Diehl Aviation, together with several partners including Boeing and Etihad Engineering, passes milestones for developing the aircraft cabin of the future
In 2018, the iCabin research project has been launched in order to establish the basis for aircraft cabin designs of the future, in particular by also connecting separate cabin applications such as seating, galleys and lavatories without cabling. One year after its official start, the project team has achieved the successful completion of the first Design Review.
This clears the way forward into the next phase: the detailed design of new, intelligent cabin features enabled by wireless communication between future intelligent cabin equipment. Later this year, the first iCabin prototype equipment will be tested in the Digital Solutions Lab at Boeing’s facility near Frankfurt, Germany.
At Aircraft Interiors Expo Hamburg 2019, leading experts involved in the project from several partners will be available for meetings with journalists to discuss iCabin and its significance for the industry. For scheduling appointments with Diehl Aviation experts, interested media are asked to contact David Voskuhl, Senior Vice President Communications & PR.
The project team develops IoT-enabled cabin equipment, such as intelligent seats, intelligent galleys and intelligent surfaces in the cabin space. Diehl Aviation contributes its expertise in the field of intelligent cabin applications, predictive health monitoring (preventative maintenance), expansion of crew functionality, digital passenger services, and the intelligent analysis of cabin data, including research into the improvement of materials and surfaces.
iCabin is a joint research project of the partners Bühler Motor, Diehl (also as project leader), Jeppesen, KID Systeme and Zodiac Aerospace (a Safran company) have joined forces. They are supported by the associated partners Boeing, the Baden Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), Etihad Airways Engineering and the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH). In addition, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is providing co-funding as part of its aviation research support, contributing an expected amount of 3.9 million Euros to iCabin. The research project has an expected completion date of March 31, 2021.
Diehl Aviation is a division of Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG and combines all aviation activities of Diehl Group under one roof. In the aviation industry, Diehl Aviation – including Diehl Aerospace (a joint venture with Thales) – is a leading system supplier of aircraft system and cabin solutions. Diehl Aviation currently has around 6,000 employees. Its clients include leading aircraft manufacturers Airbus (both airplanes and helicopters), Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer, as well as airlines and operators of commercial and business aircraft.