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Focus on subsonic wind tunnels, aerodynamics in practice

Publication Date

25 June 2024

Category

Research

Tag

Aeronautics

DAEP

Focus on ISAE-SUPAERO's subsonic wind tunnels

There are seven of them. The subsonic wind tunnels at ISAE-SUPAERO are lined up in a room where students, doctoral students and researchers meet. Their function? To reproduce airflows, like those that suck in the wings of an aircraft, and enable them to be measured.

“This is where students learn about external aerodynamic metrology,” explains Patrick Chèze, head of the technical group in the Aerodynamics, Energetics and Propulsion (DAEP) research department at ISAE-SUPAERO. In other words, carrying out and interpreting measurements of pressure and forces related to the flow of air over an object, such as an aircraft wing profile.

For example, engineering and Masters students can practise measuring drag, the force that opposes a vehicle’s trajectory, and empirically look for solutions to reduce it. Or they can identify and measure the turbulence created at the back of a wing. “It’s a real educational test bed on which they learn the rigours of the test engineer’s job,” notes Patrick Chèze.

Measuring pressure or effort

The seven wind tunnels are standardised for practical work and operate in the same way: “The surrounding air is sucked in and compressed to give it a certain speed over the measurement section,” explains Adrien Thacker, aerodynamics test bench engineer at DAEP. This measurement section, known as the test section, is the removable part of the wind tunnels. This is where a model is placed (cylinder, aircraft wing profile, miniature car, model aircraft, etc.) connected to pressure sensors or a balance that measures aerodynamic forces. Once the wind tunnel is running, the pressure or force measurement data is displayed on a screen.

Since this year, one of the wind tunnels has been reserved for small student projects. For example, Lucas Nouveau-Duquesnes, a student on an apprenticeship speciality engineering course, is measuring the speed of the vortices created at the tip of an aircraft wing, using a model that he has printed using 3D prototyping.

A team of four people (an engineer, two technicians and a fitter) is attached to the subsonic wind tunnels within DAEP’s technical group to ensure that this equipment works properly on a day-to-day basis. “Our role is to prepare and set up the metrological data acquisition chain: calibrating and wiring the instruments, programming their control, setting up the study models and ensuring that the installations are working properly, and finally checking the measurement data”, explains Adrien Thacker.

35 research projects per year

However, their work is far from routine! “As well as managing practical work for students and trainees in vocational training, we set up projects for lecturers and researchers.” These involve experimental installations and high-precision set-ups, which often force us to be innovative and go beyond what we have already achieved.” For example, to be able to recreate in a wind tunnel the effects of air flow disturbances on aircraft wings that they are trying to understand better.

No fewer than 35 research projects are carried out each year in DAEP’s wind tunnels and on its test benches by lecturer-researchers from the Institute. “And one week of testing means three months of preparation for the technical team. So we’re involved in the research projects, and that’s really exciting!”

AeroSCOPE, the first open-source database for exploring CO2 emissions from air transport

Publication Date

19 June 2024

Category

Research

Tag

Aeronautics

Decarbonization

Sustainability

AeroSCOPE: the first open-source database

How much CO2 is emitted each year by air transport between France and the United States? By aircraft departing from China? By type of aircraft?

A snapshot of CO2 emissions from air transport, country by country, region by region: that’s the painstaking work carried out by Antoine Salgas as part of his doctoral thesis at ISAE-SUPAERO. The result is AeroSCOPE, an interface based on an open-source database that covers all global emissions. “It’s an open-source tool that has no equivalent”, says the PhD student.

Attracted by the aeronautical sector, Antoine Salgas “became aware of environmental issues” during his engineering course at ISAE-SUPAERO, in particular through the Environmental Engineering Certificate, a module offered in 3rdᵉ year as part of a partnership with Airbus. It was therefore natural that he should take an interest in the work being carried out by Scott Delbecq and Thomas Planès at the Institute. AeroMAPS, the tool developed by these two researchers, aims to assess the environmental impact of the aviation sector and to make projections by playing on the levers to decarbonise the sector.

AeroMAPS, a reference tool for modelling decarbonisation scenarios in the aviation sector

Like many young people of my generation, I want to be a driving force behind an ecological transition that is vital for the future. Having joined ISAE-SUPAERO's engineering course in 2017 out of passion, it was natural for me to get involved in the aviation sector by joining the AeroMAPS development team. This tool enables us to take a step back from the various decarbonisation solutions proposed and evaluate them within prospective scenarios. My work provides an essential economic analysis, since many of the solutions envisaged generate additional costs. At the same time, I went to TU Delft to develop AeroSCOPE, a tool that enables us to regionalise our analyses: air transport is characterised by very different uses and dynamics around the world. These are fascinating subjects, tackled within a dynamic team, which gives a lot of meaning to my research.

