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Projects

 

Innovative avionics architecture for drones and EVTOLs - Understand the requirements and develop a high performance configurable avionics architecture for drones and EVTOLs

Acronym: AAIDE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Aircraft architectures and equipment different from traditional aircraft make the architecture and segmentation of avionics functions inadequate. For this reason, the partners want to explore economically and technically viable solutions to develop a high performance configurable avionics...

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Innovative avionics architecture for drones and EVTOLs - Understand the requirements and develop a high performance configurable avionics architecture for drones and EVTOLs

Acronym: AAIDE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Aircraft architectures and equipment different from traditional aircraft make the architecture and segmentation of avionics functions inadequate.
For this reason, the partners want to explore economically and technically viable solutions to develop a high performance configurable avionics architecture for drones and EVTOLs.

Objectives :
- define operational and certification requirements
- define avionics configurations satisfying the requirements
- evaluate and compare possible solutions

Advanced Motor and Power Systems

Acronym: AMPS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The main objective of the project is to design and manufacture power electronic components (motors/inverters/power converters) for eVTOLs of intermediate power (less than 100 kW). The integration and optimisation of the components together is primordial for the electrification of the aeronautic sect...

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Advanced Motor and Power Systems

Acronym: AMPS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The main objective of the project is to design and manufacture power electronic components (motors/inverters/power converters) for eVTOLs of intermediate power (less than 100 kW). The integration and optimisation of the components together is primordial for the electrification of the aeronautic sector. The project goal is to design and build electrical components as well as their cooling strategy while respecting weight constraints. The project also aims at encouraging the development of a value stream for aeronautical high power electric components in Québec.

Aircraft Pilot coupling modeling, Identification and Control

Acronym: APIC /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The Control Laws design relies heavily on the level of modeling capabilities included within the tools and/or a simulation environment used which presently, encompasses mainly rigid body modeling. However, aircraft exhibit various undesirable structural flexible modes phenomena that cannot be addres...

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Aircraft Pilot coupling modeling, Identification and Control

Acronym: APIC /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The Control Laws design relies heavily on the level of modeling capabilities included within the tools and/or a simulation environment used which presently, encompasses mainly rigid body modeling. However, aircraft exhibit various undesirable structural flexible modes phenomena that cannot be addressed using rigid body control laws. Aircraft Pilot Coupling (APC) is a phenomena arising out of the coupling between lower frequency structural flexible modes and the pilot (with seat and side stick) that potentially result in unacceptable aircraft vibrations. Bombardier R&D projects have led to advancements in modelling the aircraft structural flexible modes, pilot body, side stick and seat.
The objective of this project is to validate the models as well as automatically detect and attenuate the APC vibrations.

Aircraft Representative Testing in Icing Conditions of Cutting-edge Anti-icing Technologies

Acronym: ARTIC-CAT /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

In past CRIAQ projects, Bell and its partners analysed and tested new prototypes of low power anti-icing and de-icing systems. The developed solutions could however not be tested at full scale in a representative environment. This project aims at developing a test environment to try those solutions ...

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Aircraft Representative Testing in Icing Conditions of Cutting-edge Anti-icing Technologies

Acronym: ARTIC-CAT /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

In past CRIAQ projects, Bell and its partners analysed and tested new prototypes of low power anti-icing and de-icing systems. The developed solutions could however not be tested at full scale in a representative environment. This project aims at developing a test environment to try those solutions and validate their performance on a full-scale tail rotor of a helicopter. Project goal is also to improve anti-icing and de-icing solutions previously studied and perfectionate simulation and analysis tools.

Alternatives for low carbon emission aircraft

Acronym: AVEBEC /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need: The aviation industry continues to need a large number of new pilots. Those pilots are usually trained on small aircraft powered by internal combustion engines, with associated carbon emission. Electric-powered aircraft provide the means to reduce carbon emissions, but they are limited to shor...

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Alternatives for low carbon emission aircraft

Acronym: AVEBEC /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need: The aviation industry continues to need a large number of new pilots. Those pilots are usually trained on small aircraft powered by internal combustion engines, with associated carbon emission. Electric-powered aircraft provide the means to reduce carbon emissions, but they are limited to short to medium length flights. As such, an alternative is required for longer training flights.

Objective: The objective of the project is to identify powerplant architectures with low carbon emissions for general aviation aircraft. The architecture must support multi-hour flight missions, and it may take different forms: use of alternative fuel (SAF or hydrogen), fuel consumption reduction, engine conversion, hybrid architecture, etc. It should be suitable for retrofit in existing aircraft, e.g. Piper Archer, Cessna 172, etc. Environmental advantage and cost impact are important aspects to be considered in the proposed solution.

AEROdynamic SEALS finite element modeling

Acronym: AeroSeals /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: Seal design and behavior is hard to predict, particularly for large deflection and large variation of gaps needed for a flexible aerofoil wing design in the area of flight controls. With finite element modeling methodology different designs and configurations can be tested with complex intera...

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AEROdynamic SEALS finite element modeling

Acronym: AeroSeals /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: Seal design and behavior is hard to predict, particularly for large deflection and large variation of gaps needed for a flexible aerofoil wing design in the area of flight controls. With finite element modeling methodology different designs and configurations can be tested with complex interactions such as aero loading and structure loading without the need for a complex rig or multiple separate rigs for each constraint which might not fully show the interdependency and complexity of the design. Actual parts on test rigs might be required to validate the accuracy of modeling and to potentially calibrate the methodology.

Objectives: In order to reduce the risk and close knowledge gaps, methodology of modeling of seal behavior to estimate performance would be beneficial to prevent extensive physical testing of different designs or late stage redesigns due to flight test findings.

Advanced Air Mobility and Digital Twin for UML2-UML-3 Cargo Delivery

Acronym: AirGift /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The project aims at demonstrating a solution for air delivery that fits UML-2 or UML-3 maturity such as medical cargo on predefined routes. The partnership aims at integrating the assets required for viable operation (drone platform, telco infrastructure, VOCC, VAS, airspace regulator) and iterative...

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Advanced Air Mobility and Digital Twin for UML2-UML-3 Cargo Delivery

Acronym: AirGift /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The project aims at demonstrating a solution for air delivery that fits UML-2 or UML-3 maturity such as medical cargo on predefined routes.
The partnership aims at integrating the assets required for viable operation (drone platform, telco infrastructure, VOCC, VAS, airspace regulator) and iteratively tackle more challenging BVLOS use cases.

The objectives are for each use cases:
- Implement synthetic representation of the system and use case.
- Simulate and validate the CONOPS.
- Design/improve the VAS interfaces to satisfy the users flows.
- Flight test. Demonstrate the system performances and operator capabilities.
- Evaluate and improve the digital twin data module for weather characterization, safe BVLOS by mean of augmented spatial awareness and operator control.
- Lessons learned consolidations in term of system capabilities and required amelioration for the next use cases.

Blockchain for Aeronautic Traceability, Maintenance and ANalytics

Acronym: BATMAn /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The idea is to implement a blockchain in partnership with an aerospace company to manage the tracking of aerospace components more efficiently and sustainably. This would: - improve production processes - detect risks of premature failures - prepare the industry for Industry 5.0 The expected resul...

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Blockchain for Aeronautic Traceability, Maintenance and ANalytics

Acronym: BATMAn /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The idea is to implement a blockchain in partnership with an aerospace company to manage the tracking of aerospace components more efficiently and sustainably.

This would:
- improve production processes
- detect risks of premature failures
- prepare the industry for Industry 5.0

The expected results are:
- better traceability of aerospace components
- reduction of paper used for documentation
- improved intersectoral analytical and predictive tools.

BVLOS Operations Next-generation WEATHER services - advanced low altitude micro-weather services for canadian BVLOS operations

Acronym: BONWeather /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The project addresses the low-altitude weather data gap at the surface to 1,500m, which impacts the safety, scaling, efficiency, and profitability of the RPAS industry. The gap creates uncertainty, increasing BVLOS flight risk and unnecessary aircraft groundings. We will show the value of higher dat...

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BVLOS Operations Next-generation WEATHER services - advanced low altitude micro-weather services for canadian BVLOS operations

Acronym: BONWeather /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The project addresses the low-altitude weather data gap at the surface to 1,500m, which impacts the safety, scaling, efficiency, and profitability of the RPAS industry.
The gap creates uncertainty, increasing BVLOS flight risk and unnecessary aircraft groundings. We will show the value of higher data density in a living weather lab in an urban/suburban locality where RPAS and AAM operations will occur.

The objectives are:
- placement of novel weather sensors;
- sensor networking, including wind lidars, weather drones, low-cost wind and ceiling/visibility sensors and wind data from working drones;
- edge processing and transmission of hazard detect and avoid messages to UAM/UTM systems;
- demonstrating the ASTM F38 Draft Weather Standard is feasible by quantifying and validating IOT weather.

Technical challenges include real estate to deploy sensors, sensor networking, and collecting, processing and transmitting hazardous weather messages in minutes to drive automated aircraft re-routing.

Context Specific Understanding of HMI by an Automated Agent

Acronym: CONCIOUS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The project aims to explore AI technologies which can be combined to interpret and understand information on pilot, ATC, and dispatch displays, but specifically in off-nominal conditions. Such an assortment of technologies would be useful in safe operations when the pilot is experiencing workload st...

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Context Specific Understanding of HMI by an Automated Agent

Acronym: CONCIOUS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The project aims to explore AI technologies which can be combined to interpret and understand information on pilot, ATC, and dispatch displays, but specifically in off-nominal conditions. Such an assortment of technologies would be useful in safe operations when the pilot is experiencing workload stress, training newer recruits in the job profiles mentioned earlier, workload sharing, etc.

The goals are to :
- Encode HMI's associated ecosystem in formal language
- Creating an automated reasoning agent that responds to queries in natural language

Design & operation of a light, optimized and modular battery

Acronym: COULOMB /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The COULOMB project goal is to design a modular battery pack optimized for high discharge rates. The main difficulty related to the development of eVTOLs is the design of a safe and light battery. The high power drawn from the battery during take-off and landing generates a lot of heat within the ce...

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Design & operation of a light, optimized and modular battery

Acronym: COULOMB /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The COULOMB project goal is to design a modular battery pack optimized for high discharge rates. The main difficulty related to the development of eVTOLs is the design of a safe and light battery. The high power drawn from the battery during take-off and landing generates a lot of heat within the cells. This heat must be managed to avoid thermal runaways. Current packing and cooling solutions for batteries are heavy and could be optimized. The proposed project will consist of a redesign and optimization of a battery already used in an experimental aircraft.

Characterization of hydrogen fuel cells degradation to aeronautics

Acronym: CaDePHA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Aeronautical electric propulsion requires high energy density ((kWh/m3) and high specific power (kW/kg). The combined use of H2 fuel cells (FC) and batteries makes it possible to achieve these two objectives. However, batteries and fuel cells do not have the same lifetime characteristics The objecti...

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Characterization of hydrogen fuel cells degradation to aeronautics

Acronym: CaDePHA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Aeronautical electric propulsion requires high energy density ((kWh/m3) and high specific power (kW/kg). The combined use of H2 fuel cells (FC) and batteries makes it possible to achieve these two objectives. However, batteries and fuel cells do not have the same lifetime characteristics The objective of the CaDePHA project is to characterize, in an accelerated manner, the degradation of fuel cells in order to better manage the energy required for aeronautical use (low air density, cold temperatures, etc.)

Concepts and Procedures for Testing EVTOL Navigation

Acronym: CaPTEN /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need : EVTOLs have different flight characteristics and capabilities than traditional aircraft. For this reason is it necessary to understand and integrate the constraints of airspaces and vertiports / heliports for the navigation of EVTOLs in a BVLOS context and assess the feasibilty of these oper...

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Concepts and Procedures for Testing EVTOL Navigation

Acronym: CaPTEN /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need : EVTOLs have different flight characteristics and capabilities than traditional aircraft.
For this reason is it necessary to understand and integrate the constraints of airspaces and vertiports / heliports for the navigation of EVTOLs in a BVLOS context and assess the feasibilty of these operatons depending on the constraints of the equipments and diferent type of aircrafts.

Objectives: :
- define standard and emergency procedures for EVTOL corridors
- define standard and emergency procedures for vertiports
- define the requirements in terms of sensors and the performance of these sensors
- define the operational constraints of BVLOS operations for EVTOLs
- develop simulation and test models and validate the procedures envisaged in BVLOS

Compressor rotor Performance Improvement Through Superfinishing

Acronym: CoPITS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

There are a range of superfinishing processes that have been developed that are commercially available to improve compressor efficiency. The process capabilities on complex airfoil shapes are not known and the ability to predict the aerodynamics benefits from superfinishing is not well understood. T...

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Compressor rotor Performance Improvement Through Superfinishing

Acronym: CoPITS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

There are a range of superfinishing processes that have been developed that are commercially available to improve compressor efficiency. The process capabilities on complex airfoil shapes are not known and the ability to predict the aerodynamics benefits from superfinishing is not well understood.
This project aims to demonstrate the longevity of the superfinishing benefits due to effects of erosions, stone impact and accumulation of dirt on the airfoils needs to be established. Other unknown effects of the process include effects of compressor wash cleaning, fatigue, and residual stress.

Cryogenic Hydrogen Optimized for Vertical Take Off and Landing

Acronym: CrHyO-VTOL /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The proposed project aims at studying the technologies for storage of cryogenic hydrogen to establish its potential and fully understand their integration challenge for future VTOLs. Project will cover storage technologies for cryogenic hydrogen as well as elements required for its transformation in...

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Cryogenic Hydrogen Optimized for Vertical Take Off and Landing

Acronym: CrHyO-VTOL /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The proposed project aims at studying the technologies for storage of cryogenic hydrogen to establish its potential and fully understand their integration challenge for future VTOLs. Project will cover storage technologies for cryogenic hydrogen as well as elements required for its transformation into energy. A high-level full system optimisation will also be conducted to consider benefits of having a cooling source (cryogenic hydrogen) present in the vehicle.

Virtual Test Rig for Aircraft CYBERsecurity testing

Acronym: CyberVTRA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: CyberVTRA has the potential to significantly enhance the conception and the evolution of rigs (software updates, networking updates, addition of new equipment) by automating the deployment of a virtual environment, replicating a part or the entire network architecture of the aircraft. Object...

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Virtual Test Rig for Aircraft CYBERsecurity testing

Acronym: CyberVTRA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: CyberVTRA has the potential to significantly enhance the conception and the evolution of rigs (software updates, networking updates, addition of new equipment) by automating the deployment of a virtual environment, replicating a part or the entire network architecture of the aircraft.

Objectives: As such, CyberVTRA will enable :
- Performing cybersecurity tests of systems and network architecture
- Training of people involved with the aircraft security (AHMU logs monitoring, suppliers, maintenance technicians, crew).

Data and Automation for hYbrid Connected Aviation systems

Acronym: DAyCA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The civil aviation stakeholders face increasingly complex cyber-risks that may impact the continuity of organization operations, flight safety and airworthiness. The supply chain, regulators, manufacturers, and airlines are seeking higher adoption of new technologies, automation, and AI-based equip...

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Data and Automation for hYbrid Connected Aviation systems

Acronym: DAyCA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The civil aviation stakeholders face increasingly complex cyber-risks that may impact the continuity of organization operations, flight safety and airworthiness. The supply chain, regulators, manufacturers, and airlines are seeking higher adoption of new technologies, automation, and AI-based equipment, that are highly interconnected and interdependent. There is currently no model nor environment that allows the aerospace industry to explore the interconnection risks in a secure and real context.

To understand and mitigate the cyber-risks that new technology may represent, aviation stakeholders need to deal with dozens of suppliers furnished equipment. Regulators are also often left in a trust or not trust situation without any capacity to assess or simulate the risks in a controlled environment.

The objective of the project is to find the fundamental base or means to allow to assess cyber-risk with:
- Data models
- Automation
- Cyber-twining

Operations in a Denied Environnement for Searching and Kilometrage

Acronym: DESK /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

DESK will enable the recently demonstrated St. Bernard Autonomous Search and Rescue UAV platform to operate in GPS denied areas, allowing it to be used in more remote areas and to provide visibility to places and to rescuers previously difficult to reach in a short window of time. By providing the f...

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Operations in a Denied Environnement for Searching and Kilometrage

Acronym: DESK /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

DESK will enable the recently demonstrated St. Bernard Autonomous Search and Rescue UAV platform to operate in GPS denied areas, allowing it to be used in more remote areas and to provide visibility to places and to rescuers previously difficult to reach in a short window of time. By providing the flexibility for the UAV, will move the product closer to MVP stage while providing value to first responders and wildlife conservation in the National Parks in North America.

To meet this need, it is important to perform all of these steps:
- Demonstrate and develop stability and controllability logic to support autonomous flight at a greater distance from a control station;
- Increase air mobility and operational efficiency;
- Identify flight characteristics and signaling profiles for failure prediction;
- Obtain data needed for the platform development.

Development of an Electric Vertical and Conventional take-off and landing (eVTOL+eCTOL) Aircraft

Acronym: DEVCA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts are being developed to revolutionize the transportation industry" They fly over traffic, drastically reducing commuting time and greenhouse gas emissions. Limosa Inc. is a leading company to design and manufacutre an eVTOL+eCTOL in Québec. Thi...

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Development of an Electric Vertical and Conventional take-off and landing (eVTOL+eCTOL) Aircraft

Acronym: DEVCA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts are being developed to revolutionize the transportation industry" They fly over traffic, drastically reducing commuting time and greenhouse gas emissions. Limosa Inc. is a leading company to design and manufacutre an eVTOL+eCTOL in Québec. This is to introduce a new mode of transportation in the urban and regional areas by using air as the third dimension. Developing a new aircraft requires a masisve work of research and development. It starts with a new concept and follows by application of cutting-edge technologies in the development of different components susch as propulsion units, aerostructure, aerodynamics shape optimization, avionics and control systems, battery integration and thermal management, wight and balance and flight dynamics.

This research is devoted to:
- performing high-fidelity calculations including finite element analyses,
- computational fluid dynamics,
- acoustic analysis and aerodynamics shape optimization.

Design Of Ground Stations - requirements definition and design of ground control stations for remotely piloted aircraft

Acronym: DOGS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Autonomous or remotely piloted systems will require ground control stations. As of today, there is no standard or specification for these stations. This project aims to develop an understanding of operational and certification requirements for ground cockpits and which architectures will meet...

