Introduction

Siemens Digital Industries Software announced today that Natilus, a U.S.-based aerospace company, has adopted the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of industry software technology. This adoption will enable Natilus to revolutionize the world’s supply chain with its next-generation blended-wing-body aircraft. Moreover, by leveraging Siemens software, Natilus has managed to reduce the development time for its first prototype aircraft by 50%.

Company Overview

Founded in 2016 by Aleksey Matyushev and Anatoly Star, Natilus aims to commoditize the freight transport industry through innovation and advanced technology. Natilus’ blended-wing body design ‘Diamond’ cargo bay is planned to offer 1.5 times more cargo capacity than current cargo aircraft while consuming 50% less fuel. These innovative aircraft represent a quantum leap in operational economics, increasing revenue in the hyper-competitive cargo freight industry.

Impact of Siemens Technology

“Siemens’ immersive technology is revolutionizing how we develop our next-generation aircraft. It’s not just about seeing the design; it’s about experiencing it in a way that enhances our engineering decisions and accelerates innovation,” said Aleksey Matyushev, CEO, of Natilus. “Our work with Siemens and our adoption of the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio allows us to achieve the speed with which innovation needs to occur and helps us to remain agile, flexible, and reactive as we strive to meet customers’ demands for next-generation, sustainable aircraft.”

Siemens Partnership

“Natilus is setting the benchmark for the power of digital transformation and agility in the aerospace industry, and we’re delighted that it has selected Siemens as a trusted partner to help them achieve their mission of reinventing the global air cargo industry,” said Todd Tuthill, vice president for Aerospace and Defense, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “We look forward to working with the team as they bring their innovative new aircraft to market – it’s another excellent example of how innovators and pioneers are adopting Siemens Xcelerator and our aerospace digital threads to help them build a more sustainable aviation industry.”

Technological Advancements

Natilus is actively using NX™ X software for aircraft engineering and Teamcenter® software for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio. Additionally, Natilus relies on NX X for its advanced surface design and mechanical engineering capabilities, which are essential for this fast-paced project. Because Siemens Xcelerator delivers NX X through the cloud, Natilus safeguards its mission-critical intellectual property. Moreover, this setup enables agile collaboration on design and engineering tasks among its geographically dispersed development team.

Bringing the aircraft to the customer with an immersive design

Natilus has been an early adopter of NX immersive designer, where they combine the real and digital worlds using the new Sony XR Head Mounted Display. Featuring precise 3D interaction, stunning visual fidelity, and seamless collaboration the Natilus team can travel with all the tools they need to provide clients and potential customers with the full immersive experience firsthand.

Building next-generation aircraft offers tremendous value when transforming a model from a 2D screen into a full-scale, 85-foot wingspan digital twin in our hangar. This experience has been made possible by the power of Siemens’ “industrial metaverse.” As one of the first companies chosen to utilize the advanced Sony headset and augmented reality software, we have been able to leverage this innovative technology effectively. This technology is making immersive design a reality and enabling collaborative product engineering capabilities and customer engagement that weren’t possible before,” said Matyushev.

“One of Natilus’ key challenges is showing customers the exact breadth and depth of the products we are building. While engineers can see individual pieces in the hangar to develop a partial idea of the design, putting them all together in an immersive engineering environment allows customers to understand the entire design at scale. This type of technology is part of our story to help make those sales and keep conversations with customers really energetic. This collaboration is accelerating our development pace as we partner closely with these innovative companies to shape the future of aviation and its construction.

Natilus showcased at the Siemens chalet at Farnborough International Airshow

This week at the Farnborough Air Show, Siemens proudly showcases its collaboration with Natilus at chalet C331-32. They demonstrate how a 3D immersive environment, linked to physics-based design tools, delivers practical applications and benefits. Moreover, this demonstration highlights how engineers from anywhere can collaborate in real time, illustrating that immersive engineering serves as a practical application of the industrial metaverse.

Furthermore, Siemens Digital Industries Software empowers organizations of all sizes to undergo digital transformation through the Siemens Xcelerator business platform, which provides software, hardware, and services. Their software, along with a comprehensive digital twin, empowers companies to optimize design, engineering, and manufacturing processes. Consequently, this integration transforms today’s ideas into sustainable products for the future. This transformation encompasses everything from chips to entire systems and is applicable across all industries. Thus, Siemens Digital Industries Software drives this transformation effectively.