Antoine Salgas PhD student in the Design and Operation of Aeronautical and Space Vehicles Department (DCAS) at ISAE-SUPAERO

Scott Delbecq, a lecturer and researcher in aeronautical systems design, and Thomas Planès, a lecturer and researcher in sustainable aviation and aircraft design, initially created this open-source platform for researchers to explore transition scenarios. To simulate the scenarios of the future, AeroMAPS has progressively integrated numerous parameters such as different aircraft models, different types of fuel and regulations.

This work is now part of the Institute for Sustainable Aviation, a multi-disciplinary research consortium founded on the initiative of ISAE-SUPAERO to work on the sustainable future of the aviation sector and to offer research, industry, decision-makers and the general public scientific tools and methods, without bias.

At the beginning of 2022, freshly graduated from ISAE-SUPAERO’s engineering programme, Antoine Salgas joined the AeroMAPS team to study the economic cost of each transition scenario for the aviation sector: “The different decarbonisation options do not have the same characteristics. For example, a more efficient aircraft is likely to be cheaper to operate; using more sustainable fuels will be more expensive than today,” he explains. “The first part of the thesis I am working on, in partnership with Toulouse Business School, concerns the development of models to quantify this.”

Once the environmental and economic impact of each scenario had been modelled on a global scale, the AeroMAPS team turned its attention to the geographical partitioning of the tool. “For an even more detailed analysis, we felt it was important to be able to propose scenarios on the scale of a region of the world, the EU for example, or a national scale. And even to be able, in the long term, to study the decarbonisation of an airline”, explains Antoine Salgas. This gave rise to the AeroSCOPE project, which was carried out during a three-month academic stay at the Dutch university of TU Delft, where the PhD student was hosted by researcher Junzi Sun.

To establish a database of CO2 emissions from air transport, Antoine Salgas referred to a real year, 2019, for which he set about finding all the relevant data. He drew up a manual inventory of global air traffic, region by region, company by company, aircraft type by aircraft type, before calculating the corresponding emissions.

To do this, “I began by looking at all the open data, as exists in the United States and Europe. It was more difficult for other regions of the world, such as Asia”. To make up for the lack of data, a solution was found via the Wikipedia platform. “We realised that it had a reliable framework, common to all the world’s airports, which enabled us to collect all the existing air routes.” Antoine Salgas then used a machine-learning approach to estimate the associated air traffic. From this work, he was able to draw up a map – a snapshot of CO2 emissions country by country.

As well as being a database of interest to researchers, industry and the general public, AeroSCOPE provides a projection basis for the AeroMAPS tool. “Thanks to the combination of the two tools, we can refine the scenarios and be much more precise about the decarbonisation solutions we can propose for each region”, notes Antoine Salgas. Linked to AeroMAPS, this tool is proving invaluable for exploring the possible futures of aviation, as a good example of the work being carried out at the Institute for Sustainable Aviation and in line with ISAE-SUPAERO’s commitment to mobilising its academic and scientific skills in support of the transition to a sustainable society.

Visit AeroSCOPE at https://aeromaps.eu/aeroscope.

ISAE-SUPAERO develops a methodology to quantify the environmental impact of its research projects

Publication Date

17 June 2024

Category

Research

Tag

Horizons

Sustainability

How can the impact of research on the environment be quantified?

ISAE-SUPAERO’s Research Department has commissioned a working group of teacher-researchers to look into this question. Nicolas Gourdain (DAEP), Scott Delbecq, Thomas Planès and Annafederica Urbano (DCAS) have just developed a methodology to quantify the contribution of the Institute’s research projects to sustainable development and the environment.

“Our approach has been to establish a metric to enable us to quantify the Institute’s subjects that have an impact on sustainable development. As far as we know, there was no such metric at European level,” points out Grégoire Casalis, Director of Research. And this is despite the fact that funding for research projects is often linked to their positive impact on the environment.

35% of research topics linked to sustainable aerospace

The evaluation carried out at ISAE-SUPAERO revealed the strong impact of its research on environmental issues. In fact, more than a third (35%) of the projects carried out in 2024 are linked to the transition towards sustainable aerospace.

“What’s also important to note is that the other projects are not destructive: some have low environmental ambitions, while the others (often more related to upstream research) are not concerned by the issue”, explains Grégoire Casalis.

This assessment will be repeated every year for all the Institute’s teaching researchers. “The important thing is to show how the importance of environmental issues and sustainable development changes from year to year,” concludes Grégoire Casalis.

The Institute now wants to make this tool available to other research laboratories.

“The methodology we have used may not be adaptable to all areas of research, but it does provide a basis on which to work,” explains Ludmila Namolovan, Deputy Director of Research, who led the working group.

A single questionnaire for a wide range of subjects

The evaluation method developed at ISAE-SUPAERO takes the form of a questionnaire divided into three themes: the direct environmental impact of the research project; the environmental issues addressed; and any strategies and solutions implemented to reduce the environmental impact.