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Design Of Ground Stations - requirements definition and design of ground control stations for remotely piloted aircraft

Acronym: DOGS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Autonomous or remotely piloted systems will require ground control stations. As of today, there is no standard or specification for these stations. This project aims to develop an understanding of operational and certification requirements for ground cockpits and which architectures will meet those requirements.

Objectives :
- Define the information required by the pilot / ground operator and the pilot - machine interfaces
- Define the different communication links (air-ground and ground-ground)
- Define certification requirements (Design Assurance Level for hardware and software, human factors, etc.)
- Define systems architectures for these cockpits

Autonomous drone box for harsh environment

Acronym: DRONEST /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: - Better situational awareness for personnel deployment (Defense and Security) - Development of corridors for the transport of goods (Transport, Cargo) - Securing perimeters and infrastructures - Linear: Borders, pipeline - Local: Mines and quarries

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Autonomous drone box for harsh environment

Acronym: DRONEST /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs:
- Better situational awareness for personnel deployment (Defense and Security)
- Development of corridors for the transport of goods (Transport, Cargo)
- Securing perimeters and infrastructures
- Linear: Borders, pipeline
- Local: Mines and quarries

Digital Twin Software in the Loop integration Environment

Acronym: DigiSoLE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: Transform the traditional integration approaches toward this new Digital Age where both physical equipment and Digital Twins can be integrated within a virtual environment where the Hosting Environment may be hosted locally or in the Cloud. This new environment needs to support development a...

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Digital Twin Software in the Loop integration Environment

Acronym: DigiSoLE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs:
Transform the traditional integration approaches toward this new Digital Age where both physical equipment and Digital Twins can be integrated within a virtual environment where the Hosting Environment may be hosted locally or in the Cloud. This new environment needs to support development activities, simulation activities, system testing with hardware or digital twins in the loop.

Objectives:
- Explore the use of Digital-Twin technologies for Avionics, Mission and Weapon Systems (Models) in safety critical applications.
- Explore the technologies to host, stimulate, simulate and execute application models in an Open Virtual SIL.
- Explore the technologies needed to support the protection of Intellectual Property and Controlled Information (Cybersecurity).
- Support the simultaneous use of an Open Virtual SIL by multiple development programs.
- Develop the automation server to support running of simulation tests continuously to verify new design iterations (DevSecOps).

Climatic Drone for meteorological and Aerological Measurements

Acronym: DreAM /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

- FLYING WHALES Quebec is developing a 200-meter-long airship dedicated to cargo transportation, up to 60 metric tons. - This airship will serve, among others, isolated industries and communities in Québec, Canada and the rest of the world. - For its best possible operability, anticipation of wind...

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Climatic Drone for meteorological and Aerological Measurements

Acronym: DreAM /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

- FLYING WHALES Quebec is developing a 200-meter-long airship dedicated to cargo transportation, up to 60 metric tons.
- This airship will serve, among others, isolated industries and communities in Québec, Canada and the rest of the world.
- For its best possible operability, anticipation of wind gusts is a must. Knowledge of the meteorological and aerological conditions around the airship is therefore essential. For this, the development of a drone 'climate' is considered.

The project therefore aims to :
- Develop the necessary sensors to measure in real time the meteorological and aerological parameters (pressure, temperature, wind speed).
- Integrate these sensors into a flying drone.
- Allow a synchronized measurement of the targeted parameters in the case of a fleet of drones having to carry out measurements at precise places around the airship.

Cockpit Integration of AI optimized flight path algorithm

Acronym: FLIP /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Exploiting weather patterns (wind, thermals, etc.) has the potential to substantially increase flight times for surveillance aircraft (manned or unmanned) and to minimize fuel consumption during ferry flight. AI algorithms can generate a flight plan from the ground and update flight plans in the air...

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Cockpit Integration of AI optimized flight path algorithm

Acronym: FLIP /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Exploiting weather patterns (wind, thermals, etc.) has the potential to substantially increase flight times for surveillance aircraft (manned or unmanned) and to minimize fuel consumption during ferry flight. AI algorithms can generate a flight plan from the ground and update flight plans in the air using on-board sensors and real-time weather data. The research needs for this project, center around establishing a framework to allow the optimal Human-Machine interaction in this context.

Objectives :
- Integrate AI optimized routing algorithm with a cockpit display system on a piloted aircraft
- Determine the best approach to integrate AI optimized routing information to the pilot
- Develop, integrate and certified the solution in a simulated environment and on the aircraft

Sizing and Control of Reconfigurable Battery Packs

Acronym: FlexBatt /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The performance of the whole battery pack is limited by the performance of the worst cells of the pack, thus depriving the propulsion train to draw the maximum possible energy (reduction of the operational range). We propose to investigate a dynamic reconfiguration according to the internal state of...

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Sizing and Control of Reconfigurable Battery Packs

Acronym: FlexBatt /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The performance of the whole battery pack is limited by the performance of the worst cells of the pack, thus depriving the propulsion train to draw the maximum possible energy (reduction of the operational range). We propose to investigate a dynamic reconfiguration according to the internal state of each cell so as to draw the maximum energy in discharge mode and store the maximum energy in recharge mode.

The project will :
- study the advantage of reconfigurable batteries compared to conventional modular batteries for aircraft.
- optimize and control a reconfigurable battery pack.
- develop in simulation a reconfigurable battery pack system equipped with an intelligent BMS (Battery Management System)
- evaluate in simulation the performance (energy efficiency) of the reconfigurable battery pack in charge and discharge mode according to typical aeronautical mission profiles
- evaluate the impact of reconfiguration on battery degradation modes.

Whole airport simulation to optimize operations

Acronym: FlyVerse /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Airport optimization opportunities abound but the primary challenge is privacy of passenger data. Passenger flow models exist but privacy concerns prevent us from creating a holistic airport operations optimization solution. Realistic simulation capabilities can optimize airport operations holistica...

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Whole airport simulation to optimize operations

Acronym: FlyVerse /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Airport optimization opportunities abound but the primary challenge is privacy of passenger data. Passenger flow models exist but privacy concerns prevent us from creating a holistic airport operations optimization solution. Realistic simulation capabilities can optimize airport operations holistically.

The objective is to create physics-realistic simulation environment of airport operations to train optimization algorithms to predict: Passenger bottleneck locations, Boarding times, airport space utilization, checkpoints.

HFE software Tool Suite

Acronym: HF-TS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The HFTS project aim to develop a tool suite for the Pilot Interface team (HFE) who use quick prototyping tool (Figma, Visio, Axure, etc.) to design and share Human Machine Interfaces concepts (HMI) with OEMs and end-users. The Software team requires detailed requirements to implement the HMI in a D...

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HFE software Tool Suite

Acronym: HF-TS /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The HFTS project aim to develop a tool suite for the Pilot Interface team (HFE) who use quick prototyping tool (Figma, Visio, Axure, etc.) to design and share Human Machine Interfaces concepts (HMI) with OEMs and end-users. The Software team requires detailed requirements to implement the HMI in a DO178-C context. The challenge is to ensure rapid and cost-effective transition between the HFE team work and Software process while complying with strict certification requirements imposed by DO178-C.

The objectives are to:
- Provide a tools suite to generate widget safety critical code from a graphical element defined by the pilot interface team in the quick prototyping tool. The generated widgets will be embedded to solution like ARINC 661 server and other tools.
- Allow the HFE team to create display pages (using the same widgets) in the prototyping tool and to generate the A661 Definition File.

High temperature metallic alloy for Powder metallurgy

Acronym: Hi-Powder /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Develop metallic powder alloy with acceptable ductility that is compatible with additive manufacturing process and that can withstand higher temperatures than current alloys. Objectives: - Melt enough ingot in laboratory to produce experimental-size powder batches. - Atomize alloy to a given ...

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High temperature metallic alloy for Powder metallurgy

Acronym: Hi-Powder /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Develop metallic powder alloy with acceptable ductility that is compatible with additive manufacturing process and that can withstand higher temperatures than current alloys.

Objectives:
- Melt enough ingot in laboratory to produce experimental-size powder batches.
- Atomize alloy to a given powder size distribution.
- Manufacture a prototype shape with a relevant additive manufacture technique.
- Heat treat the generic shape.
- Evaluate quality by an appropriate non-destructive method.
- Determine basic thermal and mechanical properties.

Innovative COOLing engineering

Acronym: ICool /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Objective: The objective of this project is to validate the reliability, the performance and the safety of our innovative thermal management technologies and energy storage solutions for electric and hybrid hydrogen-electric propelled aeronefs. Need: In the framework of this project, we are looking...

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Innovative COOLing engineering

Acronym: ICool /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Objective: The objective of this project is to validate the reliability, the performance and the safety of our innovative thermal management technologies and energy storage solutions for electric and hybrid hydrogen-electric propelled aeronefs.

Need: In the framework of this project, we are looking for partners to integrate our technologies in batteries, power electronic components, or fuel cells of their systems to test it under realistic flight environments.

Integration of Pilot Behavior Modeling into human factors design and cockpit training tools

Acronym: IPBM /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs : Artificial intelligence technology to model pilot behaviour using biometric sensors that measure pilot stress levels. Objectives : - Integrate the Pilot behaviour modeling in the design of cockpit display systems with the aim of optimizing the design by minimizing the subjectivity of the ev...

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Integration of Pilot Behavior Modeling into human factors design and cockpit training tools

Acronym: IPBM /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs : Artificial intelligence technology to model pilot behaviour using biometric sensors that measure pilot stress levels.

Objectives :
- Integrate the Pilot behaviour modeling in the design of cockpit display systems with the aim of optimizing the design by minimizing the subjectivity of the evaluation of the human machine interface in order to evaluate the cognitive load related to the operation of the system, but also to detect human errors and identify their sources.
- Integrate technology with pilot training solutions.

Integrated Vibration Isolation Attachment Systems by Additive Manufacturing

Acronym: IVIASAM /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

To reduce the number of materials in individual components like fixtures of cabin monuments, a way to optimize the component's design to incorporate vibration isolation and damping characteristics is sought. Additive manufacturing ensures the producibility of the resulting component design. The pro...

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Integrated Vibration Isolation Attachment Systems by Additive Manufacturing

Acronym: IVIASAM /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

To reduce the number of materials in individual components like fixtures of cabin monuments, a way to optimize the component's design to incorporate vibration isolation and damping characteristics is sought. Additive manufacturing ensures the producibility of the resulting component design.

The project spans the entire process from :
- the component's design optimization
- the forecast of the component's influence on cabin acoustics
- the manufacturing process route utilizing additive manufacturing and assessment of environmental factors, e.g., recyclability.

Method to Audit and TEst COmputer vision to certify robust and reliable operation in the aerospace industry

Acronym: MATeCo /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Part 1: This collaboration aims to further develop rigorous testing and validation capacities for AI deployed in aerospace, focusing on the AI sub-domain of computer vision (CV). Part 2: One area of focus within aerospace will be drones/UAVs. These testing methods aim to quantify the reliab...

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Method to Audit and TEst COmputer vision to certify robust and reliable operation in the aerospace industry

Acronym: MATeCo /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need:
Part 1: This collaboration aims to further develop rigorous testing and validation capacities for AI deployed in aerospace, focusing on the AI sub-domain of computer vision (CV).
Part 2: One area of focus within aerospace will be drones/UAVs.
These testing methods aim to quantify the reliability and robustness of CV in critical aerospace operations.
CV includes three categories of image analysis: image classification, object detection and image segmentation. So far, Zetane developed testing capacities for image classification.

Objectives:
- Develop equivalent testing methods for object detection.
- Develop equivalent testing methods for segmentation.
- Quantify and confirm the benefits of the testing methods for responsible deployment of CV in aerospace and for UAVs.

High integrity Multi-Constellation and Multi-Frequency (MCMF) positioning receiver

Acronym: MC-MF /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

CMC and LASSENA wish to launch a joint research project on MCMF receivers. The performance of multi-frequency and multi-constellation receivers is essential to provide the integrity, availability and accuracy of positioning and velocity in support of navigation and flight controls for the new genera...

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High integrity Multi-Constellation and Multi-Frequency (MCMF) positioning receiver

Acronym: MC-MF /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

CMC and LASSENA wish to launch a joint research project on MCMF receivers. The performance of multi-frequency and multi-constellation receivers is essential to provide the integrity, availability and accuracy of positioning and velocity in support of navigation and flight controls for the new generation of aircraft in development (RPAS, EVTOLs)

Technological challenges:
- Determine the signals to be used for the optimal navigation solution;
- Software development approach maintaining previous certification artefacts while introducing automatic code generation techniques;
- Radio frequency chain to ensure signal reception under interference and low signal conditions;
- Implementation of spoofing and jamming detection and mitigation strategies.

Multi-Link Network Communications for BVLOS operations

Acronym: ML-NC /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need : As uncrewed (autonomous and remotely piloted) aircraft of different types take to the sky delivering goods, transporting people, or performing tasks like inspections and surveillance, it has become clear that multiple and dissimilar means of communicating with the aircraft are required for sa...

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Multi-Link Network Communications for BVLOS operations

Acronym: ML-NC /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need : As uncrewed (autonomous and remotely piloted) aircraft of different types take to the sky delivering goods, transporting people, or performing tasks like inspections and surveillance, it has become clear that multiple and dissimilar means of communicating with the aircraft are required for safe and secure BVLOS operations.

Main objective : develop a multi-link solution providing resilient data services to support aircraft for BVLOS operations. This multi-link networking capability would consist of hybrid satellite L-band and cellular technology.

Through the course of the project :
- aircraft communications hardware will need to be identified or developed
- air-to-ground networks will be modified to allow different (and simultaneous) methods of communication with the aircraft.
- involvement of multiple project stakeholders including aircraft manufacturers, communications and data providers, as well as aviation regulatory agencies.

Sheet Metal thermomechanical process mapping

Acronym: MetalForm /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need for a comprehensive sheet metal process map for acceleration of forming of novel materials, tooling optimization, and cost reduction. Objectives: - Development of strain map method, including robust strain measurement patterning technique, automated visual tracking and mapping of strain measu...

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Sheet Metal thermomechanical process mapping

Acronym: MetalForm /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need for a comprehensive sheet metal process map for acceleration of forming of novel materials, tooling optimization, and cost reduction.

Objectives:
- Development of strain map method, including robust strain measurement patterning technique, automated visual tracking and mapping of strain measurements on specimens and formed parts.
- Building of a thermomechanical forming limit diagram.

Robust Machine Learning for metallographic analysis

Acronym: Micro-ML /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Robust automated collection and evaluation method of microstructure features such as alloy grain size, second phase size, defects or fractographic features. Objectives: - Determine which key metallographic features can be evaluated using Machine Learning image recognition software. - Build, t...

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Robust Machine Learning for metallographic analysis

Acronym: Micro-ML /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Robust automated collection and evaluation method of microstructure features such as alloy grain size, second phase size, defects or fractographic features.

Objectives:
- Determine which key metallographic features can be evaluated using Machine Learning image recognition software.
- Build, train and validate Machine Learning models for selected features.
- Depending on features selected and model power, potentially correlate metrics with alloy behavior.

News Analytics Platform

Acronym: NAP /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The need of this project idea is to search for information specific to the aeronautical domain through unstructured, independent, and reliable data sources such as specialized aeronautical news, blogs... The main objective is to obtain automated and intelligent analysis and interpretation tools to ...

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News Analytics Platform

Acronym: NAP /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The need of this project idea is to search for information specific to the aeronautical domain through unstructured, independent, and reliable data sources such as specialized aeronautical news, blogs...

The main objective is to obtain automated and intelligent analysis and interpretation tools to diagnose and deepen a search by limiting human effort and execution time.

And for this, it will be necessary:
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Panel Inspection And Repair Drone

Acronym: PIARD /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

- FLYING WHALES Québec is developing a 200-meter-long airship dedicated to cargo transportation, up to 60 metric tons. - This airship will serve, among others, isolated industries and communities in Quebec, Canada and the rest of the world. - To maximise operational availability, it is crucial to b...

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Panel Inspection And Repair Drone

Acronym: PIARD /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

- FLYING WHALES Québec is developing a 200-meter-long airship dedicated to cargo transportation, up to 60 metric tons.
- This airship will serve, among others, isolated industries and communities in Quebec, Canada and the rest of the world.
- To maximise operational availability, it is crucial to be able to inspect the external envelope of the airship to locate possible damages, qualify them and repair them.
- To do this, the development of a drone capable of carrying out these inspection and repair operations is one of the options considered.

The project therefore aims at:
- Develop the necessary sensors to locate and measure the defects of the airship external surface.
- Integrate these sensors into a flying drone.
- Develop a lightweight panel repair system compatible with the installation on a flying drone.
- Integrate this system into the flying drone.

PILOT Safety Awareness over Flying Encounter

Acronym: Pilot-SAFE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Context : The Pilot-SAFE project idea was originally proposed by Prof. St-Onge and his team from ETS. The project aims at providing data on risk awareness for BVLOS operations with multiple aircraft (cooperative and non-cooperative). Objectives : - Measure operator cognitive load, namely: heart-ra...

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PILOT Safety Awareness over Flying Encounter

Acronym: Pilot-SAFE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Context : The Pilot-SAFE project idea was originally proposed by Prof. St-Onge and his team from ETS.

The project aims at providing data on risk awareness for BVLOS operations with multiple aircraft (cooperative and non-cooperative).

Objectives :
- Measure operator cognitive load, namely: heart-rate, pupillometry, reaction time and perceived task load;
- Assess the performance of inter-aircraft communication systems and collision avoidance strategies;
- Compare operator awareness: standard mission planner, heatmap visualisation and auditory cues;
- Test on 20+ aircraft in simulation, then 6-12 aircraft in the field;
- Design custom airborne transmission devices for single operator fleet control.

Primary structure development for UAV using fixed and rotary wings

Acronym: PrimaDrona /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs - Build a drone using fixed and rotating wings, slowing the rotor in cruise flight; - Build at the best price, with the latest additive and plastic manufacturing technologies; - Create a vector capable of reaching long distances with the heaviest possible payload; - Support the structural load...

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Primary structure development for UAV using fixed and rotary wings

Acronym: PrimaDrona /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs
- Build a drone using fixed and rotating wings, slowing the rotor in cruise flight;
- Build at the best price, with the latest additive and plastic manufacturing technologies;
- Create a vector capable of reaching long distances with the heaviest possible payload;
- Support the structural loads for the various aspects of flight using a slow-turning rotor;
- Achieve enhanced safety by using redundancy of both lifting surfaces;
- Ensure higher criticality BVLOS flights over people.


