Activation method: new AI platform will accelerate the design of parts for UAVs

Russia is developing the world's first information system for designing products made of polymer composite materials using artificial intelligence technologies. It will allow you to create parts for UAVs and other equipment without experience working with complex materials. The developer of the system, the NTI Center for Digital Materials Science: New Materials and Substances, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, plans to launch it in 2027. According to experts, this will significantly speed up the creation of parts for unmanned vehicles by 40% and reduce the cost of bringing them to market. For more information about the development, see the Izvestia article.

What is the new information platform for?

Russian scientists are creating the first system of its kind and unparalleled in the world for designing products made of polymer composite materials (PCM) using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. It is aimed, in particular, at engineers and designers who do not have extensive experience working with composites. The platform digitally selects optimal materials for specified operating conditions, predicts their behavior under difficult loads, and also evaluates the strength and durability of future products, the NTI press service explained to Izvestia.

— The information system takes into account more than 40 material parameters, including anisotropy — the difference in properties along the fibers, across and in thickness. This allows us to obtain reliable forecasts of the structure's performance in real conditions," explained Ivan Storozhuk, PhD, Scientific supervisor of the project, Head of the Laboratory of Structural Materials at the NTI Center of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

According to the developers, the implementation of the system will reduce the design time of PCM products by 30-40%, and the cost of pilot and field tests by about 20%. The system may be particularly in demand in the development of hulls, power elements and supporting structures for UAVs, where low weight, high strength and load resistance are critical.

A separate advantage of the development is the ability to select composite materials for a specific type of drone, the NTI said. After obtaining the calculated characteristics, engineers will be able to design ready-made parts in third-party software, based on accurate digital data on the properties of PCBs.

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The NTI Center noted that the project also solves the problem of technological sovereignty: the system is created on the basis of domestic data and does not depend on foreign databases and software solutions. By itself, the global market of polyether ketone (a highly efficient structural thermoplastic) is showing steady growth of 6-11% every year. By 2030, the market volume will reach $900 million.

Polymer composite materials are widely used in the energy, transportation, aircraft, construction, and petroleum industries. At the same time, there are virtually no similar integrated information systems for polymer composites abroad today.

"The creation of such digital tools forms the basis for the mass introduction of superconstructive polymers and composites into industry, including aircraft construction and unmanned systems," said Evgeny Alexandrov, Director of the NTI Center at Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

The development became the winner of the competition of oriented and applied scientific research of the Russian Science Foundation within the framework of the national project "New Materials and Chemistry". A full-fledged launch of the information system with support for AI tasks is scheduled for 2027.

A platform in the service of the UAV industry

The project is of strategic importance for the development of digital materials science and composite technologies, says Ekaterina Skorb, Professor at ITMO University, Doctor of Chemical Sciences. The creation of the first specialized information system for PCMs, which takes into account the anisotropy of properties, increases the accuracy of engineering calculations and accelerates the launch of products on the market.

"Such digital platforms form their own scientific and technical base and eventually become the industry standard for engineers working with composites," she stressed.

According to her, the system will be in demand in high-tech industries, including aircraft manufacturing and the development of unmanned aerial vehicles.

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The emergence of such an AI platform has a direct impact on the development of the domestic drone industry. The transition to predictive modeling reduces dependence on trial and error and increases the reliability of engineering solutions, said Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy and federal coordinator of the Digital Russia project.

"For UAVs, where the requirements for weight, strength and resource are extremely stringent, such tools become critically important," he said.

According to him, the new system helps to reduce the cost of products and strengthens technological sovereignty by eliminating foreign engineering software.

The key effect of the development will be to lower the threshold for entry into work with polymer composite materials. According to Andrey Khodnev, a leading technological engineer at Moscow Polytechnic University, access to the digital characteristics of the PCM will allow performing preliminary modeling and initial evaluation of projects without lengthy and expensive tests.

"Engineers will be able to work with composites as habitually as with metal or plastic, immediately understanding the cost and feasibility of the project," he said.

The expert added that this will expand the range of companies capable of using PCM, including in the field of unmanned technologies.