A coefficient is assigned to each question and an overall mark is given to the project based on the answers provided. “As the research topics carried out within the Institute are very diverse, we had to develop questions that could be adapted to each of them”, explain the teacher-researchers who are members of the working group. “We also had to take into account the fact that some subjects have a direct impact on the environment, while others have a more indirect impact.

To obtain a result that is representative of the wide range of work being carried out at ISAE-SUPAERO, the methodology measures all current projects and each research project is given a coefficient of 1, regardless of its importance (financial, partnership, etc.).

The teacher-researchers in the working group also took care to develop the most reliable evaluation methodology possible. “As the aim is to assess the ambition of each research project, we have favoured a self-evaluation by the researchers, with spontaneous responses.”

This self-assessment also enables all the researchers to raise their own awareness, particularly with regard to the actual drafting of research project proposals.

Bertrand Joab-Cornu, co-founder of Wingly: “I already had the idea for a flight-sharing platform at ISAE-SUPAERO.”

Publication Date

14 June 2024

Category

Research

Tag

Aeronautics

Alumni

Diversity program

Equal opportunities

Startup

Meeting with Bertrand Joab-Cornu

You co-founded the start-up Wingly while you were still a student at ISAE-SUPAERO. Tell us about this entrepreneurial adventure...

I studied engineering at ISAE-SUPAERO, graduating in 2016. Passionate about aeronautics and entrepreneurship, I took a double-diploma with École Polytechnique in Innovation Technology and Entrepreneurship. At the time, the collaborative economy was exploding with start-ups like BlaBlaCar and Airbnb. On the benches of ISAE-SUPAERO, I already had the idea of a co-piloting platform based on the same principle. At X I met my future partner, Emeric de Waziers, who had also had the idea on his own, and we launched Wingly in 2015. There was a niche to be filled and it worked really, really well!

Wingly is 10 years old and this year marks an important stage in its development. Can you tell us more about it?

We have been able to cope with the crises of recent years and the company is doing well. There are currently 25,000 private pilots registered on the platform, with more than 120,000 passengers in flight. We have also just passed the €40 million mark in sales volume. This year, we opened up to low-carbon aviation through partnerships with seven flying clubs that own an electric aircraft. We also closed a €3.5m fund-raising round with the aim of achieving profitability by 2025 and embarking on new projects. We also opened up our capital through a crowdfunding campaign on the Crowdcube platform, to get our community involved.

Wingly, the BlaBlaCar of the skies.
Europe’s leading flight-sharing platform, Wingly offers shared-cost flights between a private pilot and one or more passengers. 450,000 members are registered on this digital platform. The Paris-based company employs 20 people and offers its services in several European countries, including Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Austria and France.

What is the medium-term outlook?

Currently, use of the platform is focused on leisure flights: 90% of our passengers take local trips and the remaining 10% take day trips. But Wingly has a real role to play in regional mobility, where there is no alternative to the car, especially as companies developing low-carbon aviation are positioning themselves in this niche. We also hope to launch in other countries, notably the United States, if regulations change.

What advice would you give to ISAE-SUPAERO students who would like to become entrepreneurs during their studies as you did?

The first piece of advice I would give is to trust yourself and your idea! And then go out and test it, without wasting too much time working out the perfect business plan or a finished prototype.

MMX, Idefix® and cameras to understand Mars’ moon

Publication Date

12 June 2024

Category

Research

Tag

DEOS

Researcher

Space

MMX, for Martian Moon eXploration, is a mission of the Japanese space agency, JAXA, scheduled for launch into the Martian system at the end of 2026. This mission offers a unique opportunity to study the surface properties of the moons of Mars (Phobos and Deimos), as well as the dynamics of the regolith on the small bodies.

To achieve this, the MMX probe will deploy a rover on the surface of Phobos after at least 18 months of observation of the moon, the time needed to determine the best landing site. Idefix®, named after the famous travelling companion of two no less famous Gauls, is a rover designed by CNES and the German space agency (DLR) in record time.

Cameras on wheels

Sent as a scout, this little robot will be the first of its kind to attempt to move over a low-gravity surface using wheels. Among other things, it will be equipped with two wheel cameras (WheelCams) mounted under its bodywork, the images of which will help us to understand some of the properties of the surface of Phobos. How will this be done? “By determining, for example, the sinking of the wheel, the traction of the wheel and the morphology of the trench,” explains Naomi Murdoch, a planetary scientist at ISAE-SUPAERO. “This information will be invaluable for understanding the geological history of Phobos and surface processes, as well as being very important for the landing operations of the MMX main probe on Phobos.”