Objectives
- Develop manufacturing technologies using thermosets and carbon-reinforced thermoplastics ;
- Use of additive manufacturing and utilize design for manufacture methods to produce and assemble ;
- Develop a tilting rotor mast;
- Drive system integration and power distribution;
- Integration of an energy recovery system during descending flight phases.

RPAS Urban Wind Forecaster

Acronym: RUWF /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Safe BVLOS operations requires reliable weather and wind forecasts for route planning and navigation. Weather forecasts for traditional aviation operations rely on weather data for open environments and do not reflect conditions in the built environment. Reliable wind forecasts will be needed...

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RPAS Urban Wind Forecaster

Acronym: RUWF /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Safe BVLOS operations requires reliable weather and wind forecasts for route planning and navigation.
Weather forecasts for traditional aviation operations rely on weather data for open environments and do not reflect conditions in the built environment. Reliable wind forecasts will be needed to reflect mechanical turbulence in the built environment since wind impacts RPAS controllability, ride quality and power needs.


Objectives :
- Develop RUWF for integration with other BVLOS technology enablers, such as : RPAS control systems, navigation and route planning systems and air traffic management systems.
- Get input on RPAS performance envelope for adverse wind conditions and establish sensitivity to rapid changes of conditions.
- Establish the level of fidelity needed for wind forecasting using either numerical simulations and/or wind tunnel experiments
- Develop a tool that takes weather forecasts from government weather services and adjusts the wind predictions to account for the influence of buildings in space and in time at the required fidelity and efficiency so wind conditions can be provided in real time to inform decisions.

Aerospace assembly support solution based on computer vision

Acronym: SAAVO /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Project of development and demonstration of an aerospace assembly support solution based on computer vision. This system will enable manufacturing companies to identify improvement opportunities in their operations, simplify the resolution of non-conformances and may also help them reduce the risk o...

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Aerospace assembly support solution based on computer vision

Acronym: SAAVO /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Project of development and demonstration of an aerospace assembly support solution based on computer vision. This system will enable manufacturing companies to identify improvement opportunities in their operations, simplify the resolution of non-conformances and may also help them reduce the risk of musculoskeletal diseases for operators.

The objectives of the project are :
- Optimize the integration of commercial cameras & sensors with state-of-the-art AI models
- Define and demonstrate the performance criteria (technical and commercial) of the solution in a realistic environment with potential user companies
- Define a methodology for the development and deployement of the technology to ensure acceptability by users (in particular operators of user companies)

Smart Airside Management

Acronym: SAM /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The challenge of SAM project is to improve AI models' accuracy, performance, and scalability in real-world scenarios and the current system. Objectives: - Build an AI solution that detects FOD in real-time through cameras or drones with partners - Build an AI solution that provides abnormality dete...

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Smart Airside Management

Acronym: SAM /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The challenge of SAM project is to improve AI models' accuracy, performance, and scalability in real-world scenarios and the current system.

Objectives:
- Build an AI solution that detects FOD in real-time through cameras or drones with partners
- Build an AI solution that provides abnormality detection for airside operations with partners
- Improve and test an AI solution that tracks and analyzes airside operations to increase turnaround management efficiency with partners

Smart Identification of Emergency Landing Areas

Acronym: SIELA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Despite the recent developments in UAVs for handling emergencies in BVLOS applications like returning home, hovering, or landing, finding a suitable spot for an emergency landing is still an open challenge. Emergency landing can cause damage to the drone, payload, humans, or surrounding prope...

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Smart Identification of Emergency Landing Areas

Acronym: SIELA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Despite the recent developments in UAVs for handling emergencies in BVLOS applications like returning home, hovering, or landing, finding a suitable spot for an emergency landing is still an open challenge. Emergency landing can cause damage to the drone, payload, humans, or surrounding properties. Thus, finding a proper spot is essential for human safety and to avoid possible damage.

Objective : This project proposes to develop an automated real-time multi-modal method for drones.
The technique uses coupled thermal and visible cameras to survey the surrounding area and find the most suitable location to land by determining the surrounding areas' geological properties such as flatness level, vegetation level, roughness level (e.g., zones with several big stones), area size, sinking possibility (e.g., a body of water), land rigidity, and obstacles. Also, the system sould detect humans. The method uses the extracted information to identify the safest spot for landing according to the measured factors

Use of the oxydo-reduction MAGnesium cycle for a zero-ballast SOLAR-propulsion airship

Acronym: SOLARMag /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

- FLYING WHALES Quebec is developing a 200-meter-long airship dedicated to cargo transportation, up to 60 metric tons. - This airship will serve, among others, isolated industries and communities in Québec, Canada and the rest of the world. - The airship has a significant need of energy and its bu...

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Use of the oxydo-reduction MAGnesium cycle for a zero-ballast SOLAR-propulsion airship

Acronym: SOLARMag /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

- FLYING WHALES Quebec is developing a 200-meter-long airship dedicated to cargo transportation, up to 60 metric tons.
- This airship will serve, among others, isolated industries and communities in Québec, Canada and the rest of the world.
- The airship has a significant need of energy and its buoyancy must be handled to load and off-load its payload. Magnesium could meet these two requirements thanks to its good volumic energy and because it is an abundant ressource as coproduct of desalinisation.

The project aims therefore to implement lightweight and reliable systems allowing to control:
- Inflight exothermic oxydation of Mg with water to produce MgO and H2 with Heat
- H2 : to produce electricity thanks to hydrogen fuel cells
- MgO : stored in the airship
- Heat management :
- to heat up the buoyant gas and modify its buoyancy
- to produce energy thanks to a Stirling engine
- Reduction of MgO back to the base thanks to a solar concentrator to produce Magnesium back : virtuous cycle !

Scanning surfaces and objects With Autonomous and Intelligent Drones

Acronym: SWAID /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs : - Inspect hard-to-reach areas safely and independently - Reduce the time needed to prepare and carry out an inspection mission. - Reduce the environmental impact of aerial inspection missions - Adaptation to external conditions and unforeseen events Objectives : - Pilot a fleet of autonomou...

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Scanning surfaces and objects With Autonomous and Intelligent Drones

Acronym: SWAID /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs :
- Inspect hard-to-reach areas safely and independently
- Reduce the time needed to prepare and carry out an inspection mission.
- Reduce the environmental impact of aerial inspection missions
- Adaptation to external conditions and unforeseen events

Objectives :
- Pilot a fleet of autonomous drones to fly over and photograph an area
- Develop real-time obstacle detection and avoidance AI
- Coordinate the drone fleet to minimise journeys and optimise battery recharging
- Reconstruct the 3D digital twin of the environment
- Comply with aeronautical regulations

Safety framework for Artificial Intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) based system

Acronym: SafeAI /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Using AI/ML based system with high level of human-machine interaction is a necessity to deploy autonomous air mobility in urban areas. The existing functional safety tools and methodologies are not capable of addressing the complexity of modern air mobility solutions. New Safety tools are required t...

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Safety framework for Artificial Intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) based system

Acronym: SafeAI /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Using AI/ML based system with high level of human-machine interaction is a necessity to deploy autonomous air mobility in urban areas. The existing functional safety tools and methodologies are not capable of addressing the complexity of modern air mobility solutions. New Safety tools are required to help designer of such systems to model both safety aspect of human-machine interaction and safety aspect of AI/ML-based systems.

Objectives:


Cargo & Humanitarian Operations for Remote Communities

Acronym: SkyBridge /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Project outside Quebec Objective: establish a reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method of transportation using drones to improve connectivity and access to resources for remote communities Research objectives: - Determine feasibility of using drones for BVLOS operations - Ident...

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Cargo & Humanitarian Operations for Remote Communities

Acronym: SkyBridge /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Project outside Quebec
Objective: establish a reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method of transportation using drones to improve connectivity and access to resources for remote communities

Research objectives:
- Determine feasibility of using drones for BVLOS operations
- Identify and evaluate potential routes
- Develop and test protocols
- Determine potential benefits and risks
- Engage with stakeholders (e.g. communities, regulator, ...)
- Investigate best use cases (e.g access to food, resources and services; long distance transportation; waste management operations)

SYMBiotic Intelligent Agent for human-automation conflict prevention

Acronym: SymbIA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Higher level of automation required for Single Pilot Operation and Advanced Airspace will increase the opportunities for conflict between human and automation that can lead to lack of trust in automation, cybernetic misunderstanding and ultimately to catastrophic events. Objectives: - Underst...

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SYMBiotic Intelligent Agent for human-automation conflict prevention

Acronym: SymbIA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Higher level of automation required for Single Pilot Operation and Advanced Airspace will increase the opportunities for conflict between human and automation that can lead to lack of trust in automation, cybernetic misunderstanding and ultimately to catastrophic events.

Objectives:
- Understand the different causes of human-automation conflicts
- Develop a Model of Errors, Misunderstanding and Conflicts with Automation
- Design simplified HMI to Prevent and Mitigate conflicts
- Develop a unified Symbiotic Intelligent Agent for Human-Automation Collaboration

Trust in Flight Autonomy

Acronym: TIFAU /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Just as commercial aviation interacts with Air Traffic Management, UAVs will be part of an Unmanned Aircraft Sytem Traffic Management (UTM) ecosystem for BVLOS operations. Defining standards for this new domain must be a fast and joint collaboration between regulators and industry using simulation b...

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Trust in Flight Autonomy

Acronym: TIFAU /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Just as commercial aviation interacts with Air Traffic Management, UAVs will be part of an Unmanned Aircraft Sytem Traffic Management (UTM) ecosystem for BVLOS operations. Defining standards for this new domain must be a fast and joint collaboration between regulators and industry using simulation but also real test means for Canada to keep a strategic edge on this aviation sector.

This project focuses on elaborating standards, metrics and validation methods for operations in high Air Risk Class with group 1/2/3 UAVSs, where SWaP constraints limit the reuse of traditional systems used in traditional aviation domain.

Three works areas are identified:
- Embedded detect and avoid means
- Integration in controlled airspaces
- Human supervision of autonomous UAVs

Trajectory Based Operations - Trajectory Intent Sharing Platform

Acronym: TISP /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Modern aircraft are flying data centers, therefore the question of “Big Data” is foundational in terms of opportunity within aviation, in this case Trajectory Based Operations (TBO). Aircraft trajectories are based on various considerations while filing a flight plan, however when elemen...

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Trajectory Based Operations - Trajectory Intent Sharing Platform

Acronym: TISP /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Modern aircraft are flying data centers, therefore the question of “Big Data” is foundational in terms of opportunity within aviation, in this case Trajectory Based Operations (TBO). Aircraft trajectories are based on various considerations while filing a flight plan, however when elements of a flight change, so do the stated assumptions, which can result in environmental excess and/or inefficiencies. Bottlenecks at airports, staff shortages, air traffic control and poor weather coupled with increased congestion can cause changes to flight timetables, resulting in flight cancelations and delays.
The basis of TBO is the sharing of onboard calculated trajectory intent information with ATC to enable a coordinated effort for flight optimization.

Objectives:
- Improve Conflict Detection and Resolution (CD&R) Performance – Improve flight ETA predictions
- Improve separation management & better ATM flow management – increase ATC sector capacities
- Reduce vectoring, less CO2 production reduction in flight delays – reduce fuel burn and therefore emissions

Thermally Optimized Passenger Experience

Acronym: TOPE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: Bleed Less or Less-Bleed engine configurations are becoming prevalent to reduce the CO2 footprint, thus potentially reducing thermal cabin comfort. Similarly, with a blended wing-body (BWB) configuration to improve energy usage, cabin comfort must be revisited in such a novel aircraft configu...

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Thermally Optimized Passenger Experience

Acronym: TOPE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: Bleed Less or Less-Bleed engine configurations are becoming prevalent to reduce the CO2 footprint, thus potentially reducing thermal cabin comfort. Similarly, with a blended wing-body (BWB) configuration to improve energy usage, cabin comfort must be revisited in such a novel aircraft configuration.

Objectives:
- Develop a digital cabin rig to explore cabin flow distribution schemes in a parametric fashion, and their performance in terms of measurable passenger thermal experience. Qualitative customer feedback must be translated into thermal comfort criteria to be improved.
- The CFD process to be developed as the foundation of the digital cabin laboratory must include a defeaturing process to obtain the optimal cabin CFD geometry from the DMU or from conceptual studies and the ability to parametrize geometry for cabin comfort CFD models.
- Based on the findings, the flight test procedure and instrumentation to adequately verify the cabin comfort are to be defined.

Aluminium parts Topology Optimized Quality controlled design

Acronym: TOQA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: There is a need for simulation driven manufacturing process correlation to parts shapes, with the use of non-intrusive metrology methods for quality control of aluminium parts. Objectives: - Prediction and correlation of thermo-mechanical effects during 3D printing; - Imaging techniques for ...

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Aluminium parts Topology Optimized Quality controlled design

Acronym: TOQA /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: There is a need for simulation driven manufacturing process correlation to parts shapes, with the use of non-intrusive metrology methods for quality control of aluminium parts.

Objectives:
- Prediction and correlation of thermo-mechanical effects during 3D printing;
- Imaging techniques for surface strain correlation with Finite Element Model;
- Quality oriented Design for ALM parts.

Topology Optimized Structural Components and Airframe Architecture

Acronym: TOSCA2 /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: Current tools and software allow to take mechanical constraints in FEA models, however deep understanding of FEMs and sound engineering judgment are required to ensure certifiability of the concepts and non-explicit constraints, especially when considering novel structural airframe architectu...

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Topology Optimized Structural Components and Airframe Architecture

Acronym: TOSCA2 /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs: Current tools and software allow to take mechanical constraints in FEA models, however deep understanding of FEMs and sound engineering judgment are required to ensure certifiability of the concepts and non-explicit constraints, especially when considering novel structural airframe architectures, including non-circular fuselage.

Objectives:
- Comparison between Orthogonal Stringers & Frame vs Topology Optimized driven layout;
- Assemblies of classical structure members and topology optimized driven joints;
- Design & Manufacturing feasibility of topology optimized parts.

Terrain RElative Navigation for Drones

Acronym: TReND /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Classical navigation systems for drones are dependent on GPS signal availability to operate nominally. Such systems provide degraded and eventually unusable performance when the GPS signal loss is of long duration. This project aims at adding navigation capability in position and in velocity that a...

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Terrain RElative Navigation for Drones

Acronym: TReND /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Classical navigation systems for drones are dependent on GPS signal availability to operate nominally. Such systems provide degraded and eventually unusable performance when the GPS signal loss is of long duration.

This project aims at adding navigation capability in position and in velocity that are independent to GPS and are benefiting from the drone's perception of the terrain and objects it flies over to bring additional robustness when GPS signal is lost.

The main tasks include:
1. Analysis of potential solutions
2. Selection of the best solution
3. Realization of a prototype
4. Validation of the prototype in flight on a UAV platform equipped with the UCS autopilot

Navigation solutions based on cameras, Lidar, altimeter and other relevant technologies will be considered.

CFD winds validation

Acronym: TrueWind /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Fluid flow experts need to develop and validate various atmospheric simulation models in the context of training. With the advent of electric vertical take-off vehicles (eVTOLs), atmospheric simulation of urban centers will be essential. These flows can affect the flight behavior of eVTOLs in ...

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CFD winds validation

Acronym: TrueWind /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Fluid flow experts need to develop and validate various atmospheric simulation models in the context of training. With the advent of electric vertical take-off vehicles (eVTOLs), atmospheric simulation of urban centers will be essential. These flows can affect the flight behavior of eVTOLs in the critical phases of takeoff and landing.

Objectives:
- Develop CFD algorithms to model the atmospheric environment in order to affect the flight behavior of an eVTOL to improve the realism of pilot training.
- Validate CFD solutions with experimental data from urban areas: (1) scale models; (2) sensor network installed in a real urban environment; (3) remotely piloted UAV instrumented to collect data.
- Define the optimal way to collect atmospheric data in urban areas.

Flight control software for BVLOS UAV using slowed rotor configuration (SRC)

Acronym: UAVision /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Needs - Development of flight controls for a dual compound UAV (fixed and rotating wing), slowed rotor compound - Development of tracking and detection capabilities for BVLOS flights. - Development of an embedded navigation system (companion computer) - Master all types of take-offs and landings acc...

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Flight control software for BVLOS UAV using slowed rotor configuration (SRC)

Acronym: UAVision /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Needs
- Development of flight controls for a dual compound UAV (fixed and rotating wing), slowed rotor compound
- Development of tracking and detection capabilities for BVLOS flights.
- Development of an embedded navigation system (companion computer)
- Master all types of take-offs and landings according to the infrastructure (VTOL, STOL and CTOL).

Objectives
- Management of the tiltable rotor mast, management of the aircraft attitude;
- Control of the descent speed of the drone and energy recovery during this phase of the flight;
- Seamless transition from vertical to horizontal flight;
- Autorotation and energy management (In flight and in emergency);
- Integration of optical and radar sensors;
- Integration of an on-board computer for navigation.

Unmanned Platform Development And Technology Enhancement

Acronym: UPDATE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Specific sectors require certain categories of drones (long-term surveillance, high autonomy, on-board intelligence, etc.) for which it is possible to consider developing automation and transformation processes using aircraft from General Aviation (GA) for modifications to Unmanned Aircraft S...

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Unmanned Platform Development And Technology Enhancement

Acronym: UPDATE /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Need : Specific sectors require certain categories of drones (long-term surveillance, high autonomy, on-board intelligence, etc.) for which it is possible to consider developing automation and transformation processes using aircraft from General Aviation (GA) for modifications to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Autonomous/Semi-Autonomous, piloted into optionally piloted aircraft).

Objectives :
- Analyze the degrees of autonomy achievable on existing light aircraft and/or helicopters
- Design a fast and safe technological process for transforming modes: Piloted-optionally piloted (from manned piloted into Autonomous and/or Remotely Piloted ) of these aircraft.
- Develop the processes, methods, architectures, systems, and functionalities ensuring possible unmanned flight modes from general aviation aircraft
- Test on ground an in-flight on 2 platforms : the Cessna 172/182 and the Hughes 300/ (in accordance with the standards and certifications in force including RTCA DO-178, DO-254 and DO-160)

Design of a system allowing to locate with precision the actions of users of mobile application intended for aeronautics

Acronym: Whatsup /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The increasing use of mobile applications in aviation brings its own set of regulatory challenges related to the integrity of data captured while performing tasks that are part of an organization's Quality Assurance System processes. Need : The mobile application must be able to guarantee the accu...

