2026-08-14 –, Muschel — N1
The talk details how Julia is used for the simulation and modelling of PHASA-35, an unmanned persistent stratospheric solar-powered aircraft developed by Prismatic Ltd, a subsidiary of BAE Systems plc. PHASA-35 can stay airborne year-round to provide communications services, wildfire detection, or ISR.
Julia is used both in standalone simulation tools as well as in FMUs, which are built using JuliaC to perform system-level Software-in-the-Loop simulations.
The following aspects will be covered in the talk:
- A brief overview of PHASA-35 and its capabilities.
- Use of Julia in standalone PHASA-35 performance calculation tools.
- Building of FMUs using JuliaC, which are used to perform whole-aircraft simulations.
- Speeding up of simulations with JuliaGPU packages.
- Continuous Integration with Julia.
- General comments on the development experience with Julia.
Nat obtained an MEng in Aerospace, Aerothermal, and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cambridge. He has since worked on a range of aircraft that vary widely in size and operational altitude (fixed-wing drones, airships, and PHASA-35). He is passionate about software development best practices and is a pedant when it comes to commit message guidelines. Nat holds a sailplane pilot’s license, which he sometimes puts to use in his free time.