An important step in the project was to check the quality of the images provided by the WheelCams, on a representative surface of Phobos, “with only a few LEDs on the rover’s belly to illuminate the scene”, explains the planetary scientist. “Understanding the ground on Phobos using this scientific instrument will enable us to define a better landing strategy for the probe.” The WheelCams therefore reduce the risks associated with landing. Without quality images to study the ground on Phobos, the landing of the probe responsible for collecting and returning the samples would be more complex.

“Phobos is one of the darkest bodies in the Solar System. So we needed to make sure that the LEDs illuminating the scene would be sufficient to take images while the rover was rolling along. The simulations gave us fairly pessimistic estimates, but this is the kind of case where nothing can replace a well-conducted experiment”, explains Julien Baroukh, systems manager for the Rover MMX project at CNES.

Testing under real conditions

To answer this question, teams from CNES and ISAE-SUPAERO have devised a real-life test using a camera qualification model.

This qualification model is an exact reproduction of a flight WheelCam. It was mounted on the ISAE-SUPAERO test bench designed and built for the needs of the mission in 2021 by two Master of Aerospace Engineering students under the supervision of the Electronics, Optronics and Signal department team. This research equipment recreates the conditions that the MMX rover will observe with the WheelCams during the mission. (click here to find out more about the test bench).

“The WheelCam tests were carried out at ISAE-SUPAERO, in the school’s Department of Electronics, Optronics and Signal (DEOS/SSPA), under the supervision of Naomi Murdoch and in close collaboration with Valérian Lalucaa, who is in charge of the instrument on the CNES side,” explains Alice Amsili, an image processing engineer at ISAE-SUPAERO. “They have enabled us to demonstrate the performance of the cameras that will be on board the MMX mission.”

The next step is now to develop the tools to analyse and interpret the WheelCam images.

This is a new stage for the school’s researchers in this extraordinary scientific adventure.

Regolith is the thin layer of dust that covers planets without an atmosphere or natural satellites. It is one of the subjects of study by Naomi Murdoch, physicist and planetary scientist at ISAE-SUPAERO. To find out more about her research: https://pagespro.isae-supaero.fr/naomi-murdoch/

Naomi Murdoch, Researcher in planetology and space instrumentation

As a researcher in the Space Systems for Planetary Applications (SSPA) team, I am involved in several planetary exploration missions. My research aims to improve our understanding of the physical properties of asteroids and planets, with a particular focus on the behaviour of planetary surfaces in low gravity. This is important for understanding the processes that shape our solar system, preparing planetary space missions and improving the quality of interpretation of data from space instrumentation. 2024 is a big professional year for me, with the award of my Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR), the start of my GRAVITE ERC project this summer, followed by the launch in October of the Hera mission, a European planetary defence mission in which I am very involved.

Meeting with Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez, elected member of the Air and Space Academy

Publication Date

07 June 2024

Category

Research

Tag

Award

Space

Teacher researcher

Meeting with Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez

Key dates

1971: born in Toulon (Var)
1995: graduated from Supaéro (S1995)
2008: working for Altran Technologies, part of the team of engineers operating the Jules Verne cargo ship, the first ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle)
2009: joins ISAE-SUPAERO as a lecturer in space systems engineering
2015: defends her doctoral thesis on “Optimisation of operational scenarios for crew rotations and refuelling of the cargo of an international station at the L2 Lagrange point of the Earth-Moon system” as part of a joint ISAE-SUPAERO / University of Stuttgart degree programme
2017: takes charge of SaCLaB, a research laboratory on advanced space systems, as part of a sponsorship chair with Airbus and ArianeGroup
2022: obtains her Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches, awarded by the University of Toulouse, on “Rendez-vous spatial: de l’orbite terrestre à l’environnement cis-lunaire” (Rendezvous in space: from terrestrial orbit to the cis-lunar environment)
2024: elected Correspondent of the French Air and Space Academy

Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez describes her career as “atypical”. But there is one constant: a burning passion for space.

This passion finds fertile ground in his native Provence, “where shooting stars are so bright”. And the Nice Observatory, the subject of a school trip at primary school. On her return, the schoolgirl couldn’t stop wondering about the Universe… and drawing her thirst for knowledge from books. “There was a mobile library that passed through the village where I lived. I used to borrow all the books on science. I was particularly struck by a story about Marie Curie told by her daughter. It was at that moment that she made her decision: she too would become a scientist. But in the field of space.”

During her secondary education, she heard about Supaéro. The École Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace in Toulouse became her goal. During her preparatory studies at the Lycée Thiers in Marseille, she met an “exceptional” maths teacher who encouraged her to follow this path. A teacher who would later become… that of Arnaud Prost, another ISAE-SUPAERO alumnus and current ESA reserve astronaut.

“Astronauts in jeans”

Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez passed the Supaéro entrance exam in 1992 and obtained her engineering degree in 1995. After working in mechanical and automation engineering at Aerospatiale les Mureaux (now ArianeGroup) and Matra Marconi Space (now Airbus Defence and Space), she joined Altran Technologies, where she stayed for 13 years.

