09 March 2024
Research
“It’s exceptional. And even more so for Masters students! Usually it’s PhD students who are selected”. Leandro Lustosa, associate professor of UAV guidance, navigation and control, has nothing but praise for two of his students. Krishna Murali and Elena Ponce Moreno, both in their second year of the Master of Aerospace Engineering (MAE) at ISAE-SUPAERO, will be flying to Yokohama, Japan, in May to present their research topic at ICRA, one of the two most prestigious robotics conferences in the world.
For their second year research topic, Krishna and Elena are interested in the Mavion. This drone, developed at ISAE-SUPAERO, has the special feature of being able to fly horizontally, like an aeroplane, after taking off vertically like a conventional drone. “This makes it more efficient and faster, and extends its range of action,” notes Professor Lustosa, who himself wrote a thesis on the subject at ISAE-SUPAERO.
Where aeronautics and robotics meet
Krishna Murali and Elena Ponce Moreno are interested in the flight dynamics of the Mavion, i.e. the application of the laws of mechanics to the study of the trajectories, stability and control of this drone. “The aim of our research is to make the transition from vertical to horizontal flight smoother and more reliable,” explains Elena.
This subject, at the crossroads of aeronautics and robotics, is the subject of the paper they have submitted to ICRA and which they will be presenting at the conference. “We didn’t think it would be accepted. Fortunately, our professor believed in it and encouraged us! Eager to present their research in front of the world’s robotics specialists, they are also enthusiastic about bringing an aeronautics project to ICRA. Robotics and aeronautics have traditionally been separate fields,” notes Leandro Lustosa, “and the development of drones is bringing them together.”
An important step in their studies
Krishna Murali and Elena Ponce Moreno also see their participation in ICRA as an important step in their studies and future careers. “For me, who wants to go on to do a PhD in a similar field, it’s exhilarating”, says Krishna. “It’s going to be inspiring,” adds Elena.
Both of them will be doing “a lot of preparation”, but they also see the conference as “an opportunity to learn from the people” they will meet. They are also aware of the “great responsibility” they bear as women in a rather male-dominated academic environment. “We hope that other female students will dare to apply and we want to make them aware that it’s possible!”
Who are they?
Krishna Murali joined ISAE-SUPAERO’s Master of Aerospace Engineering (MAE) programme after completing a Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in her native India. A keen mathematician and physicist, she saw the MAE as an opportunity “to study at a world-renowned school in Toulouse, at the heart of European aerospace engineering”. Krishna has a passion for drones and saw the Mavion research topic as “an opportunity to learn a lot about aerospace control and, more specifically, unconventional control methods”. It was also an opportunity to put into practice the control theories studied during her previous studies and to learn more about software for UAVs.
Elena Ponce Moreno, who “grew up surrounded by engineers”, chose aeronautics for “its complex challenges” and “a fascination with the concept of flying”. Equally passionate about space and information technology, she joined the MAE at ISAE-SUPAERO to “specialise” after studying aerospace engineering at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. She saw her research topic around the Mavion as “a way of participating in a concrete project” and an opportunity to work with drones. The project also enabled her “to experiment with a project in real research conditions, in a laboratory”. In other words, the IONLAB, part of ISAE-SUPAERO’s Design and Operation of Aeronautical and Space Vehicles (DCAS) department.
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