The project aims for an innovative solution for an aircraft electrical starter-generation system. The driver behind the project is the move towards green more-efficient aircraft technology by employing electric power to eventually replace conventional hydraulic and pneumatic power.

Increased weight of green aircraft systems based on existing electrical aircraft components may offset savings due to higher efficiency. The electrical generation system incurs the largest weight increase when moving towards more-electric aircraft and this is a major challenge.

Within the project this challenge will be addressed by the development of a novel generation system comprising the electrical machine, the power electronic converter, the associated cooling system, and the control with health monitoring functions that enable the system to function safely and reliably as a starter/generator system for a small aircraft. An integrated design and modelling approach will provide an overall optimised solution that will reduce component count and maintenance cost, improve system reliability and save weight, thus improving the environmental impact of aircraft operations.