One experience made a particular impression on her: “In 2008, I was part of the team of vehicle engineers responsible for developing and piloting the first ATV, a cargo spacecraft developed by ESA to supply the ISS.” We were known as the “astronauts in jeans”! I flew the first ATV from CNES in Toulouse. It was fantastic. I had five screens in front of me and I had to stay focused while bottles of champagne were being opened all around me!

That same year, she applied for the ESA astronaut selection process, during which another Supaéro alumnus, Thomas Pesquet, was chosen. Fate took her elsewhere: “My former professor at Supaéro, Bénédicte Escudier, contacted me about a teaching position in Systems Engineering at ISAE-SUPAERO. I thought, why not?”

From space rendezvous to advanced space systems

“In her new role, she has discovered a passion for teaching, and more particularly for supporting students. She found “the human side that was missing when I was an engineer”. At the same time, she began a doctoral thesis on space rendezvous – when two vehicles reduce their distance to become one – with a double degree from ISAE-SUPAERO and the University of Stuttgart. “It was interesting for me to discover the theory after having dealt with this subject operationally as an engineer”. After defending her thesis in 2015, she began supervising doctoral and post-doctoral students. She is also responsible for the Advanced Master® TAS Astro.

Her colleagues describe her as a teacher and professor who is very present and attentive. “She is very welcoming and, despite her busy schedule, she always finds time for her students and her colleagues,” notes Spencer Boone, a post-doctoral student in space mechanics. “After Covid, I was struggling to find a work placement. She opened the doors of her lab to me and we worked on my internship topic together,” says Augustin Gallois, now a PhD student under her supervision. Francesco Sanfedino, a lecturer and researcher in space systems control in his laboratory, remembers his years as a student engineer at ISAE-SUPAERO: “Stéphanie gave us the great opportunity to work on a research project involving a CubeSat. At the time, we knew nothing about the research environment, but our paper was selected for an international conference. It opened doors for me and my partner”.

Future research and little-explored subjects

In 2017, as part of a sponsorship chair with Airbus and ArianeGroup, Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez became head of SaCLaB (Space Advanced Concepts Laboratory), “a research laboratory on advanced space systems, along the lines of what is done in major American universities”. The laboratory is interested in orbital systems, future space transportation and robotic and manned space exploration in a future of more than 15 years (see box below).

The team works “on major international programmes and our research is funded by organisations such as ESA, CNES and groups like ADS and Thales”, explains Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez. But we are also working on subjects that are rarely tackled. “Stéphanie is one of the few specialists in space mechanics in France,” says Spencer Boone. Augustin Gallois, whose dissertation is on the eco-design of a lunar habitat, says that “we have the opportunity to study many aspects of a little-explored subject”.

A Chevalier des Palmes Académiques and active in a number of learned societies, Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez was elected Correspondent at the Académie de l’Air et de l’Espace, based in Toulouse, at the end of May. She joins two other active professors at ISAE-SUPAERO, Yves Gourinat (appointed full member) and Frédéric Dehais (correspondent). This is yet another accolade for this enthusiast, who is just one experience away from being fulfilled: travelling in space. “I tried my luck again when the ESA selected its astronauts for 2022. I went as far as the psycho-technical tests… But I’m not giving up. I’ll find a way!

The Space Systems Design team (SaCLaB)

Part of the Design and Operation of Aerospace Vehicles (DCAS) research department, the Space Systems Design team is made up of five permanent members (Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez, Annafederica Urbano, Joan Pau Sanchez-Cuartielles, Thibault Gateau and Francesco Sanfedino), three post-doctoral students and fifteen doctoral students, with around sixty students working on research projects.

Its main areas of research are in-orbit servicing (space rendezvous, trajectory optimisation, quantification and propagation of uncertainties); monitoring and reduction of space debris, particularly in cislunar environments; advanced space transportation (reusable launch vehicles, space propulsion, refuelling in space and fuel storage); robotic and human exploration of space (optimisation of interplanetary trajectories to the Moon, Mars, Phobos, Enceladus and asteroids); AI for autonomy and distributed systems; eco-design of lunar bases; characterisation of the impact of isolation and confinement on crew performance.

The environmental and societal impact of space missions is a theme that cuts across all research projects.

The Air and Space Academy

The Academy is based in Toulouse and is made up of French and foreign members and correspondents who hold, or have held, major responsibilities in their respective fields related to aeronautics and space. They represent a unique pool of knowledge in Europe, with the aim of encouraging and promoting the development of high-quality scientific, technical, cultural and human activities in the fields of Air and Space. The correspondents liaise between the Academy and national and international aerospace activities.