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Design of a system allowing to locate with precision the actions of users of mobile application intended for aeronautics

Acronym: Whatsup /Status: Looking for Partners for this Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The increasing use of mobile applications in aviation brings its own set of regulatory challenges related to the integrity of data captured while performing tasks that are part of an organization's Quality Assurance System processes.

Need : The mobile application must be able to guarantee the accuracy of the following information:
- Product identification
- Location (X, Y, Z or FS, WL, BL)
- Roles Skills and Qualifications
- Employee/user fit

Objective : identify, test and integrate the different technological components that allow a mobile application to :
- Geolocate the object of a task in progress and place a marker on a digital model.
- Guarantee, through a certificate, the integrity of the data from capture to final archiving.
- Guarantee that the user of the application is the employee in question.

Pilot Assistance: Towards a Cognitive Cockpit

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: C-Pilot /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Piloting an aircraft is a complex task that requires pilots to be supported by reliable artificial systems. However, the solution of critical situations that appear in an aircraft always depends on the pilots who must intervene by assuming manual control of the aircraft if necessary. Therefore, flig...

Pilot Assistance: Towards a Cognitive Cockpit

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: C-Pilot /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Piloting an aircraft is a complex task that requires pilots to be supported by reliable artificial systems. However, the solution of critical situations that appear in an aircraft always depends on the pilots who must intervene by assuming manual control of the aircraft if necessary. Therefore, flight safety is often linked to the cognitive load of pilots who are subject to a high flow of information. Faced with possible degradations of the pilots' performance that may result from an overload of information, it becomes important that they benefit from cognitive assistance. The Pilot-AI project has allowed us to measure the cognitive load of pilots under various flight simulation conditions and to develop pilot models. In the present project we want to develop a virtual cockpit with advanced capabilities to measure the cognitive workload of the pilot and a cognitive virtual pilot that is an image of the pilot's cognitive abilities at the time of flight. This virtual pilot will be established as a cognitive agent capable of reflecting the pilot's behavior. Another cognitive agent playing the role of companion, will have to be able to assist the pilot and help him-her to accomplish the tasks by detecting the incapacities and by completing them.

AI flight test data processing

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: MAIDAY /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Need: This project involves the development of AI algorithms to automate parameter validation, data consistency, and event identification when CAE receives or collects external data sources. Given the large amounts of data generated, advanced data processing infrastructures are required. The analysi...

AI flight test data processing

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: MAIDAY /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Need: This project involves the development of AI algorithms to automate parameter validation, data consistency, and event identification when CAE receives or collects external data sources. Given the large amounts of data generated, advanced data processing infrastructures are required. The analysis of this data remains largely manual and very tedious for young and even experienced developers. AI techniques are proposed to dramatically speed up these time critical tasks, with the potential payoff of reduced execution time. Objectives: - Develop AI algorithms to verify flight parameter conditions, validate data consistency, identify the type of events performed, and evaluate the quality of flight maneuvers. - Dramatically speed up these critical tasks, reduce execution time and risk. - Develop AI-based algorithms to automatically detect anomalies.

Dialogue Agent for Cockpit Display Systems

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: Chat-CDS /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Aircraft systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Operators wish to maximize flight hours by minimizing the maintenance time. New tools are required to enable crews to quickly navigate technical publications and efficiently perform maintenance. Additionally, aircraft systems evol...

Dialogue Agent for Cockpit Display Systems

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: Chat-CDS /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Aircraft systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Operators wish to maximize flight hours by minimizing the maintenance time. New tools are required to enable crews to quickly navigate technical publications and efficiently perform maintenance. Additionally, aircraft systems evolutions coupled with single pilot cockpits is increasing pilot workload; voice control of frequently used critical functions is essential to ensure a safe cockpit. In this context, the objectives of CHAT-CDS are to: - Integrate Natural Language Processing (NLP) AI algorithms to dynamically interrogate technical publications during maintenance and interact with checklists to reduce crew workload - Use NLP algorithms to reduce pilot workload by acknowledging pilot tasks via voice commands, to manage communication and navigation radios, and to integrate physical cockpit controls with supervised voice commands

Sustainable circularity for aircraft of tomorrow

Acronym: CiDAD /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

The goal of this project is to prove the concept of circularity on the A220. According to European and Canadian regulations, companies are responsible for ensuring the most efficient and economical environmental management of all types of waste. Our research aims to increase the recycling rate of th...

Sustainable circularity for aircraft of tomorrow

Acronym: CiDAD /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

The goal of this project is to prove the concept of circularity on the A220. According to European and Canadian regulations, companies are responsible for ensuring the most efficient and economical environmental management of all types of waste. Our research aims to increase the recycling rate of the A220 by finding emerging techniques to dismantle, separate, reuse and recycle structural composites, thermosets, fiberglass, and honeycomb panels. Second, the carbon fiber or the composite cuttings recovered by the techniques used in the first step would be reused in the manufacture of non-structural components of the aircraft (upcycling). In fact, depending on the process chosen for the separation of the fiber and the resin, the resin, if solvated, could be reprocessed for the purpose of circular revalorization of these monomers. In addition, a life cycle and economic viability study is being considered to ensure the sustainable circularity of the A220.

Stability of generative models by data augmentation for the validation of software requirements of embedded systems

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: AuGen /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Technical challenge for formalizing software requirements using generative neural models for testing Research objectives: 1) Validate the potential of different data augmentation approaches on formalizing software requirements, 2) Assess the generative stability of neural models trained with a...

Stability of generative models by data augmentation for the validation of software requirements of embedded systems

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: AuGen /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Need: Technical challenge for formalizing software requirements using generative neural models for testing Research objectives: 1) Validate the potential of different data augmentation approaches on formalizing software requirements, 2) Assess the generative stability of neural models trained with augmented data with respect to different linguistic phenomena present in software requirements

Suborbital flight of a rocket technology demonstrator, powered by a green, hybrid propulsion system

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: Eco-Launch /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Maturing Technology

This project will culminate 5 years of R and D, yielding a large-scale technology demo through a rocket launch out of Scotland, UK. This rocket will be powered by Reaction Dynamics’ green propulsion system, manufactured with the support of our Quebec-based partner, Nétur. A subsequent f...

Suborbital flight of a rocket technology demonstrator, powered by a green, hybrid propulsion system

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: Eco-Launch /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Maturing Technology

This project will culminate 5 years of R and D, yielding a large-scale technology demo through a rocket launch out of Scotland, UK. This rocket will be powered by Reaction Dynamics’ green propulsion system, manufactured with the support of our Quebec-based partner, Nétur. A subsequent flight will follow out of MLS in 2023 in Nova Scotia and will represent a historic first; never has a Canadian rocket reached Space using an actively guided propulsion system. This milestone will be a major inflection point, showing that a Quebec-based space company is at the forefront of environmentally sustainable rocket technology.

Robust Bonded Repair Methodologies for Composite Aircraft Structures

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: C-BOND /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Today’s aircraft comprise 20-53% composite content by weight. Damage can occur during the manufacturing of composite parts and during the service of the aircraft. Damaged structural aircraft components are generally repaired using a composite patch. The repair selection must satisfy a number o...

Robust Bonded Repair Methodologies for Composite Aircraft Structures

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: C-BOND /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Today’s aircraft comprise 20-53% composite content by weight. Damage can occur during the manufacturing of composite parts and during the service of the aircraft. Damaged structural aircraft components are generally repaired using a composite patch. The repair selection must satisfy a number of technical requirements such as structural integrity, lightning strike protection, radar signature, and aerodynamic performance, while also maintaining the aircraft’s esthetics for future resale. Composite repair technologies have not evolved dramatically over the last two decades and are not yet fully adapted to the significant increase in the use of composite for primary aircraft structures. Engineers responsible for damage assessment and repair designs currently do not have sufficient reliable analysis methodology or practical tools to design high confidence repairs. The main objective of the project is to develop robust structural bonded repair methods that can be performed in production and in-service environments to restore the part to airworthiness requirements. Robust repair processes will be developed and performance variability will be reduced. Optimized non destructive inspection methods will be validated with a number of representative repaired composite panels. A digital twin model will be used as engine for a repair design and analysis tool. This project will bridge the gap between the needs of the Canadian aerospace industry in terms of composite repairs and the current state-of-the art in composites processing, structural analysis and inspection technologies. Upon completion of this project, the industrial partners will undertake the necessary efforts to implement the developed repair protocols and guidelines for the aerospace market in Canada.

Aluminum Alloys Cryogenic Machining

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: AACryoM /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

1.    The aluminum alloy parts that make up aircraft structures are largely obtained by machining: a process that is widespread in the industry, but which consumes a large quantity of mineral-based lubricants that are not very environmentally friendly. 2.    This ...

Aluminum Alloys Cryogenic Machining

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: AACryoM /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

1.    The aluminum alloy parts that make up aircraft structures are largely obtained by machining: a process that is widespread in the industry, but which consumes a large quantity of mineral-based lubricants that are not very environmentally friendly.
2.    This project aims to demonstrate the technical, economic and environmental interests of cryogenic machining of these parts, which aims to replace "conventional" lubricants by neutral gases - more environmentally friendly - whose temperature is much lower than 0°C.
3.    By aiming for better environmental performance and improved competitiveness - and always with the No. 1 priority of guaranteeing the integrity of the aircraft structures it produces and assembles - STELIA Canada hopes to initiate a virtuous circle in its local supply chain of elementary parts.

Quality control and design of aerospace components produced by laser powder bed metal fusion in presence of bulk and surface processing-induced flaws

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: FlawCare /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

The objectives of this project are: (a) Improvement of the ability to detect volume and surface defects in Ti64 components fabricated by laser fusion on powder bed (FLLP), b) Evaluation of the impact of surface roughness, size, geometry and loading mode of FLLP components on their fatigue resistance...

Quality control and design of aerospace components produced by laser powder bed metal fusion in presence of bulk and surface processing-induced flaws

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: FlawCare /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

The objectives of this project are: (a) Improvement of the ability to detect volume and surface defects in Ti64 components fabricated by laser fusion on powder bed (FLLP), b) Evaluation of the impact of surface roughness, size, geometry and loading mode of FLLP components on their fatigue resistance, and c) Prediction of the life and failure risks of FLLP components containing volume and surface manufacturing defects.

Additive Manufacturing Technologies for Aerospace Component - 3

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: AMTAC-3 /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Additive Manufacturing Technologies for Aerospace Component - 3

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: AMTAC-3 /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Thermoplastic Composite Truss for Aerostructures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMPAAM /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

1. Accelerate thermoplastic pultrusion for aerospace structures 2. Develop high-speed stamp-forming of thermoplastic composites 3. Develop ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic composites 4. Develop multi-material joining techniques for high load-transfer connections

Thermoplastic Composite Truss for Aerostructures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMPAAM /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

1. Accelerate thermoplastic pultrusion for aerospace structures 2. Develop high-speed stamp-forming of thermoplastic composites 3. Develop ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic composites 4. Develop multi-material joining techniques for high load-transfer connections

Aircraft Component InstallationOPTimization algorithm

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: ACI-OPT /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

To achieve a carbon-neutral aeronautics industry, aircraft manufacturers must invest in visionary concepts and novel technologies. At the same time, to be competitive, they also need to improve their development processes to make them more efficient and effective. In this context, this project...

Aircraft Component InstallationOPTimization algorithm

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: ACI-OPT /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

To achieve a carbon-neutral aeronautics industry, aircraft manufacturers must invest in visionary concepts and novel technologies. At the same time, to be competitive, they also need to improve their development processes to make them more efficient and effective.
In this context, this project is pursuing research to accelerate the development process of future aircraft featuring novel technologies such as hybrid-electric propulsion and systems. This project aims to develop novel design tools and methodologies to enable the development of more environmentally friendly aircraft in a shorter and less costly manner. In particular, this project aims to improve the conceptual design of aircraft by automating and optimizing the placement of aircraft systems and components, considering the many competing constraints.
The industrial partners in Quebec will enable to shorten their development time and increase their competitiveness. In addition, HQP will be trained in a cutting-edge research environment.

Interdisciplinary Aerothermodynamic Analysis and Design Methods for Transport Aircraft - Part 2

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: IceGenesis2 /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

i) strengthen Polytechnique Montréal's expertise in the study of aerothermodynamics flows, notably aero-icing and turbulence modeling, ii) increase our understanding on the impact of aerothermodynamics flows on aircraft aerodynamic analysis and design and iii) provide an enhanced training...

Interdisciplinary Aerothermodynamic Analysis and Design Methods for Transport Aircraft - Part 2

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: IceGenesis2 /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

International collaboration: France

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

i) strengthen Polytechnique Montréal's expertise in the study of aerothermodynamics flows, notably aero-icing and turbulence modeling, ii) increase our understanding on the impact of aerothermodynamics flows on aircraft aerodynamic analysis and design and iii) provide an enhanced training environment for graduate students, notably through the development of state-of-the-art computational and experimental laboratories and with significant interactions with the industrial sponsor Bombardier Aerospace.

Integrated Sensor Fusion Aerial Scanning Technology

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: ISFAST /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Digital twins are generated from 3D CAD or high precision 3D scan which are often not available or very expensive. As such, it is impractical to update the digital twin render. To alleviate the issue the following question is defined: Can a high precision CAD or scan be substituted by an A/C shel...

Integrated Sensor Fusion Aerial Scanning Technology

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: ISFAST /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Digital twins are generated from 3D CAD or high precision 3D scan which are often not available or very expensive. As such, it is impractical to update the digital twin render. To alleviate the issue the following question is defined: Can a high precision CAD or scan be substituted by an A/C shell CAD and a multiple sensor data acquisition platform to create and update a digital twin?

Objectives are as follows:

- Create a digital twin prototype and determine the precision that can be reached

- Create a post-processing tool that compares 2 digital twin versions to detect discrepancies

Permanent Navigation and Surveillance for Autonomous Vehicles

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: NeSIVA /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Preliminary R&D has been launched by Laboratory of Space Technologies, Embedded Systems, Navigation and Avionics (LASSENA) from ÉTS on a very promising technology, exploiting Signals of Opportunity (SoOP) transmitted by Low Elevation Orbit (LEO) satellites, which quantities are increasing...

Permanent Navigation and Surveillance for Autonomous Vehicles

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: NeSIVA /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Preliminary R&D has been launched by Laboratory of Space Technologies, Embedded Systems, Navigation and Avionics (LASSENA) from ÉTS on a very promising technology, exploiting Signals of Opportunity (SoOP) transmitted by Low Elevation Orbit (LEO) satellites, which quantities are increasing exponentially around earth, as well as by 3G/4G/5G towers. SoOP will provide Positioning, Navigation, Timing and intruder Detection data (PNT-D), which will be alternative and dissimilar sources to GNSS, inertial and LIDAR/RADAR sensors, allowing to reach the level of integrity and availability required for future autonomous airborne (UAMs, drones, A/C, helos…) and ground vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, trains…). The door is open for Quebec to take a worldwide leadership in this disruptive technology that may become a standard by the end of the decade, and will, amongst other things, provide a backup in case of cyberattack on GNSS.

Validation of ground crew interface requirements for RPAS operations

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: TANDEM /Status: Project in finalization - complete team /Program: Exploring Technology

Certification standards for remotely piloted aircraft (RPAS) weighing more than 25 kg and operating out of visual range are not yet defined by Transport Canada. The RPAS market is booming and the development of optimized, safe and certifiable avionics systems and user interfaces will be a real chall...

Validation of ground crew interface requirements for RPAS operations

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: TANDEM /Status: Project in finalization - complete team

Program: Exploring Technology

Certification standards for remotely piloted aircraft (RPAS) weighing more than 25 kg and operating out of visual range are not yet defined by Transport Canada. The RPAS market is booming and the development of optimized, safe and certifiable avionics systems and user interfaces will be a real challenge. The best way to meet this challenge would be to be able to simultaneously compare the respective reactions and behaviors of a conventional aircraft pilot and an RPAS operator on the ground under the same flight conditions.
In this context, the Centre Technologique en aérospatiale (CTA), CMC Electronics, Marinvent Corporation and KEPLR Intelligence are joining forces to develop a ground control station and a flight test platform both equipped with state of a conventional aircraft pilot and an RPAS operator on the ground under the same flight situations. This project has the main objective of determining what information should be presented, and in what form, to a ground RPAS operator by comparing his cognitive state, his mental load, his physiological state, and his behaviors and gestures, to those of a conventional aircraft pilot subjected to the same real flight situations.
The results of this project will allow, in the short term, the four partners to develop an advanced expertise in a future field and to become the Canadian leaders in RPAS in their respective fields of expertise: CMC Electronics will be able to develop avionics suites for RPAS, Marinvent Corporation will become a leader in RPAS certification, KEPLR Intelligence will be able to develop behavioral models for RPAS operators and CTA will be at the forefront of knowledge and equipment for the development and testing of avionics systems for RPAS.

Human Pilot Model Development

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: Pilot-AI /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The objective is to increase the complexity of the BA pilot models for desktop handling quality assessments to: •Model nonlinear pilot behaviour for situations where pilots tend to over-command the aircraft •Model pilot behaviour under various circumstances such critical...

Human Pilot Model Development

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: Pilot-AI /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The objective is to increase the complexity of the BA pilot models for desktop handling quality assessments to:

•Model nonlinear pilot behaviour for situations where pilots tend to over-command the aircraft

•Model pilot behaviour under various circumstances such critical failures situations that would trigger a nervous pilot response

Cyber Security for Aviation

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: CyberSA /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The aim of this collaborative R&D project is to provide new generation of innovative and advanced cyber security and cyber defense measures for aircraft. The research work will lean heavily on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as knowledge representation techniques and machine l...

Cyber Security for Aviation

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: CyberSA /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The aim of this collaborative R&D project is to provide new generation of innovative and advanced cyber security and cyber defense measures for aircraft. The research work will lean heavily on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as knowledge representation techniques and machine learning
approaches to address the security of current and future aircraft system architecture, and ensure the continued airworthiness of the aircraft while accounting for new and evolving cyber threats. The cyber security research team will be led by Polytechnique Montreal and will involve members from the National Research Council (NRC). The industrial collaborators team involves various cross‐sectoral members from the aerospace industry (Bombardier and Collins Aerospace) and from the cyber security industry (RHEA Group, Carillon and QoHash).

