Jeppesen: iCabin: Research For A Networked Intelligent Aircraft Cabin Of Tomorrow

A consortium of leading aerospace companies, supported by associated partners, have launched an ambitious research project that is aimed at providing 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. Among the key goals are the integration of cabin systems, and generating a real-time overview of the status of all aircraft cabin areas.

For this purpose, 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. Having started at the beginning of 2018, the research project has an expected completion date of March 31, 2021.

Each partner is bringing in relevant competences of its product portfolio, ranging from actuation for seats to cabin management systems, cabin interior hardware, connectivity, aircraft operating experience to aircraft integration. The expected result will be a networked system, offering increased comfort and an enhanced travel experience for passengers as well as optimized maintenance cycles and cabin operations for airlines.