A cutting-edge software platform integrated into ISAE-SUPAERO’s engineering programmes

Publication Date

31 May 2024

Category

Research

Tag

« Ingénieur ISAE-SUPAERO » by apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Ingénieur généraliste (MSc)

Programme

Engineering project

Presentation of the project

In a corner of InnovSpace, Ahlem is loading the first-aid drone that she and four of her friends have developed. “We chose to design a rescue drone, capable of providing first aid to an injured person in the mountains”, explains Lilian, who is standing next to her. A drone… that only Ahlem can see, with his augmented reality helmet over his eyes. The object is virtual. It was created by the students on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform

Developed by Dassault Systèmes, this platform can be used to create the digital twin of any product and simulate all the stages in its life cycle. “It’s cutting-edge software, because its portfolio of applications is complete. It includes more than 400 applications used in industry, which makes it possible to virtually carry out an engineering project from A to Z,” explains Thomas Zamolo, head of the module at ISAE-SUPAERO. “Something that would be impossible in real life.”

Deployed in 2023 by the ISAE Group schools as part of an academic partnership with Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is used at ISAE-SUPAERO to train students on the Industrial Engineering apprenticeship, Master’s and Advanced Master’s® courses. It will be extended to the General Engineering course at the start of the new academic year in September.

A public utility drone, 100% digital

For the time being, the module that Thomas Zamolo and Luc Patouillard have created around the platform is aimed at 3rdᵉ year apprenticeship students, “to put into practice the skills they have acquired during the first two years”.

Based on the digital twin of a commercial drone, accessible in the software, they have to imagine and manufacture a payload that meets a customer need. Working in groups of five, the students have 90 hours to devise the specific features of their drone, design their payload, identify the right materials, manufacture the parts and assemble them, test the mechanisms and robustness of their product and finalise it. All in a 100% digital environment. “You can do everything with it,” says Ahlem. You can model your product in 3D or run a dynamic simulation of each component and each element that makes it up.

The final sessions, held at InnovSpace, the Institute’s fablab and incubator, are an opportunity for the students to bring their projects to life. In workshops, they will be able to manipulate their drone using virtual reality, print a 3D model and even draw up a marketing plan for its commercialisation.

“A global vision of the project”

Thanks to this module, future apprentice engineers can strengthen their skills in systems engineering, mechatronics, finite element simulation and manufacturing engineering, while improving their project management skills. “The interface offered by 3DEXPERIENCE brings them closer to what they will use in business. The difference is that in a company, they will never have access to the entire portfolio of applications. Through this project, we are giving them a global vision of the business applications used in industry”, notes Thomas Zamolo.

Each half-day course gives learners the opportunity to acquire a new skill, in line with the skills-based approach gradually being developed at the Institut. And some curious students go even further! This was the case for Ahlem and Lilian’s group: “In the applications catalogue, we came across a sheet metal module that we could use to create an aluminium box. We worked out how to use it ourselves.”

Towards joint projects with the ISAE Group

Another advantage of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is its collaborative and secure nature. Data is stored on the cloud managed and secured by Dassault Systèmes on French soil,” notes Thomas Zamolo. Thanks to this, teachers and students have easy access to secure storage spaces and can share their work with other members of the ISAE Group.

Now that the platform has been deployed in six other member and partner schools of the ISAE Group (ISAE-ENSMA, ISAE-Supméca, ESTACA, ESTIA, EIGSI and ELISA Aerospace), the teachers plan to take the collaboration even further. “We plan to set up a joint project with the ISAE Group. We could, for example, imagine an engineering project carried out by groups of students from each school, who would work in a complementary way, depending on the specialisation of each school”.

AeroMAPS: the go-to tool for exploring the possible futures of aviation

Publication Date

16 May 2024

Category

Research

Tag

Aeronautics

DCAS

Decarbonization

Sustainability

What are the levers for decarbonising air transport?

AeroMAPS offers some answers to this question. This tool, developed by a team of researchers at ISAE-SUPAERO, aims to explore and assess the effectiveness of strategies to reduce the impact of air transport in relation to international commitments to combat climate change.

By playing on the sector’s transition levers, AeroMAPS users can define the scenarios whose impacts they wish to analyse. For example, the introduction of new types of aircraft, the use of new fuels or the rate of growth in air traffic.

“Based on the hypotheses chosen, AeroMAPS evaluates the corresponding CO2 emissions, other climate impacts and the associated consumption of energy resources”, explains Thomas Planès, lecturer and researcher in sustainable aviation and aircraft design at ISAE-SUPAERO. “We can then compare them with the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement.”

At a time when air traffic emits 2.5% of CO2 emissions linked to human activities, this platform is proving to be an essential tool for exploring the possible futures of aviation, in keeping with ISAE-SUPAERO’s commitment to mobilising its academic and scientific skills in the service of the transition to a sustainable society.

