviation aircraft},
  series = {CEAS Aeronautical Journal},
  volume    = {2020},
  journal   = {CEAS Aeronautical Journal},
  number    = {11},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Heidelberg},
  issn      = {1869-5590},
  doi       = {10.1007/s13272-020-00449-8},
  pages     = {713 -- 730},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {For short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft, a parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system potentially offers superior performance compared to a conventional propulsion system, because the short-take-off power requirement is much higher than the cruise power requirement. This power-matching problem can be solved with a balanced hybrid propulsion system. However, there is a trade-off between wing loading, power loading, the level of hybridization, as well as range and take-off distance. An optimization method can vary design variables in such a way that a minimum of a particular objective is attained. In this paper, a comparison between the optimization results for minimum mass, minimum consumed primary energy, and minimum cost is conducted. A new initial sizing algorithm for general aviation aircraft with hybrid-electric propulsion systems is applied. This initial sizing methodology covers point performance, mission performance analysis, the weight estimation process, and cost estimation. The methodology is applied to the design of a STOL general aviation aircraft, intended for on-demand air mobility operations. The aircraft is sized to carry eight passengers over a distance of 500 km, while able to take off and land from short airstrips. Results indicate that parallel hybrid-electric propulsion systems must be considered for future STOL aircraft.},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{WellmerChenBraunetal.2007,
  author    = {Wellmer, Georg and Chen, B.-H. and Braun, Carsten and Ballmann, Josef},
  title     = {Numerical prediction of aeroelastic effects on twin-sting-rig mounted models for rear fuselage and empennage flow investigation in transonic windtunnel},
  series = {Proceedings / IFASD 2007, CEAS/AIAA/KTH International Forum on Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics, June 18 - 21, 2007, Stockholm, Sweden},
  booktitle = {Proceedings / IFASD 2007, CEAS/AIAA/KTH International Forum on Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics, June 18 - 21, 2007, Stockholm, Sweden},
  publisher = {KTH},
  address   = {Stockholm},
  organization    = {Confederation of European Aerospace Societies ; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, Va. ; Kungliga Tekniska H{\"o}gskolan, Stockholm},
  pages     = {1 CD-ROM},
  year      = {2007},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{FingerBraunBil2020,
  author    = {Finger, Felix and Braun, Carsten and Bil, Cees},
  title     = {Impact of Battery Performance on the Initial Sizing of Hybrid-Electric General Aviation Aircraft},
  series = {Journal of Aerospace Engineering},
  volume    = {33},
  journal   = {Journal of Aerospace Engineering},
  number    = {3},
  publisher = {ASCE},
  address   = {Reston, Va.},
  issn      = {1943-5525},
  doi       = {10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943-5525.0001113},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Studies suggest that hybrid-electric aircraft have the potential to generate fewer emissions and be inherently quieter when compared to conventional aircraft. By operating combustion engines together with an electric propulsion system, synergistic benefits can be obtained. However, the performance of hybrid-electric aircraft is still constrained by a battery's energy density and discharge rate. In this paper, the influence of battery performance on the gross mass for a four-seat general aviation aircraft with a hybrid-electric propulsion system is analyzed. For this design study, a high-level approach is chosen, using an innovative initial sizing methodology to determine the minimum required aircraft mass for a specific set of requirements and constraints. Only the peak-load shaving operational strategy is analyzed. Both parallel- and serial-hybrid propulsion configurations are considered for two different missions. The specific energy of the battery pack is varied from 200 to 1,000 W⋅h/kg, while the discharge time, and thus the normalized discharge rating (C-rating), is varied between 30 min (2C discharge rate) and 2 min (30C discharge rate). With the peak-load shaving operating strategy, it is desirable for hybrid-electric aircraft to use a light, low capacity battery system to boost performance. For this case, the battery's specific power rating proved to be of much higher importance than for full electric designs, which have high capacity batteries. Discharge ratings of 20C allow a significant take-off mass reduction aircraft. The design point moves to higher wing loadings and higher levels of hybridization if batteries with advanced technology are used.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StiemerThomaBraun2023,
  author    = {Stiemer, Luc Nicolas and Thoma, Andreas and Braun, Carsten},
  title     = {MBT3D: Deep learning based multi-object tracker for bumblebee 3D flight path estimation},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  volume    = {18},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  number    = {9},
  publisher = {PLOS},
  address   = {San Fancisco},
  issn      = {1932-6203},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0291415},
  pages     = {e0291415},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {This work presents the Multi-Bees-Tracker (MBT3D) algorithm, a Python framework implementing a deep association tracker for Tracking-By-Detection, to address the challenging task of tracking flight paths of bumblebees in a social group. While tracking algorithms for bumblebees exist, they often come with intensive restrictions, such as the need for sufficient lighting, high contrast between the animal and background, absence of occlusion, significant user input, etc. Tracking flight paths of bumblebees in a social group is challenging. They suddenly adjust movements and change their appearance during different wing beat states while exhibiting significant similarities in their individual appearance. The MBT3D tracker, developed in this research, is an adaptation of an existing ant tracking algorithm for bumblebee tracking. It incorporates an offline trained appearance descriptor along with a Kalman Filter for appearance and motion matching. Different detector architectures for upstream detections (You Only Look Once (YOLOv5), Faster Region Proposal Convolutional Neural Network (Faster R-CNN), and RetinaNet) are investigated in a comparative study to optimize performance. The detection models were trained on a dataset containing 11359 labeled bumblebee images. YOLOv5 reaches an Average Precision of AP = 53, 8\%, Faster R-CNN achieves AP = 45, 3\% and RetinaNet AP = 38, 4\% on the bumblebee validation dataset, which consists of 1323 labeled bumblebee images. The tracker's appearance model is trained on 144 samples. The tracker (with Faster R-CNN detections) reaches a Multiple Object Tracking Accuracy MOTA = 93, 5\% and a Multiple Object Tracking Precision MOTP = 75, 6\% on a validation dataset containing 2000 images, competing with state-of-the-art computer vision methods. The framework allows reliable tracking of different bumblebees in the same video stream with rarely occurring identity switches (IDS). MBT3D has much lower IDS than other commonly used algorithms, with one of the lowest false positive rates, competing with state-of-the-art animal tracking algorithms. The developed framework reconstructs the 3-dimensional (3D) flight paths of the bumblebees by triangulation. It also handles and compares two alternative stereo camera pairs if desired.},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{FingerBraunBil2017,
  author    = {Finger, Felix and Braun, Carsten and Bil, Cees},
  title     = {The Impact of Electric Propulsion on the Performance of VTOL UAVs},
  series = {Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2017, DLRK , M{\"u}nchen},
  booktitle = {Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2017, DLRK , M{\"u}nchen},
  year      = {2017},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{FingerBraunBil2017,
  author    = {Finger, Felix and Braun, Carsten and Bil, Cees},
  title     = {A Review of Configuration Design for Distributed Propulsion Transitioning VTOL Aircraft},
  series = {Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology 2017, APISAT 2017, Seoul, Korea},
  booktitle = {Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology 2017, APISAT 2017, Seoul, Korea},
  pages     = {15 Seiten},
  year      = {2017},
  language  = {en}
}