Towards the prediction and optimisation of acoustic sources using deep learning

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: DETONATION /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The objective of the project is to develop tools for rapid predictions of noise sources linked to flows on rotating machines using artificial intelligence techniques. These tools will be integrated into the industrial partner's Optisound software platform in order to respond more quic...

Towards the prediction and optimisation of acoustic sources using deep learning

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: DETONATION /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The objective of the project is to develop tools for rapid predictions of noise sources linked to flows on rotating machines using artificial intelligence techniques.

These tools will be integrated into the industrial partner's Optisound software platform in order to respond more quickly and efficiently to industrial noise reduction needs.

Automated detection of methane plumes of satellites and airborne images and use of AI to optimise the reading of observations

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: ADIMOR /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The project aims to support GHGSat operators in their mission to detect methane plumes from satellite and airborne images. An AI-based assistance tool will be developed to help operators focus their analysis on regions, whose images show a high emission potential.

Automated detection of methane plumes of satellites and airborne images and use of AI to optimise the reading of observations

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: ADIMOR /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The project aims to support GHGSat operators in their mission to detect methane plumes from satellite and airborne images. An AI-based assistance tool will be developed to help operators focus their analysis on regions, whose images show a high emission potential.

Aerospace Thermal Correlation tool

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: OCTA /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

Maya HTT is currently developing a solution to automatically correlate complex thermal numerical models in order to improve the accuracy and reliability of those models and subsequently create reliable real-time numerical twins. The proposed project covers the research and development of this soluti...

Aerospace Thermal Correlation tool

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: OCTA /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: UK

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: SME international Demonstration

Maya HTT is currently developing a solution to automatically correlate complex thermal numerical models in order to improve the accuracy and reliability of those models and subsequently create reliable real-time numerical twins. The proposed project covers the research and development of this solution, but also its demonstration with international partners, which will ensure that the tool meets the needs of the industry and generates the expected benefits.
More specifically, the project covers the programming required to make the existing prototype solution robust and intuitive enough to perform the planned demonstration activities.
Through the project, three international aerospace organizations (Rolls-Royce, Satellogic and Ansaldo) will have the opportunity to evaluate the tool’s capabilities in an operational environment. The Maya HTT team will participate in the evaluation of the tool with the partners who will provide the project with:
• Numerical models used for the development of real industrial systems
• Experimental data to evaluate the performance of the prototype tool
Thanks to these partners, it will also be possible to evaluate the benefits offered to the users by the new tool. It is expected that the commercial tool will reduce the cost and time of developing new systems, in particular through the reduction of design iterations with subsystem suppliers. By increasing the accuracy of the numerical models, the tool should also help reduce the costs and delays of certification/qualification; but also unlock the development, deployment and use of digital twins and the associated benefits (improved system operating efficiency, predictive maintenance, reduced environmental impact, etc.). The project will aim at reliably quantify the economic benefits of the tool for the aerospace industry.
In parallel, important scientific benefits are expected. First, the project will develop an original and powerful commercial tool for the creation and validation of reliable real-time thermal twins of aerospace systems based on engineering data. This tool will use many technologies and numerical methods from the academic world that will have to be developed, improved, and integrated to obtain the required functionalities, which will result for Maya HTT in the creation of several important elements of Intellectual and Industrial Property. In line with its corporate culture, Maya HTT and its academic partners plan to present the results obtained through conferences (e.g. NAFEMS, CASI and NVIDIA GTC), technical and scientific publications (white paper) and webinars that will benefit the aerospace and numerical simulation community.
In addition, due to the involvement of students and an academic partner specializing in the field, the most fundamental aspects of the technologies developed will be made public to enrich and stimulate research in the targeted areas.
A dozen international companies have already expressed their interest in the tool under development, which will allow Maya HTT to strengthen its presence in the innovation departments of major leaders in several industries. In general, these companies see the solution developed by Maya HTT as an indispensable tool for the development and use of reliable digital twins. This tool has the potential to position Maya HTT as a key partner in the supply and innovation chains of many major international companies.

Preparation and setting up of a partnership to develop a tool for the supervision of assembly environments in factories and satellite integration rooms

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: SEASAT /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The aim of the project is to set up a collaborative research project to develop and test a supervision tool for satellite integration rooms based on machine vision. In a context of retirement of experienced operators combined with the need to significantly increase production rates for new business ...

Preparation and setting up of a partnership to develop a tool for the supervision of assembly environments in factories and satellite integration rooms

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: SEASAT /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: Setup and Partnership

The aim of the project is to set up a collaborative research project to develop and test a supervision tool for satellite integration rooms based on machine vision. In a context of retirement of experienced operators combined with the need to significantly increase production rates for new business models (constellations), the tool will guide operators to reduce the risk of errors, facilitate traceability and therefore qualification/certification and facilitate the training of new employees.

Battery module with battery management (BMS) and intelligent thermal management (TMS) for aerospace applications

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: iNORTH /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

Batteries have been used in electric and hybrid electric vehicles for more than a decade, and worldwide utilization is increasing, including the aerospace sector.  Lithium-ion batteries are temperature-sensitive device, which adds a challenge for year-long operation in Canadian weather especial...

Battery module with battery management (BMS) and intelligent thermal management (TMS) for aerospace applications

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: iNORTH /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

Batteries have been used in electric and hybrid electric vehicles for more than a decade, and worldwide utilization is increasing, including the aerospace sector.  Lithium-ion batteries are temperature-sensitive device, which adds a challenge for year-long operation in Canadian weather especially for the aerospace sector with stringent requirements. Low temperature operation reduces the battery capacity and induce premature aging. High temperature operation creates a risk of thermal runaway and permanent failure. An improvement in both thermal monitoring and thermal management is required. The partnership between Calogy, TriStar Multicopters, UdeS (2 professors) and ETS (2 professors) is ideal to support the development, and in the future commercialize this next generation of battery. Calogy owns a unique thermal ground plane (TGP) technology to actively control the thermal conductivity within the battery pack and with the environment. ETS’ researchers will develop arrays of printed thermal sensors on the TGP to enhance the thermal monitoring. Finally, Sherbrooke’s researchers will optimize the battery pack and use artificial intelligence algorithm on the large data set to identify potential failures in operation. CAE’s recently announced all-electric general aviation aircraft for flight training using lithium-ion battery will serve as a perfect test case for the technology. This new battery packaging will demonstrate both an improved performance at cold temperature and improved aging characteristics over the aircraft lifetime.

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as hypergolic additives for rocket propulsion

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: RocketMof /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The project will study potential new fuels and additives that can be used in hybrid rocket engines. The use of these new fuels based on metal-organic framework polymers (MOFs) will make it possible to reduce the use of toxic compounds normally used in industry and to increase the performance of thes...

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as hypergolic additives for rocket propulsion

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: RocketMof /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The project will study potential new fuels and additives that can be used in hybrid rocket engines. The use of these new fuels based on metal-organic framework polymers (MOFs) will make it possible to reduce the use of toxic compounds normally used in industry and to increase the performance of these engines. 

Durable MR Actuators for Aircraft Primary Flight Systems

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: MRFS+ /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

Magnetorheological fluid actuators are a new technology offering superior control performance to traditional hydraulic actuators while being lighter, cleaner, and less expensive. Although magnetorheological actuators are inherently reliable because they are free of positive mechanical contacts, t...

Durable MR Actuators for Aircraft Primary Flight Systems

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: MRFS+ /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

Magnetorheological fluid actuators are a new technology offering superior control performance to traditional hydraulic actuators while being lighter, cleaner, and less expensive. Although magnetorheological actuators are inherently reliable because they are free of positive mechanical contacts, their degradation mechanism over time is less known.

The project will develop an exhaustive experimental study of the wear modes of magnetorheological actuators in order to identify their failure modes, their mechanisms, and technological solutions to extend their lifetime limit. A technology demonstration will also be performed on a full-scale application selected by Bell Textron Canada Limited. 

Understanding the aging of magnetorheological actuators is essential for the commercialization of this new Quebec technology in the aerospace sector. The economic benefits for Quebec are multiple: increase in the competitiveness of manufacturers, support for the growth of an SME, strengthening of strategic partnerships outside Quebec, creation of high value-added jobs. 

Exploration and modeling of alternative propulsion technologies for business jets

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: EAP /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The demand for cleaner business jets is growing due to the increasing number of companies implementing environmental initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint. This project aims to identify promising alternative propulsion technologies to reduce the environmental impact of business aircraft wh...

Exploration and modeling of alternative propulsion technologies for business jets

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: EAP /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The demand for cleaner business jets is growing due to the increasing number of companies implementing environmental initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint. This project aims to identify promising alternative propulsion technologies to reduce the environmental impact of business aircraft while maintaining the aircraft's performance criteria. The real benefits and challenges of alternative propulsion will be quantified, including the life cycle impact of new propulsion systems, not just in-flight emissions.

This project will benefit Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Calogy Solutions in their technology development roadmap by providing a realistic view of alternative propulsion technologies with potential and their challenges.  In addition, it will foster collaboration between large, established aerospace companies and a start-up developing new technologies, thereby increasing the global competitiveness of Quebec and Canada by developing technical expertise and highly qualified personnel in new aerospace propulsion technologies, a field in high demand by the aerospace industry here and abroad.

Clean-fuel Efficient Rim-rotor Architecture MICroturbogenerator

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: CERAMIC /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

Hybrid-electric propulsion requires clean and highly efficient new power sources to drastically exceed battery energy density and offset the additional cost of carbon neutral fuels such as hydrogen and synfuel. Exonetik turbogenerator, created in partnership with Université de Sherbrooke, has...

Clean-fuel Efficient Rim-rotor Architecture MICroturbogenerator

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: CERAMIC /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

Hybrid-electric propulsion requires clean and highly efficient new power sources to drastically exceed battery energy density and offset the additional cost of carbon neutral fuels such as hydrogen and synfuel. Exonetik turbogenerator, created in partnership with Université de Sherbrooke, has the potential to almost double the efficiency of current small gas turbines and operate at near-zero emissions by the reliable integration of ceramic blades in an inside-out configuration. Following the successful 100h-test of a proof-of-concept turbine prototype supported by CRIAQ, this proposed project aims at developing the critical technologies of the hot section (combustor and turbine) to operate the engine for thousands of hours with targeted performance. In particular, the team will develop and integrate in a turbogenerator: a creep-free retaining system for the blades in the hub, an insulated low-cooling carbon-polyimide structural shroud and an ultra-low-NOx highly recuperated micromix combustor, three of the critical components identified in the previous project. Success of this project will validate the technologies in a simulated environment through their integration in a complete, viable, closer-to-market prototype. Following this project, product development and commercialization with partners will lead to highly qualified jobs in the aeronautics sector here in Quebec. Once on the market, the turbogenerator is projected to save 3 Mt of CO2 during its first ten years of deployment in Quebec only, with worldwide potential several times greater.

Hydrogen Electric Architecture for the Aviation of Tomorrow

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: AHEAD /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The level of power and specific energy required by a long endurance vertical take-off aircraft cannot be sustained by the sole use of energy batteries. Green hydrogen propulsion systems, produced from clean energies, appear to be one of the most promising solutions to meet the performance require...

Hydrogen Electric Architecture for the Aviation of Tomorrow

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: AHEAD /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: Large-scale Demonstration

The level of power and specific energy required by a long endurance vertical take-off aircraft cannot be sustained by the sole use of energy batteries. Green hydrogen propulsion systems, produced from clean energies, appear to be one of the most promising solutions to meet the performance requirements and allow a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed project thus aims to initiate the development of technologies associated with fuel cells (FCs) for aeronautical applications. In In particular, the team aims to design a high power integrated hydrogen hybrid powertrain solution and to validate the and to validate the performances on a ground test bench. The work will allow evaluate in a representative environment the efficiency of the developed solution and the technical challenges associated with the integration of PaC for vertical take-off aircraft. The project will allow Bell Textron Canada, Calogy Solutions and the Institute for Hydrogen Research (IHR) to train a highly skilled highly skilled workforce in hydrogen systems integration and to master this key technology for the energy key technology for the energy transition of the aeronautical sector.
The project, fully aligned with the Quebec Aerospace Strategy, the Quebec Strategy on hydrogen and bioenergy, as well as aligned with the CRIAQ 2035 Roadmap, will contribute to position Quebec among the world leaders in the fields of electrification and hydrogen propulsion. hydrogen propulsion.

Advanced Compressor Technologies

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: ACTec /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

There is an ongoing Industry challenge to continuously improve gas turbine engine efficiency, decrease specific fuel consumption and reduce emissions. To address these challenges, the proposed project will look at several aspects: exploring the use of new abradable materials adjacent to the rotor...

Advanced Compressor Technologies

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: ACTec /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

There is an ongoing Industry challenge to continuously improve gas turbine engine efficiency, decrease specific fuel consumption and reduce emissions. To address these challenges, the proposed project will look at several aspects: exploring the use of new abradable materials adjacent to the rotor blades’ tip to minimise tip clearance size, associated aerodynamic losses and blade structural loading during rub. The project will help the understanding of the rub forces imparted onto compressor blades from rubbing against a range of abradable materials and understanding the optimum blade geometries for rub tolerance. It will also explore two passive end wall flow control technologies to increase the operating envelope and efficiency of mixed flow compressor. These technologies are optimized casing treatment over mixed flow rotors to extend the aerodynamic stability limit and using end wall contouring on the stator hub and shroud surfaces to reduce aerodynamic losses. 
 A large portion of the budget in this project will be dedicated to HQP training. The objective is to train the next generation of independent problem solvers and critical thinkers, with the necessary skills to address real world challenges. Students will be encouraged to think about the short- and long-term impacts of their work, to develop long-range vision and to drive innovation and push boundaries in their field. The objective is for the students to leave the lab and be competitive (and competent) candidates for any employment they seek while also making worthwhile contributions to society. In addition, during the first phase of their research, the students will work with local companies to develop specific material system. This will give the students the opportunity to interact and work closely directly with engineers on local industries and technical specialists at Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC).  
P&WC is the leader in gas turbine aero-engines for business and regional aircraft, which also includes helicopters. To maintain Canada’s leadership position in this high-technology market, P&WC significantly invests in R&D expenditure. The proposed research falls perfectly within P&WC’s mandate as it will provide new technologies to help P&WC maintain a competitive advantage especially as its impact may be greater in the small aero-engine market covered by P&WC. The proposed research on improving compressor performance and aerodynamic stability limit and avoiding their performance drop from tip clearance increase over time addresses this issue to make engines with an overall better performance, operating envelope and durability.  

Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction through technology development of a hydrogen-based multi-source system for an airship

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: Oyana-H2 /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

FLYING WHALES’ airships are today the only means of transport capable of moving very heavy loads (over 50 T) between two isolated points, located off land transportation networks at a competitive cost. The aeronautical industry is facing with a double challenge: (i) significantly reduce greenh...

Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction through technology development of a hydrogen-based multi-source system for an airship

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: Oyana-H2 /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

FLYING WHALES’ airships are today the only means of transport capable of moving very heavy loads (over 50 T) between two isolated points, located off land transportation networks at a competitive cost. The aeronautical industry is facing with a double challenge: (i) significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; (ii) compensate for the decrease in fossil energy reserves by diversifying energy sources for propulsion. One of the solutions consists of benefiting from the already implemented thermal-electrical propulsion chain by replacing the fossil-fuel-based power generation with a decarbonised-fuel-based power generation. However, using such a high power decarbonised-fuel-based power generation for air transportation presents significant technological constraints in terms of energy density and specific power. To date, very little data exists on the systemic design of a power source for an aeronautical application. This research project proposes an innovative approach to a hybrid multi-source system design and management based on key parameters online identification. The identification of parameters, a key element of adaptive systems, makes it possible to work in the laboratory and then to scale to 1 with a minimum effort, which is innovative. The hybrid multisource system is built around several energy subsystems with complementary advantages: multi-fuel cells (multi PEMFC) for high energy density, batteries and/or supercapacitors for high specific power. All work will be done at a laboratory scale and techniques will be developed to promote the true scale-up. So, the results of this project will demonstrate that it is possible to reduce GHGs while promoting high energy density and high specific power. The industrial partner, FLYING WHALES Québec, subsidiary of FLYING WHALES group, will be the integrator of such systems and the project manager. Thus, the company will provide all the technical constraints concerning the airship (mass target, mission profile, details of the current power generation system). The Hydrogen Research Institute at the University of Quebec à Trois-Riviéres will be responsible for the multi-physics modelling, sizing and management of the hybrid multi-source. Ultimately, this project will lay the groundwork for the high-performance airship propulsion electrification while allowing Canadian industry to stay ahead of this promising high-power fuel cell technology for heavy transport applications (land, maritime or air) with low ecological impact.

Enhanced Airfoil Performance Monitor

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: EAPM /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

Building upon Marinvent feasibility study that was conducted under an NRC-IRAP project and NSERC-ENGAGE grant with Nergica in the summer of 2019, the proposed project will seek to make adaptations to the current aerospace-optimized (Airfoil Performance Monitor) system for specific use on wind turbin...

Enhanced Airfoil Performance Monitor

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: EAPM /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

Building upon Marinvent feasibility study that was conducted under an NRC-IRAP project and NSERC-ENGAGE grant with Nergica in the summer of 2019, the proposed project will seek to make adaptations to the current aerospace-optimized (Airfoil Performance Monitor) system for specific use on wind turbines. This project will be conducted in partnership with Nergica and BI Expertise, using our combined expertise and experience to redesign, install and test the system on a representative wind turbine throughout multiple seasons to objectively prove its viability, performance and to quantify the financial benefits of the sensor for future commercial exploitation. The resultant new system will be known as Enhanced Airfoil Performance Monitor (EAPM);The resultant EAPM system is intended to represent an airflow monitoring technology that accurately assesses the stress on a wind turbine blade by measuring the airflow turbulence intensity at several different points on each blade. The turbulence intensity directly correlates to the lifting performance of the blade allowing turbine optimization under all conditions, including ice and contamination build up and adverse weather. This can be applicable on rotorcraft for blade contamination detection and stall monitoring. Also, similarly to wind mills and rotorcrafts, unmanned vehicles use low Reynolds number airfoil and could benefit the adaptation of APM for icing and stall detection as well. Nergica, Wind Energy experts and operators of the wind turbine test facility in Gaspe bring extensive expertise in testing, data collection, and SCADA integration. BI Expertise are experts in deployable Artificial Intelligence solutions and will be developing the algorithms necessary to parse and post-process the large volume of EAPM data gathered. Marinvent, owners and developers of the APM and EAPM technologies and experts in aerodynamic analysis of airfoils will run the project and will develop and market the final EAPM system.