“A reference tool for research”

AeroMAPS is the first platform for exploring air transport scenarios built on an open-source scientific methodology. This means that the entire scientific community can appropriate the tool and participate in its development. Its development has been integrated into the work of the Institute for Sustainable Aviation (ISA), a collaborative research institute initiated by ISAE-SUPAERO, which aims to tackle the transition to low-carbon aviation in all its complexity.

“We wanted to build the most comprehensive sectoral assessment model possible, including technological, environmental, economic and sociological considerations”, explains Laurent Joly, Director of the ISA. “The aim is to make AeroMAPS a benchmark tool for research.”

The platform was initially designed and developed to enable researchers to explore air transport transition scenarios in detail. It was quickly incorporated into training: first in the engineering curriculum at ISAE-SUPAERO, then as part of continuing education programmes.

“For those who work all day on the design of tomorrow’s aircraft architectures, AeroMAPS allows them to take a step back and look at the different levers for action, and to understand the concrete effect of each lever,” stresses Thomas Planès.

Visualising CO2 emissions

The potential of AeroMAPS and its unique nature have gradually prompted the two teacher-researchers behind the project, Scott Delbecq and Thomas Planès, to think bigger: a second thesis, in partnership with Toulouse Business School, has been launched to add a socio-economic dimension to the tool.

“The decarbonisation options, such as new aircraft models and different alternative fuels, do not have the same economic characteristics and will cost more or less,” explains Antoine Salgas, recruited as a doctoral student on the project.

He then developed a traffic and emissions inventory, which will eventually enable the analyses carried out with AeroMAPS to be partitioned and regionalised. “I brought together numerous sources and developed models to create an open database, as part of a collaboration with the Dutch university TU Delft”.

This work led to the creation of a second tool, AeroSCOPE, aimed at researchers, decision-makers and the general public. “AeroSCOPE provides an overview of where CO2 emissions from aviation are located in the world. By combining the two tools, we can refine the scenarios and be much more precise about the decarbonisation solutions that can be proposed for each region.

“Serving society”

Today, the comprehensive, multidisciplinary nature of AeroMAPS is a decision-making aid for the entire aeronautics ecosystem, as well as for institutional, industrial and community decision-makers.

“This scientific and open methodological basis enables consensus to be reached and meets a need for transparency,” notes Scott Delbecq, a lecturer and researcher in aeronautical systems design.

To facilitate use of the tool, a partnership has been set up with the digital services company Sopra Steria. This major tech player built the platform’s new web interface to improve the user experience and make it accessible to decision-makers.

The faces behind AeroMAPS

Driven by a strong desire to contribute to the transition of the aviation sector, I focus my research on the design of aeronautical systems and their deployment in prospective scenarios using the FAST-OAD and AeroMAPS open source platforms. I am developing methods to increase the analysis and optimisation capabilities of these platforms. I am then working on integrating these research tools into our teaching programmes. My aim is to provide our students with the skills and knowledge they need to become the leaders and architects of the airline industry's transition.

Scott Delbecq Lecturer and researcher in aeronautical systems design

With a view to working towards a transition to sustainable aviation, my research focuses on modelling the air transport system, its environmental impact and decarbonisation solutions. In this context, I am leading the AeroMAPS project, which aims to develop dedicated open source tools, in conjunction with the work of the Institute for Sustainable Aviation. Finally, I'm committed to integrating these various contents into our training courses, so that our students can become the future players in the sector's transition.

Thomas Planès Lecturer and researcher in sustainable aviation and aircraft design at ISAE-SUPAERO

The cockpits of the future at the heart of research at ISAE-SUPAERO

Publication Date

08 May 2024

Category

Research

Tag

Aeronautics

DCAS

In the new generations of civil and military aircraft, operations are becoming increasingly complex. The number of tasks delegated to the machine is such that pilots are taking on a real supervisory role, bringing with them new responsibilities.

What if the machine could also assist pilots in their operations, with a view to human-machine cooperation? A machine that could detect fatigue, reduced vigilance, stress or even excessive reliance on automatic systems, and adapt to the situation…

This is not science fiction

At ISAE-SUPAERO, research into methods for estimating the state of operators (pilots, air traffic controllers) with the aim of adapting systems and interfaces according to their mental state, involves researchers from the Design and Operation of Aeronautical and Space Vehicles (DCAS) department.

Caroline Chanel and Mickaël Causse are conducting research at the heart of these themes. These two teacher-researchers are also behind the ICCAS international conference, which will bring together world-renowned scientists on the ISAE-SUPAERO campus on 16 and 17 May.

Capturing pilots’ intentions

Caroline Chanel, a researcher in autonomous systems control, artificial intelligence and human-system interaction, is particularly interested in decision-making methods designed to capture the states or intentions of pilots in order to propose an appropriate response.