Infusion of aircrafts interior parts in bio-based composites materials

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: BioFlies /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

In a context of sustainable development, the objective is to replace traditional composites, in the molding complex aircraft interior parts (ex.: fibers glass/ phenolic resin), by using more EHS-friendly and more eco-responsible materials from a synthesis and a manufacturing process perspective. Bio...

Infusion of aircrafts interior parts in bio-based composites materials

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: BioFlies /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

In a context of sustainable development, the objective is to replace traditional composites, in the molding complex aircraft interior parts (ex.: fibers glass/ phenolic resin), by using more EHS-friendly and more eco-responsible materials from a synthesis and a manufacturing process perspective. Bio-based materials equivalency to the traditional composites shall be demonstrate per the following requirements: - Cost and ease of processing (processability); - Fire behavior; - Weight and mechanical properties.

Research and development of electrical propulsion system, including a reliable propeller, a thrust stand, and an AI model to analyze performance data, for heavy-duty cargo UAVs or small UAMs

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: DEEPS /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The market for the electrical propulsion system for UAM, AAM, and eVTOL is estimated to grow up to $9B by 2030. However, due to the battery limitation, vehicle developers have to carefully pick and compare different powertrain components in order to optimize its flight time and range. This project, ...

Research and development of electrical propulsion system, including a reliable propeller, a thrust stand, and an AI model to analyze performance data, for heavy-duty cargo UAVs or small UAMs

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: DEEPS /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: Europe

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: SME international Demonstration

The market for the electrical propulsion system for UAM, AAM, and eVTOL is estimated to grow up to $9B by 2030. However, due to the battery limitation, vehicle developers have to carefully pick and compare different powertrain components in order to optimize its flight time and range. This project, proposed by Tyto Robotics, aims to develop a thrust stand for developers to test and to measure the performance of their components for up to 500 kgf of thrust, and 320 kW of electrical power. And with its partner Mejzlik, the two companies plan to test different factors on the powertrain, such as motor’s Kv, voltage, propeller’s finishing, etc. to understand the effect on the performance and propulsion efficiency. The project’s objective is to propose a solution to developers or authorities to make aerial operation efficient and reliable.

Development of a controlled opening textile to promote the integration of functions in aeronautical composites

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: TextO /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

This new generation reinforcement will meet a triple expectation: 1) it will make it possible to lighten the final part by offering the possibility of combining several desirable characteristics (mechanical strength, insulating properties), 2) it will facilitate the implementation of the material si...

Development of a controlled opening textile to promote the integration of functions in aeronautical composites

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: TextO /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

This new generation reinforcement will meet a triple expectation: 1) it will make it possible to lighten the final part by offering the possibility of combining several desirable characteristics (mechanical strength, insulating properties), 2) it will facilitate the implementation of the material since it will be manufactured in a single step rather than associating multi-layer materials, thus facilitating recycling at the end of its life, and 3) it will increase the product\'s lifespan by limiting the risks of delamination linked to the cohesion of multi-layer materials, thus allowing a reduction in production costs.

Demonstration of the high rate composite manufacturing under press for the air mobility of the future

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: Comp-TGV /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

In the context of changing air transport modes and the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), the goal of this project is to address the issue of manufacturing structural composite parts in a cost-effective manner for the 5,000 or so air taxis (Urban Air Mobility) expected by 2030 and other aircraft such as d...

Demonstration of the high rate composite manufacturing under press for the air mobility of the future

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: Comp-TGV /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: ON

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: SME international Demonstration

In the context of changing air transport modes and the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), the goal of this project is to address the issue of manufacturing structural composite parts in a cost-effective manner for the 5,000 or so air taxis (Urban Air Mobility) expected by 2030 and other aircraft such as delivery drones and cargo eVTOLs. The global eVTOL market alone is expected to be worth around US$30.8 billion by 2030. This project will demonstrate that the use of fast curing thermoset prepreg materials, through press forming at temperature, will allow to keep up with the production rates announced by the OEMs, while respecting the weight issues and the specific aeronautical standards imposed by the FAA.

Real-Time Operating System and Board Support Package For Safety Critical Systems

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: MCPC /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

MANNARINO Systems & Software, Inc. (MANNARINO) will continue to lead a team of industry professionals and academic experts in the development of its first real-time operating system software (RTOS) certified to ARINC 653 compliant and RTCA / DO-178C, called the M-RTOS. Currently, no Canadian-mad...

Real-Time Operating System and Board Support Package For Safety Critical Systems

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: MCPC /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

MANNARINO Systems & Software, Inc. (MANNARINO) will continue to lead a team of industry professionals and academic experts in the development of its first real-time operating system software (RTOS) certified to ARINC 653 compliant and RTCA / DO-178C, called the M-RTOS. Currently, no Canadian-made RTOS is fully compliant with ARINC 653. With the introduction of M-RTOS, a technologically innovative "Made in Canada / Made in Canada" RTOS option will be available to all aircraft system manufacturers in Canada and around the world. MANNARINO will also develop a Board Support Package (BSP) that integrates with ARINC 653-compliant RTOS software. To certify any ARINC653-compliant RTOS system, integrated BSP software meets the A-level objectives of the ARINC 653 RTOS. RTCA / DO-178C design will be required. MANNARINO BSP complements MANNARINO RTOS (M-RTOS), MANNARINO's design approval body (OAC) and MANNARINO's existing software development expertise. This range of products and services will make MANNARINO the only Quebec-based window that can satisfy manufacturers of Canadian and global aerospace systems with critical aerospace software requirements.

AirTanker Visual Intelligent Tracking Airborne Guidance System

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVITAGS /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

During Aerial Firefighting missions and operations, several aircraft types and categories are deployed for fighting wildfires. In a standard configuration, air operators deploy air command and control aircraft, air attack aircraft and air tankers to drop water or chemical retardant depending on the ...

AirTanker Visual Intelligent Tracking Airborne Guidance System

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVITAGS /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: SME international Demonstration

During Aerial Firefighting missions and operations, several aircraft types and categories are deployed for fighting wildfires. In a standard configuration, air operators deploy air command and control aircraft, air attack aircraft and air tankers to drop water or chemical retardant depending on the wildfire fighting doctrine adopted by the Wildfire fighting department or agency. When the airtanker or a large or very large airtankers approach over the wildfire region, pilots are generally in command of the dropping system and are the only decision makers when and where to drop exactly. This method and technique have been used for decades but are still questioned on their efficiency and their impact on Wildfire suppression. This project has the goal to develop the first intelligent vision guidance system for aerial firefighting dropping operations by improved drop-points localization and guidance 3D trajectory maintaining efficiency, safety, and accuracy of fire suppression operations.

New prototype software tool to optimize aerospace design assurance space

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: ATLAS-SYNTHESIS /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

This project aims to create a new prototype software tool relevant to Industry 4.0, aimed at optimizing, through the application of artificial intelligence techniques, the aerospace design assurance space, encompassing embedded avionics software, embedded electronics, and cybersecurity as it appl...

New prototype software tool to optimize aerospace design assurance space

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: ATLAS-SYNTHESIS /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

This project aims to create a new prototype software tool relevant to Industry 4.0, aimed at optimizing, through the application of artificial intelligence techniques, the aerospace design assurance space, encompassing embedded avionics software, embedded electronics, and cybersecurity as it applies to traditional aircraft, autonomous and advanced air mobility systems. 
The goal is to create an agile and flexible product that significantly reduces the cost, risk, and schedule associated with security compliance for aerospace programs and is also applicable to other areas of cybersecurity and other industries that have similar externally mandated security requirements.


 

Novel Quantitive Non destructive Quality Evaluation of Advance Joining and Consolidation Manufacturing Processes

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: IDIR /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The overall goal of the proposed project is the development of ultrasonic nondestructive testing methodology and portable systems for material joints quality characterization and in-process monitoring based on new approaches, and the application of new generation of NDE systems to two types of mater...

Novel Quantitive Non destructive Quality Evaluation of Advance Joining and Consolidation Manufacturing Processes

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: IDIR /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The overall goal of the proposed project is the development of ultrasonic nondestructive testing methodology and portable systems for material joints quality characterization and in-process monitoring based on new approaches, and the application of new generation of NDE systems to two types of material  bonded structures:
(i) Resistance Spot Weld (RSW) formed joints of steel, aluminum and dissimilar metals, and 
(ii) Low Pressure Cold Spray (LPCS)-formed structures: metal-matrix composite coating/substrate. 
 

Artificial Intelligence Enabled Highly Adaptive Robots for Aerospace Industry 4.0

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: AIARA /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

A slow production rate, rapid growth of air transportation and enormous backlog of new aircraft orders make the aerospace industry linger on traditional practices and prevents it from moving fast enough to adopt more efficient aircraft designs and advanced materials. An increased level of automation...

Artificial Intelligence Enabled Highly Adaptive Robots for Aerospace Industry 4.0

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: AIARA /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: Germany

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: International

A slow production rate, rapid growth of air transportation and enormous backlog of new aircraft orders make the aerospace industry linger on traditional practices and prevents it from moving fast enough to adopt more efficient aircraft designs and advanced materials. An increased level of automation via the use of robots both in manufacturing new aircrafts and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of existing fleet is considered to be a possible solution for not only cost reduction but also improved quality and safety in the aerospace industry. However, traditional industrial robots used in assembly lines of automotive industry and electronic devices is inadequate for the aerospace industry, because of small batch sizes, large components, diversity of products and a high level of complexity and variation in operations. Thus, the current practice of programming or teaching a robot for every specific task is limited, if not futile, in the aerospace industry. In Industry 4.0, robots are intelligent, highly adaptive and can be trained through machine learning to handle different equipment, tools, products and materials without a need for explicit programming. However, machine learning requires a large volume of data for capturing all possible physical experiences to train the robot, which can be too expensive or unavailable. Recent advances in robotics demonstrate the feasibility of learning from synthetic robot experiences and simulations. In the proposed project, we aim to develop a methodology to use learning results from simulation and virtual environments to train real robots for a wide range of aerospace manufacturing processes and MRO operations. We will evaluate and demonstrate the feasibility of this approach using four benchmarking use cases including a draping robot for composites manufacturing, a multi-arm robot for handling of flexible material in composites manufacturing, and an adaptive robot capable of handling both avionics monitoring instruments and totally different tools for swaging collars. This research partnership brings together the UBC, Bell Textron Canada Ltée. and Kinova Inc. from Canada and German Aerospace Center (DLR), Broetje, Fraunhofer IPT and ZAL from Germany to offer a more productive path for the aerospace industry under Industry 4.0.

Advanced Processing of MCrAIY Coatings

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: APMC /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

New generations of gas turbine engines are striving to increase their operating temperature to yield greater energy efficiency in the engine cycle. Consequently, improved high performance thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) must be used to protect metallic components exposed to these high temperatures. ...

Advanced Processing of MCrAIY Coatings

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: APMC /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

New generations of gas turbine engines are striving to increase their operating temperature to yield greater energy efficiency in the engine cycle. Consequently, improved high performance thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) must be used to protect metallic components exposed to these high temperatures. These coatings consist of a thermally insulating ceramic layer deposited on a metal bond layer (bondcoat). This rough bondcoat has two essential roles: it increases the adhesion between the insulating ceramic layer and the parts to be protected while providing protection against oxidation occurring at high temperature. This project aims to develop an improved bondcoat layer to increase the performance and durability of thermal barrier coatings while reducing the manufacturing costs.
In this project, we will take advantage of the unique characteristics of the HVAF deposition process to optimize the structure and roughness of the bondcoat layers while optimizing their resistance to oxidation. The HVAF (High-Velocity Air-Fuel) process is a thermal spray process for metallic powders which enables efficient deposition of dense and weakly oxidized coatings without the need for expensive vacuum systems. One of the important challenges of the project is to establish whether it is possible to produce dense layers while sufficiently limiting the reaction of the powders in air to avoid the formation of detrimental phases in the deposits. The proposed research strategy is divided into three stages. The first combines computer fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling with improved diagnostic methods to optimize and control of the HVAF process. The second step deals with the ultrafine microstructure characterization of the deposited bondcoat layers using a complete set of advanced electron microscopy techniques. In a third step, the oxidation resistance and the durability of the deposited coatings are optimized by varying the deposition parameters of the HVAF process and the properties and composition of the starting metal powders.
Optimized coatings have the potential to improve engine fuel efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce engine manufacturing and maintenance costs

Acoustic Footprint Reduction of Shrouded Rotors

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: REAR /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

Acoustic Footprint Reduction of Shrouded Rotors

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: REAR /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

VIRTual design and testing of Aircraft Structure

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: VIRTAS /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

Enable the development of hybrid fuselage and wing structures under fatigue cycling and advanced test monitoring techniques - Fuselage and Wing metallic and composite Structure design - Optimized for Static and Fatigue cases - Simulation-aided prediction, planning and monitoring of tests - Scalable ...

VIRTual design and testing of Aircraft Structure

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: VIRTAS /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

Enable the development of hybrid fuselage and wing structures under fatigue cycling and advanced test monitoring techniques - Fuselage and Wing metallic and composite Structure design - Optimized for Static and Fatigue cases - Simulation-aided prediction, planning and monitoring of tests - Scalable structural design for derivatives

Production of carbon fibers using recycled or biosourced precursors

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: RecCiFiCA /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The project will extend our scientific knowledge in several areas including the processing of raw materials (biomass and recycled plastics), as well as for the carbon fiber manufacturing processes via electrospinning. This project is highly technological and multi-disciplinary because it involves no...

Production of carbon fibers using recycled or biosourced precursors

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: RecCiFiCA /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The project will extend our scientific knowledge in several areas including the processing of raw materials (biomass and recycled plastics), as well as for the carbon fiber manufacturing processes via electrospinning. This project is highly technological and multi-disciplinary because it involves notions of chemistry, materials (synthesis and characterization) and complex engineering (design, instrumentation, production and optimization), in addition to economic and environmental aspects (life cycle assessment). A total of five people will be integrated and trained during the three years of the project: one master student, two doctoral students and two postdoctoral fellows. As three industrial partners are involved in this research, the benefits will be at different levels. For DTM Bioproducts, it would be possible to improve their separation and treatment processes for lignocellulosic materials and find applications for these high-purity products (lignin and cellulose), especially for functionalized materials. For Pyrowave, it will be possible to use their technology to recycle end-of-life plastics and composites to produce materials with high added value (fibres and resins). For Airbus, it will be possible to optimize the cost/performance ratio of the materials used in the manufacture of their aircraft (polymer composites based on carbon fibres). This will be done while allowing a reduction in the carbon footprint and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacture of composites

Reduction and Revalorization of 3D Printing Residues

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: R3D3 /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The additive manufacturing (AM) process used by FusiA is selective laser melting on a powder bed. This technology is very much oriented towards aeronautics due to its ability to reduce the weight of parts and its maturity on light alloys specific to this field such as aluminum and titanium alloys. F...

Reduction and Revalorization of 3D Printing Residues

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: R3D3 /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

The additive manufacturing (AM) process used by FusiA is selective laser melting on a powder bed. This technology is very much oriented towards aeronautics due to its ability to reduce the weight of parts and its maturity on light alloys specific to this field such as aluminum and titanium alloys. FA allows a BTF (Buy-To-Fly) close to 1, making this process a green and ecological technology. However, a portion of the powder used for each manufacture becomes unusable. The granulometry of these residues being small (nano/micrometric), they are reactive and dangerous from an health and safety point of view. This makes them difficult to store and recycle. This project is in line with the perspective of sustainable aeronautics by seeking to reduce and revalue as much as possible these wastes. Thus, this project will focus on 2 aspects: - To reduce these residues of powder, - And reuse them: FusiA will partner with the start-up Kilncore for this.

Electromagnetic and circuit simulation models for aircraft electrical wiring

Theme: AVIATION SERVICES AND OPERATIONS

Acronym: WE ESM /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

On a More Electric Aircraft, many large Variable Frequency Drives are used. Voltage rise times cause reflective wave issues and EMI issues due to high frequency switching and could also cause corona discharges. Project Objective: - Develop wiring electrical and finite element simu...

Electromagnetic and circuit simulation models for aircraft electrical wiring

Theme: AVIATION SERVICES AND OPERATIONS

Acronym: WE ESM /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

On a More Electric Aircraft, many large Variable Frequency Drives are used. Voltage rise times cause reflective wave issues and EMI issues due to high frequency switching and could also cause corona discharges.

Project Objective:
- Develop wiring electrical and finite element simulation models for different wire configurations.
- Perform analysis, for different non-linear loads generating high frequency current pulses, to understand the losses, the generated electromagnetic interference and the risks of corona discharges.

Advanced AIRspace usability

Theme: AVIATION SERVICES AND OPERATIONS

Acronym: ADAIR /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The airspace will rapidly change in the next 15 years with increased automation of air traffic control, flight path tracking with strong time constraints and big data e...

Advanced AIRspace usability

Theme: AVIATION SERVICES AND OPERATIONS

Acronym: ADAIR /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The airspace will rapidly change in the next 15 years with increased automation of air traffic control, flight path tracking with strong time constraints and big data exchange between the aircraft and ground control for communication. However, little information is available to understand the impact of this transformation on the pilot's tasks and how to design the flight deck to reduce the risk of human error due to information overload. This project will design and validate, through pilot usability tests, innovative avionics solutions for  presentation of information, human-machine interaction, automation and decision support for the topics of trajectory management, information exchange and taxiing. The results of this project will be used to define new flight deck and avionics functionalities required to facilitate pilot integration with future airspace requirements and ensure safe operations.

Helicopter/UAV Aerodynamic Modeling flying into turbulent Atmospheric Conditions

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: HAMAC /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

This project focuses on the modelling via artificial intelligence of rotary wing aircraft flight by coupling atmospheric models (e.g. complex urban environments) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, in particular the interactions of rotors with the ground and the multi-scale urban envi...

Helicopter/UAV Aerodynamic Modeling flying into turbulent Atmospheric Conditions

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: HAMAC /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

This project focuses on the modelling via artificial intelligence of rotary wing aircraft flight by coupling atmospheric models (e.g. complex urban environments) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, in particular the interactions of rotors with the ground and the multi-scale urban environment (atmosphere-km, city-m, rotor-mm). The execution of this project will contribute to the improvement of flight simulation products for pilot training, through the improvement of artificial intelligence models applied to the Aerospace domain, thus providing a superior solution for the helicopter and urban air mobility (UAM) industries as well as certification agencies through the improvement of predictive models of performance and handling qualities of these vehicles in a very complex urban atmospheric environment.