The PHYBIC project measures the pilot’s brain activity using signals picked up by electrodes, then translates it using algorithms, with the aim of understanding which instrument the pilot is focusing on. The aim? To decipher his intentions or a degraded cognitive state, so that the machine can trigger actions to relieve him or assist him with certain tasks.

The MINERVA project is studying how pilots interact with the machine in emergency situations. This research project required the development of a software architecture enabling the machine to understand the pilot’s intentions, using voice recognition and eye tracking, to capture his preferences and answer the question: in a given situation, what type of assistance should the machine offer? The ultimate aim is to develop a cognitive assistant with a view to human-machine collaboration.

Preventing an incapacitating state

Recent work by Mickaël Causse, a neuroscience researcher, has focused on studying the startle reflex in pilots, with the aim of preventing incapacitation.

The Eye-Interaction project involves inducing a startle reflex in a panel of pilots (qualified or in training) during flight scenarios on an Airbus A320 simulator. The aim is to identify the parameters, in particular physiological and personality parameters, in participants who do not startle or, at least, who suffer few consequences in terms of flight control, and to consider the types of devices that are appropriate for dissipating the stress effect in pilots.

The European HAIKU (Human AI teaming Knowledge and Understanding for aviation safety) project, led by the ACHIL team at ENAC with support from ISAE-SUPAERO, aims to create an assistant called FOCUS (Flight Operational Companion for Unexpected Situations) to help regulate the surprise and startle response. This adaptive tool collects data from the pilot and the aircraft to identify the startle response. When startle is detected, the AI initiates a collaborative procedure to help the pilot regain a state of calm and situational awareness to assist him in his decision-making.

These four projects will be presented at the ICCAS conference.

The faces of research at ISAE-SUPAERO

"I have always been fascinated by autonomous systems and am delighted to be teaching and working on this subject. I am interested in on-board decision-making methods to improve the efficiency, operational safety and adaptability of autonomous systems. My research, which is supported by the French Defence Innovation Agency (AID), the French National Research Agency (ANR) and the Dassault Aviation sponsorship chair (which I have held since 2022), contributes to a number of different scientific fields, ranging from artificial intelligence to human-machine interaction and neuroscience. Last year was rich in publications and international project launches, and was marked by the award of my Habilitation to Supervise Research (HDR). I have also become head of the Autonomous Systems area offered in the 3rd year of the engineering curriculum.

Caroline Chanel lecturer and researcher in decision and control for autonomous systems

"A neuropsychologist by training, I discovered the fascinating field of neuroergonomics, a discipline that comes to us straight from the United States. Applying knowledge of how the brain works to improve interaction with technology fascinates me. I'm particularly interested in the effects of stress, mental load and ageing on human performance. My research has been supported by the French Defence Innovation Agency (AID), the French National Research Agency (ANR), Europe (SESAR project) and a sponsorship chair with Dassault Aviation, for which I was responsible for 5 years. The year 2024 is full of projects, including an exciting study in collaboration with the Swiss aviation authorities on the impact of ageing on cognitive performance, to accompany the increase in the retirement age of air traffic controllers. We are using a test developed at ISAE-SUPAERO: the Toulouse N-back Task. I also have the pleasure of co-organising ICCAS 2024 with Caroline Chanel, a conference that I helped to create in 2019 with Dassault Aviation."

Mickaël Causse teacher-researcher in neuroscience

ISAE-SUPAERO hosts ICCAS, an international conference on cognitive airborne systems

Publication Date

01 May 2024

Category

Research

Tag

Conference

DCAS

What if machines could assist aircraft pilots in their operations, with a view to human-machine cooperation? A machine that could detect fatigue, reduced vigilance, stress or even excessive reliance on automatic systems, and adapt to the situation…

Envisioning these cognitive assistants, based on artificial intelligence, is the subject of the ICCAS international conference, the 3rd edition of which will be held on 16 and 17 May on the ISAE-SUPAERO campus in Toulouse.

ICCAS – International Conference on Cognitive Aircraft Systems – is the result of the joint desire of Dassault Aviation and ISAE-SUPAERO to bring together an international community of researchers and manufacturers involved in the design of intelligent, reliable aeronautical systems capable of interacting with pilots or operators to enhance safety and performance.

Find out more about the ICCAS conference programme

The conference is part of the Cognitive Air Systems Design and Architecture (CASAC) chair, a research partnership between Dassault Aviation and ISAE-SUPAERO focusing on neuroergonomics and artificial intelligence.

World-renowned researchers are expected to take part, including Randy Mumaw, a researcher at the University of San Jose (USA) and NASA’s Aerospace Cognitive Engineering Lab, and Fabien Lotte, a researcher at INRIA in Bordeaux and winner of the prestigious European ERC grant for his work on increasing the reliability of brain-computer interfaces.

In 2022, the second ICCAS conference on the ISAE-SUPAERO campus brought together no fewer than 180 participants from 23 countries in the fields of research and the aeronautics industry.