Using VR platform for oil spill response trainer with drones.

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: VRDrones /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

StellarX powered by OVA and CHAAC Technology are partnering to create content based on virtual reality drone capture in StellraX software to train Royal Canadian Navy personnel to respond to future oil spills in northern Canada. The "VRDrones" project aims to create 3D terrain r...

Using VR platform for oil spill response trainer with drones.

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: VRDrones /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

StellarX powered by OVA and CHAAC Technology are partnering to create content based on virtual reality drone capture in StellraX software to train Royal Canadian Navy personnel to respond to future oil spills in northern Canada.

The "VRDrones" project aims to create 3D terrain representations for virtual reality that will provide the visual on an oil spill to replicate any operational environment. 

This project will allow for joint and combined training for First Nations land, marine for RCM personnel and air for drone pilots. 
 

Icing expertise, research, testing and certification

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: CAVICA /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The proposed project is focused on developing the technologies, means, methods and accumulated expertise necessary to gather and curate the aircraft in-flight icing data that is required to properly quantify the impacts of ice accretion on the safe aerodynamic performance of air vehicles, both tr...

Icing expertise, research, testing and certification

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: CAVICA /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: Large-scale Demonstration

The proposed project is focused on developing the technologies, means, methods and accumulated expertise necessary to gather and curate the aircraft in-flight icing data that is required to properly quantify the impacts of ice accretion on the safe aerodynamic performance of air vehicles, both traditional and emerging. The purpose is to develop new strategies to mitigate those impacts to make future air vehicles more icing tolerant and easier to
certify as Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI) approved through careful analysis of that data.

Additionally, the project will leverage Marinvent’s Airfoil Performance Monitor (APM) technology to collect data that directly measures the impact of ice accretion (and ice removal through de-icing) whilst vehicles are in-flight, allowing for continuously expanding data sets of icing-related data that are aircraft-specific.

Sufficient high-fidelity in-flight icing data is not currently available to properly design and test ice tolerant air vehicles, something that is particularly important in the context of operating new air vehicles in the north of Canada.

The project will not only allow the collection, curation and analysis of this critical data, it will allow for the development of new analytics tools aimed at more efficient and reliable analysis of design concepts and icing mitigation strategies.

The proposed project, once completed, will provide significant future research opportunities and methods that will enable the quantification of icing aerodynamic impacts on any air vehicle and develop technological mitigation strategies to enable vehicles to be designed optimally to maximize their tolerance to icing conditions and enable them to be more readily certified for Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI), something that is particularly relevant for air  vehicles that will operate in the harsh climates of Canada’s north.

The project is a collaboration between three closely located Quebec SMEs that are already working together in Saint-Hubert on other research and development programs (Marinvent Corporation, Chrono Aviation and Flight Test Centre of Excellence (FTCE)) together with their trusted local research partner of choice Centre technologique en aérospatiale (CTA).

The project will directly benefit Marinvent Corporation by allowing it to gather the data and objective evidence required to properly commercialize its patented APM technology, something it has been struggling to do for several years due to the lack of real in-flight icing data. It will equip FTCE’s flight test aircraft with a certified APM system and will provide the company with a cost-effective icing research aircraft, allowing it to extend its commercial services to provide FIKI certification services to its customers. It will Provide Chrono Aviation with access to ready-made and commercially valuable, Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) packages for aircraft that it can then market to other operators of those vehicles. It will provide CTA with an APM-equipped aircraft that will extend CTA’s research and service offerings to its customers, and it will extend the existing research relationship between the parties, especially with respect to flight data collection, analytics and tools.

Although not part of the proposed project, a long-term aspirational goal of the project is to build sufficient data, equipment, expertise, and tools to make Saint-Hubert an obvious location for a future international centre for icing research and certification. Such a centre would be able to provide cost effective expert services to all of Quebec’s aerospace industry and create significant opportunities to encourage investment into the Saint-Hubert region by attracting both national and international icing-related research and commercial projects that will create many internships, training, mentoring and research opportunities for the regions colleges and universities. It is a perfect fit for the Zone d’Innovation.

Digital twining development methodologies for two flight regimes

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: DIGITWIN /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

1. Scientific benefits of the project Scientific benefits of this project are significant, should the verification and validation process of digital twin work be satisfied. Benefits for the aerospace industry will be maximized providing the potential acceptability by regulators (FAA, EASA, ...

Digital twining development methodologies for two flight regimes

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: DIGITWIN /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

1. Scientific benefits of the project
Scientific benefits of this project are significant, should the verification and validation process of digital twin work be satisfied. Benefits for the aerospace industry will be maximized providing the potential acceptability by regulators (FAA, EASA, TC) of certification by analysis using simulations as opposed to actual flight tests which are both lengthy and costly (e.g. 4000 to 5000 for the C-series). If CbA is approved by regulators as an MoC, even partially, Quebec & Canadian OEMs, including the eVTOL emerging industry, will have a competitive advantage in terms of time/cost to market and certifications costs.
2. Training benefits
Quebec young engineers working on this projects for the NRC, CAE and 3C will gain a unique experience in the world: being able to develop artificial intelligence and machine learning models for flight mechanics and propose flight simulations. Those domain and expertise, which are new today, will be in high demand 5 years from now, when part of the certification will be performed by simulation using digital twin developed towards this goal.
3. Benefits for each industrial partner of this project
Considering the technical success of the project, CAE will benefit a significant progress in testing artificial intelligence and machine learning in developing simulations to Level D+, which is the basis of Certification by Analysis. 3C will benefit from important advantages concerning certification in time/cost lead times and saving costs, to provide them with a competitive advantage and benefit the industry in general.

Automated data collection, processing and analysis platform using drone & artificial intelligence

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: AI-PAC /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The use of RPAS (drones) in the construction and mining sectors has its share of problems in terms of integration into the work process: lack of standards during data collection, complexity in the analysis of these data and long delays before being able to make interventions according to the results...

Automated data collection, processing and analysis platform using drone & artificial intelligence

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: AI-PAC /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

The use of RPAS (drones) in the construction and mining sectors has its share of problems in terms of integration into the work process: lack of standards during data collection, complexity in the analysis of these data and long delays before being able to make interventions according to the results obtained. Two Montreal SMEs, ARA Robotique and Chaac Technologies, in partnership with the Center de géomatique du Québec (CGQ) are developing a platform to automate the acquisition, processing and analysis of RPAS data for the construction and mining using the latest technologies in terms of aerial robotics, connectivity and artificial intelligence. The expected results of this project are to provide critical information delivery services to end users through field data updated in near real time. This platform aims to be able to collect data, process it and analyze it in the hours that follow. The information obtained will be available in the form of reports, including information on enumeration, detection of anomalies, and measurements of volumes and areas. This new technology will enrich the offer of high value-added services for the targeted sectors. Ultimately, this project will also contribute to the development of niche expertise in Quebec allowing the creation of highly specialized jobs within partner companies. In the long term, this new technology will help promote Quebec's influence in the field of RPAS and artificial intelligence.

Integrated evaluation of human risks in UAV operations

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: HSE /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

This project seeks to develop an innovative tool to support both the design and the evaluation of regulations and certification processes for single and multidrone technologies. The proposed solution will offer user-friendly functionalities to run drone operations within an ultra-realistic 3D simula...

Integrated evaluation of human risks in UAV operations

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: HSE /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: PME Demonstrator

This project seeks to develop an innovative tool to support both the design and the evaluation of regulations and certification processes for single and multidrone technologies. The proposed solution will offer user-friendly functionalities to run drone operations within an ultra-realistic 3D simulator, allowing regulators to assess the impact of proposed norms and rules in terms of human risks, as well as UAV solution providers to validate the conformity of their proposed solutions in relation to those norms and rules. The new tool will be built as a plugin of the Hyper-X-Space (HXS), the open innovation platform for rapid development of multi-drone and multi-agent solutions provided directly by Humanitas Solutions. Five main project objectives have been identified: Design and implementation of 3D protocols and scenarios for the automated assessment of human and critical infrastructure risk probabilities. Great attention will be devoted to the evaluation of standards and mitigation strategies associated with positioning and navigation systems, as well as UAV control interfaces, possibly powered by Augmented Reality (AR). Development of the HXS plugin for automated human risk assessment, including specialized functions for monitoring and analysis of metrics of interest, as well as for dynamic scenario configuration. Design and implementation of a new HXS library dedicated to the dynamic modeling of the human agents and the vehicles that will populate evaluation scenarios. Development of a plugin for real-time integration with air traffic data. Production of a preliminary assessment report to be sent to the regulator (Transport Canada). The project involves 4 industrial partners and 2 academic partners: Humanitas Solutions will provide and develop the 3D evaluation platform HXS; Elisen Associates will offer its expertise in airspace system certification and regulation to support regulation analysis and protocol design activities; Ciena will collaborate on the analysis of ethical impact of autonomous systems and AI solutions (such as privacy and security); Ecole Polytechnique de Montreall will contribute to R&D activities related to simulation and artificial intelligence themes.

A Safe, Authority-Managed UAS Traffic Management

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: safeUTM /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

Our solution suite consists of several components that provide specialized features for making automated, semi-automated, or manual UAV operations much safer, while providing authorities and law enforcement bodies with the tools for oversight and control that can guarantee the compliance with their ...

A Safe, Authority-Managed UAS Traffic Management

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: safeUTM /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: PME Demonstrator

Our solution suite consists of several components that provide specialized features for making automated, semi-automated, or manual UAV operations much safer, while providing authorities and law enforcement bodies with the tools for oversight and control that can guarantee the compliance with their regulatory framework. This modular approach provides great flexibility for deploying customized solutions that can work both as stand-alone modules or integrated solutions. Our technologies are designed and built with a safety-first approach, following aerospace and communication industries best practices. SafeUTM platform a large-scale software development project, expected to be the first truly complete Canadian UTM (UAS Traffic Management). The SafeUTM platform is expected to support a combination of different features that ensures the safe operations of RPAS, such as Detect and Avoid techniques for different flight escenarios, cross-domain segregated redundant communications (e.g. cellular network, satellite communications, among others) to enhance C2 link robustness, and capability to detect other RPAS (not friendly) in restricted airspace and no restricted airspace. To achieve the objectives, Savinte has sought expertise from different partners such as Concordia University as the main academic partner and Romaeris Inc. as the primary industrial partner.  The goal is to add value, create high fidelity systems, and have the means to verify and validate all of the components in a real life scenario via a flight test program. Concordia University will work on a sense and avoid algorithm. The objective of this algorithm is to detect and avoid fixed and moving obstacles in real time using sampling of the environment surrounding the vehicle and adaptive flight control laws. The algorithm will be based on rapidly exploring random trees. SafeUTM will integrate technology provided by Concordia University pertaining to detect and avoid techniques. This partnership is expected to create core functions that will be used as part of the flight management functionality provided by SafeUTM. Furthermore, Savinte will be able to leverage from great technical expertise and accelerate development of project. Leveraging Romaeris expertise in flight operations with their technology, Savinte is planning to create a flight test program to validate (and eventually certify once regulations allow) the different components of SafeUTM in a real-life scenario, including beyond visual line of sight flights. This way, we provide initial great value to Airspace Regulatory agencies like Transport Canada & Nav Canada, to Airport & Port Authorities, as well as to enterprises making UAV systems (such as Romaeris).

Autonomous Drone Navigation for Interaction with Powered Lines

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: NADILE /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

DroneVolt Canada has recently launched a new drone product. This drone, the LineDrone, developed by Hydro-Québec, can land on high-voltage transmission lines to carry out various high-value direct contact non-destructive inspections without interruption of service. This drone is currently pil...

Autonomous Drone Navigation for Interaction with Powered Lines

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: NADILE /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

DroneVolt Canada has recently launched a new drone product. This drone, the LineDrone, developed by Hydro-Québec, can land on high-voltage transmission lines to carry out various high-value direct contact non-destructive inspections without interruption of service. This drone is currently piloted manually, as several sensors are affected by the strong electromagnetic field, which poses a number of challenges for operations in tight spaces near expensive/critical equipment. Manual operations force the pilot to stay immediately below the drone to align the drone for landing and to avoid obstacles. This complicates the deployment of the drone, lengthens operations and prevents its use where it could be particularly useful (for example, over rivers). Finally, due to its particular configuration, this drone can hardly operate in wind conditions above 20 km/h. All these constraints make the operation of this drone stressful, even for experienced pilots, and too often impossible. The overall objective of this project is therefore to allow a drone to navigate and land autonomously on energized power lines in a wide range of environmental conditions. These capabilities would allow DroneVolt to offer utility companies a unique product, which while being easy to use and deploy, would allow them to safely perform valuable inspection work. As part of this project, DroneVolt, Hydro-Québec and the Université de Sherbrooke (4 professors, 2 professionals, 1 postdoctoral fellow and 9 graduate students) will pool their respective expertise in dronautics, in high-voltage power lines and in robotics to improve the performance of this drone while developing the technologies necessary for autonomous operations in the particularly complex environment of energized high-voltage transmission lines. This project represents a unique opportunity for DroneVolt and Hydro-Québec to respond to a pressing need. As in most Western countries, the electricity network managed by Hydro-Québec is aging rapidly. The restoration programs associated with these networks are unfortunately complex and expensive, and planning for these operations is made difficult by the lack of quality information. This drone marketed by DroneVolt will make it possible to sense the remaining useful life of conductors. This information will allow system operators to better manage their assets, that is, to realize substantial savings while reducing service interruptions.

Detect and Avoid system Demonstration for Safe deployment of RPAS

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: DAADS /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The main objective of the project is to demonstrate a Detection and Avoidance System (DAA) integrated into a Remote Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). This demonstration will allow NGC and its industrial partners Laflamme Aéro and CS Canada to increase the maturity of their respective technologi...

Detect and Avoid system Demonstration for Safe deployment of RPAS

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: DAADS /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

The main objective of the project is to demonstrate a Detection and Avoidance System (DAA) integrated into a Remote Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). This demonstration will allow NGC and its industrial partners Laflamme Aéro and CS Canada to increase the maturity of their respective technologies with a view to eventual commercialization. This demonstration will also make it possible to generate flight data, analyze the performance of the DAA system's components and share the results with the dispatchers. The aim of this project is to deploy these technologies with an RPAS system in the context of "Beyond Visual Line Of Sight" (BVLOS) missions.

Autonomy of Future Air Mobility

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: AMAF /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The “Autonomie des Mobilités Aériennes du Futur” (AMAF) project aims to structure the autonomy of new air mobility solutions (Regional Air Mobility / Urban Air Mobility) in Quebec through two complementary approaches. First, by capitalizing on the rich technologica...

Autonomy of Future Air Mobility

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: AMAF /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: Large-scale Demonstration

The “Autonomie des Mobilités Aériennes du Futur” (AMAF) project aims to structure the autonomy of new air mobility solutions (Regional Air Mobility / Urban Air Mobility) in Quebec through two complementary approaches.
First, by capitalizing on the rich technological ecosystem to make Quebec the stronghold of digital aviation systems. Thales Digital Solutions and Presagis are joining forces to design the generic components of the autonomy of the future through the development of advanced functions based on their expertise in the field of Artificial Intelligence and simulation. The training and deployment in the real world of innovative perception and navigation functions developed within the framework of this project will be facilitated and made possible by the use of a digital twin of the environment designed by Presagis, whose expertise in this field will be reinforced by the creation of a virtual test bench allowing interaction between a fully simulated environment and the real world.
These capabilities will be demonstrated at the Centre d’Excellence des Drones (CED) test site with a long-longation with hybrid propulsion drone made available for this project. This ability to test with remote pilots makes it possible to address the second aspect of the autonomy of the air mobility of the future by adopting a humancentered approach making it possible to identify the most complex operational situations and demonstrate the added value of technological solutions of Thales Digital Solutions to address these issues in an assisted manner.
Finally, the use of a hybrid propulsion drone will allow the acquisition of data and the validation of a new mission planning tool taking into account the optimization of energy over a sequence of flights, benefiting from the relevance of Université Laval in this field and of the previous work of Thales Digital Solutions on naval planning systems.

Industrial-grade Verification & Validation of Evolving Systems - Canadian cluster

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: IVVES /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

Evolving systems (ES) form a new class of systems that can rapidly change their behavior, due to fast iteration cycles in development and/or to their ability to self-adapt and learn; they can include ML-enabled components. Canadian services and industries have been deploying ES for non-critical doma...

Industrial-grade Verification & Validation of Evolving Systems - Canadian cluster

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: IVVES /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: Europe

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

Evolving systems (ES) form a new class of systems that can rapidly change their behavior, due to fast iteration cycles in development and/or to their ability to self-adapt and learn; they can include ML-enabled components. Canadian services and industries have been deploying ES for non-critical domains and already plan the roll-out of ES in critical domains such as Aerospace, Cybersecurity, Automotive & Transportation, Banking & Finance, Business and Data analytics. Industrial-grade testing and verification (T&V) approaches for a comprehensive and thorough quality assurance of ES are needed by the industry and for our safety.  CRIM, a Canadian research organisation, and three Canadian industrial organisations teamed up over 40 organisations from 6 European countries to fulfil the industrial needs within the context of the project IVVES (Industrial-graded Verification and Validation of Evolving Systems). IVVES has been approved by ITEA that is a cluster of EUREKA. The Canadian cluster (IVVES-CC) will develop testing and verification approaches that will contribute to enhance our confidence in ES; it will also train HQP and engineers to master and apply these approaches for better Canadian services and industries. The project lasts for three years starting from January 2020 and is supported by CRIAQ and potentially by NSERC.

Avionics for Communication, Navigation and Surveillance

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: NEXTGen SDAR /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

The Next Generation Software Defined Avionics Radio (SDAR) for Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) project (NextGen SDAR) is to design, develop and integrate Software Defined Avionic modules (SDAM) into a single hardware unit through a robust and optimized architecture. To do that, t...

Avionics for Communication, Navigation and Surveillance

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: NEXTGen SDAR /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

The Next Generation Software Defined Avionics Radio (SDAR) for Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) project (NextGen SDAR) is to design, develop and integrate Software Defined Avionic modules (SDAM) into a single hardware unit through a robust and optimized architecture. To do that, this project will be based on the major achievements of the previous NSERC AVIO-505 and AVIO-404 projects. In this new project, our collaboration with major avionic manufacturers (Thales, ACSS, SIICanada and Bombardier) aims to elevate and improve SDAR design and integration with readiness for a certifiable solution to the aviation market, while being compatible with modern avionic architectures such as IMA (Integrated Modular Avionics). This new design will cover modernized avionics functions such as VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR), Instrument Landing System (ILS), Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) In/Out, Transponder Mode-S (TMS), Wide-Band Radio (WBR) and Radio Altimeters, as a critical system for both civilian and military. Fully integrated multimode SDAR with multi-standard RF front-end and novel multiband antenna designs will be completed in a unique integrated avionics network architecture. A large variety of tests including flight tests will be planned and scheduled all over the project for the validation. The challenge is to design the future SDAR architecture that can not only efficiently handle multiple critical functions, but also some advanced features such as signal Integrity Monitoring, authentication algorithms, degradation mitigation and fault tolerant capabilities while keeping minimum Size, Weight , Power and Cost (SWaP-C) requirements. The main outcome of the project is an innovative highly integrated solution for on-board CNS avionics systems that will eventually reduce significantly cables length and the number of components in modern aircrafts. Additionally, it could be easily adapted to cope with potential aeronautical standards changes or to be fitted to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Simulation environment for artificial intelligence driven vehicles

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: ENVIA /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims to ensure the safety of control systems based on machine learning.  This project will enable the development of more autonomous, efficient and safe drones and aircraft.

Simulation environment for artificial intelligence driven vehicles

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: ENVIA /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims to ensure the safety of control systems based on machine learning. 

This project will enable the development of more autonomous, efficient and safe drones and aircraft.

Development of non destructive testing techniques

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: LDCOMP /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The objective of this project is to develop new inspection techniques based on emerging non destructive testing methods applied to composite parts in aerospace. The methods considered in this study are thermography, digital radiography, shearography and laser-ultrasounds.

Development of non destructive testing techniques

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: LDCOMP /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: Belgium

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: International

The objective of this project is to develop new inspection techniques based on emerging non destructive testing methods applied to composite parts in aerospace. The methods considered in this study are thermography, digital radiography, shearography and laser-ultrasounds.

Hybrid electric propulsion demo

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: HYPROP /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

There is considerable interest in the potential for hybrid-electric and electric propulsion systems to reduce emissions and operating cost. However, these systems introduce new failure modes and dynamics that need to be understood, simulated and tested, to be able to offer and eventually certify saf...

Hybrid electric propulsion demo

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: HYPROP /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

There is considerable interest in the potential for hybrid-electric and electric propulsion systems to reduce emissions and operating cost. However, these systems introduce new failure modes and dynamics that need to be understood, simulated and tested, to be able to offer and eventually certify safe, reliable and efficient hybrid electric propulsion systems for future hybrid propulsion aircraft. This project seeks to simulate and demonstrate an experimental reduced-scale hybrid electric propulsion system, to investigate failure modes and optimize performance in normal & degraded modes of operation.This project will develop and demonstrate skills in system integration, simulation, design and control in the aerospace context. Collaboration between partners is key for this project and a strong synergy is ensured by each partner bringing relevant, complementary expertise in electrical system simulation (Maya), prototype electric vehicle integration (IVI), and design of aerospace propulsion systems (P&WC). The HYPROP project will provide new knowledge about hybrid-electric propulsion to the Canadian and Quebecois partners and will be the foundation for future, higher TRL projects that will play a critical role to enable the Quebec and Canadian aerospace sector to compete to power future hybrid electric aircraft. Ultimately, this is mutually beneficial to Canada, Quebec and the industrial and academic partners.

Broadband Reflectarray Antenna for Satellite Applications

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AROBAS /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

Reflectarray technology holds great promises for space antennas. However, it is currently too limited in terms of bandwidth to be used on satellite communication systems. Similarly, the construction on printed circuits must be adapted for a space application with all the challenges that this brings ...

Broadband Reflectarray Antenna for Satellite Applications

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AROBAS /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

Reflectarray technology holds great promises for space antennas. However, it is currently too limited in terms of bandwidth to be used on satellite communication systems. Similarly, the construction on printed circuits must be adapted for a space application with all the challenges that this brings (thermoelastic deformation, low mass, etc.). The aim of the project is to develop a reflectarray solution with a high bandwidth built on the basis of printed circuits.

Lightweight bionic A/C interior

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: LiBio /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The LiBio project wants to enhance the passenger experience and comfort in business jets through the bionic design and functions integration of interior aircraft components. Combining additive manufacturing with topological optimization will lead to the fabrication of a prototype with a unique desig...

Lightweight bionic A/C interior

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: LiBio /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: Germany

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: International

The LiBio project wants to enhance the passenger experience and comfort in business jets through the bionic design and functions integration of interior aircraft components. Combining additive manufacturing with topological optimization will lead to the fabrication of a prototype with a unique design. This technology enables the mix of textures and colors thanks to the mix of thermoplastic and metal parts while easing the integration of elements like speakers or screens. An international consortium was built to lead this project. The partners, based in Germany, Austria and Canada, cover the entire supply chain, including initial design, topological optimization, manufacturing, assembling and testing in an integrator.

Thermally Sprayed Coatings for High Temperature Static Seals in Aeroengines

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: MANU-1719 /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

Reliability, safety and sustainability are all significant driving forces in the aerospace industry. Developments of new materials, processes and manufacturing steps, must meet these needs and also be economically viable. This proposal is focused on addressing these driving forces for a par...

Thermally Sprayed Coatings for High Temperature Static Seals in Aeroengines

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: MANU-1719 /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology


Reliability, safety and sustainability are all significant driving forces in the aerospace industry. Developments of new materials, processes and manufacturing steps, must meet these needs and also be economically viable. This proposal is focused on addressing these driving forces for a particular component that is found throughout a gas turbine engine, called a ‘static seal’. This seal brings the surfaces of two components together to create a barrier between two sections of the engines at differing temperatures. The challenge is that the seal experiences vibration and exposure to high temperatures that leads to damage and eventual failure of the seal. Current technology for static seals is only capable of meeting the needs of the current generation of engines and do so with the caveat that seals will need to be inspected, repaired and replaced quite regularly. Using thermal spray, a technology that applies a protective coating, we will develop four new coatings based on materials that have shown promise for their high temperature capabilities. Development of innovative coatings that resist damage at high temperatures better than current technology will make static seals in gas turbine engines more reliable, safer and sustainable.

Flaw detection and damage tolerant design of components produced by laser powder bed metal fusion

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: FlawDetect /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

In this project, a combination of non-destructive inspection techniques and fatigue testing procedures will be used to characterize the defects induced during 3D printing of load-bearing metallic components of aircraft engines and structures and assess their impact on the fatigue life of these compo...

Flaw detection and damage tolerant design of components produced by laser powder bed metal fusion

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: FlawDetect /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

In this project, a combination of non-destructive inspection techniques and fatigue testing procedures will be used to characterize the defects induced during 3D printing of load-bearing metallic components of aircraft engines and structures and assess their impact on the fatigue life of these components. The results of these tests will provide the data supporting numerical simulations of the fatigue damage propagation and the development of advanced material/structural analysis methods aiming at predicting the fatigue life of AM components and offering clear guidelines for their quality control.

Dependable & Explainable Learning

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: DEEL /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

In order to improve processes efficiency and flight safety, aerospace industry is faced with real world problems that are difficult to resolve with classical approaches. Meanwhile, in recent years, artificial intelligence, more precisely machine learning, has made significant improvem...

Dependable & Explainable Learning

Theme: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & DATA VALORIZATION

Acronym: DEEL /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: France

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

In order to improve processes efficiency and flight safety, aerospace industry is faced with real world problems
that are difficult to resolve with classical approaches. Meanwhile, in recent years, artificial intelligence, more
precisely machine learning, has made significant improvements in the resolution of these kinds of problems.
Applying them to the challenges of the aerospace industry could be an effective way to enhance the design and the
operation of flights and all processes involved. However, using these techniques in this context brings some issues
since artificial intelligence methods and tools do not have yet properties that guarantee and prove performance
enough for the level of certification needed by the aerospace industry. Indeed, since artificial intelligence does
not present characteristics of usual software, classical methods cannot be used to attain such guaranties.

Thus, born from the international collaboration between the Institute of Technology IRT Saint Exupery in
France, IVADO and CRIAQ in Montreal, the present CRD project aims to develop data analytic methods to
make several aspects of the aerospace industry products and processes more efficient, and, in the long term, to
understand how these systems will eventually be formally certified. These data analytic methods aim to improve
experts trust in the systems and try to answer the following questions:
- Robust Systems: How can we achieve efficiency even outside usual conditions of operation?
- Interpretability: How can we make the results of systems more understandable and explainable?
- Privacy by Design: How can we ensure the privacy and confidentiality of data used during the design and
operation?
- Certifiability: Based on the three preceding themes, what would be a reliable certification protocol of these
systems that would be accepted by the concerned authorities?

MDAO-NextGen: Developing next generation multi-disciplinary design, analysis and optimization capabilities for the next generation aircraft

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: AGILE4.0 /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

This project will develop a new generation of multidisciplinary design, analysis and optimization (MDAO) capabilities essential for the development of next generation aircraft. Next generation aircraft are characterized through increasing electrification: more electrical sub-systems, hyb...

MDAO-NextGen: Developing next generation multi-disciplinary design, analysis and optimization capabilities for the next generation aircraft

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: AGILE4.0 /Status: Project in progress

International collaboration: Europe

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

This project will develop a new generation of multidisciplinary design, analysis and optimization (MDAO)
capabilities essential for the development of next generation aircraft. Next generation aircraft are characterized
through increasing electrification: more electrical sub-systems, hybrid-electric or distributed propulsion
(HEDP). Certifiability and maintainability of these new configurations are critical to a potential commercial
success. This project will investigate novel system architecting methodologies, using model-based systemsbr /> engineering and model-based safety assessment and a novel conceptual design thermal analysis capability. In
particular, the integration between aircraft-level propulsion system architectures and non-propulsive power
system architectures will be addressed. These new capabilities will allow trade-offs that have not been possible
to date. Therefore, this project will greatly increase Canadian savoir-faire, but also build strong international
collaboration through the European Union funded AGILE4.0 project.

Optimisation des Opérations Hivernales des pistes d'aéroports

Theme: AVIATION SERVICES AND OPERATIONS

Acronym: O2HPA /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

Un des aspects importants de  la sécurité aérienne concerne l'entretien  adéquat des pistes d'aéroports. Effectivement, tous types de contaminants solides ou liquides, du petit écrou à l'épaisse couche de neige peuven...

Optimisation des Opérations Hivernales des pistes d'aéroports

Theme: AVIATION SERVICES AND OPERATIONS

Acronym: O2HPA /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

Un des aspects importants de  la sécurité aérienne concerne l'entretien  adéquat des pistes d'aéroports. Effectivement, tous types de contaminants solides ou liquides, du petit écrou à l'épaisse couche de neige peuvent provoquer des accidents fatals. Ce projet de recherche porte sur l'entretien des pistes en conditions hivernales et plus précisément sur les divers produits déverglaçant. Bien que ces derniers soient utilisés en trés grande quantité, il existe trés peu d'étude expérimentale sur leur performance, sous différentes conditions climatiques et sous différente forme de dilution ou même, lorsqu'ils sont contaminés par d'autres fluides environnants.  L'équipe de l'Aéroports de Montréal, ADM, a donc contacté l'équipe du Laboratoire International des Matériaux Antigivre, LIMA, de l'Université du Québec  à Chicoutimi,  UQAC, afin  d'acquérir plus de connaissances sur la performance de ces produits dans le but d'optimiser la quantité à utiliser.  Effectivement, une réduction de la quantité permettrait de réduire leurs impacts environnementaux, leurs impacts nocifs sur certaines composantes d'aéronefs et leurs coûts. L'équipe du LIMA, possédant déjà une expertise reliée à l’évaluation des déverglaçant,  sera  secondée  par  une  équipe  multidisciplinaire incluant des experts en météorologie, WPred inc., en simulation numérique des phénoménes   givrants   de   l’École   de   Technologie   Supérieure   (ÉTS)   et   en développement de produits déverglaçant de Nachurs Alpine Solutions.

Intelligent Load Balancing for Satellite Networks

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: ICARUS /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

High throughput satellites (HTS) offer broadband communication services with capacities in several hundreds of gigabits per seconds, possibly up to terabits per second. At each HTS, signals received from the antenna array are sampled and processed to isolate the signals coming from specific regions,...

Intelligent Load Balancing for Satellite Networks

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: ICARUS /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

High throughput satellites (HTS) offer broadband communication services with capacities in several hundreds of gigabits per seconds, possibly up to terabits per second. At each HTS, signals received from the antenna array are sampled and processed to isolate the signals coming from specific regions, which are referred to as cells. After reception, these receivedsignals and are sent to the on-board processor (OBP). The OBP offers internet access, and provide connectivity with either the Earth gateway or an intersatellite link. ICARUS aims to design load balancing algorithms to optimize the transmission of the data throughput and integrity (no packet drops) while keeping latency to a minimum and meeting quality of service rules. Techniques to guarantee a targeted quality of service (QoS) will be investigated. Machine-learning-aided approaches will be developed.

Airside Instant Inspection and Maintenance by Drones

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: AirsideAI /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

Complying with airports safety and regulatory r...

Airside Instant Inspection and Maintenance by Drones

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: AirsideAI /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology

Complying with airports safety and regulatory requirements usually implies time-consuming operations for Airside Inspections and Maintenance that can block planes access to the airport. Using drones would be a fast and efficient way to reach two objectives, based on our discussions with our clients: (1) Confirm that the airport airside facility is compliant with International and/or any local regulation, in term of design and layout, including visual aids (AGL) and (2) Detect any infringement of Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS).

To be able to help our clients, and to increase our market reach, we would have to undertake three innovation streams. (1) Data Collection. We are looking for partners to deploy a set of drones, with a secure communication protocol between them and to deploy the data collected depending on different scenarios. (2) Data Analysis. We are looking for a partner to draft and to test a set of AI related algorithms that would help us reaching the two strategic objectives. (3) Reporting. We are looking for a partner to help us deploying the best technology in displaying pictures and reporting.

Autonomous System for Aerial Deliveries by Drones

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: SALAD /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

The air mobility of goods, such as food, vaccines and medicines, is vital to many regions of Quebec. The use of unmanned helicopters and other Quebec aerospace technologies will allow for automated, targeted and secure deliveries. Remote areas, isolated sites and other hard-to-reach locations will b...

Autonomous System for Aerial Deliveries by Drones

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: SALAD /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: Large-scale Demonstration

The air mobility of goods, such as food, vaccines and medicines, is vital to many regions of Quebec. The use of unmanned helicopters and other Quebec aerospace technologies will allow for automated, targeted and secure deliveries. Remote areas, isolated sites and other hard-to-reach locations will benefit from drone deliveries to obtain critical supplies year-round.

Simulation of Safe Continuous Autonomous Navigation

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: SIMSCAN /Status: Project in progress /Program: Exploring Technology

One of the most at...

Simulation of Safe Continuous Autonomous Navigation

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: SIMSCAN /Status: Project in progress

Program: Exploring Technology

One of the most attractive applications for robotics is the inspection of infrastructure: powerlines, bridges, ships, etc. are usually difficult to inspect due to their limited accessibility and robots, whether teleoperated or autonomous, can substantially reduce the cost and effort. When making large scale inspection or monitoring operations, even the use of a fully autonomous robot can quickly become a bottleneck. A potential solution to this problem is to use multiple robots simultaneously, but the general problem of systematically designing reliable, robust, and resilient large-scale multi-robot systems remains open.  In this project, we tackle the problem of running a multi-robot continuous inspection mission over long periods of time with minimal human intervention. We focus on two currently unsolved problems in AI:


the coordination of a large group of robots for a continuous monitoring task; 
the safe navigation and localization in dynamic environments using maps generated by a multitude of robots. 


Polytechnique Montreal joins forces with CGI (a leader in logistics support), Presagis (PG, a company producing simulators and digital twins), and IRT Saint-Exupery Canada to address these problems and applying them to a case study on the inspection of shipping ports, where containers, vehicles and equipment are in constant movement. The idea is to address these important problems for the application of AI to multi-robot systems towards real-world problems and create a proof-of-concept application in simulation. CGI will benefit from this project by expanding their market of support in logistics by adding autonomous robotic solutions. PG will benefit from the project as they are interested in developing real-time digital twin data acquisition systems.

Searching Operations for Denied Areas

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: SODA /Status: Project in progress /Program: Maturing Technology

Search and Rescue/Wildlife Surveilence in GPS denied areas to demonstrate technology, use cases and new conditions.

Searching Operations for Denied Areas

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: SODA /Status: Project in progress

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: Setup and Partnership

Search and Rescue/Wildlife Surveilence in GPS denied areas to demonstrate technology, use cases and new conditions.

Bonded Wing Box Survivability Demonstration Program

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 1.1 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Le projet a permis le développement d'une technologie de thermoformage par injection de résine dans un moule fermé, éliminant le besoin d'attacher les piéces par des rivets. Un procédé complexe qui entraîne des économies substantielles ...

Bonded Wing Box Survivability Demonstration Program

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 1.1 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Le projet a permis le développement d'une technologie de thermoformage par injection de résine dans un moule fermé, éliminant le besoin d'attacher les piéces par des rivets. Un procédé complexe qui entraîne des économies substantielles dans les étapes d'assemblage, tout en augmentant la solidité des composantes. Le transfert de cette nouvelle technologie a rehaussé considérablement les capacités technologi_ques de Delastek, une PME de Grand-Mére, qui est ainsi devenu un fournisseur de premier oÎ'dre pour l'ensemble de l'industrie aéronautique, la construction des bateaux et d'autres véhicules spéciaux. Cette transformation est une premiére pour l'industrie aéronautique canadienne et un modéle à reproduire. D'aprés M. R. Fews, responsable du projet chez Bell Helicopter, « Le caisson de voilure que nous obtenons grâce à cette méthode est non seulement beaucoup plus léger, mais il se révéle aussi plus résistant. Nous avons notamment testé sa résistance aux impacts comme les oiseaux, les balles et les roches ... De plus, le contrôle de la qualité en usine est grandement facilité et les coûts de fabrication réduits. C'est un caisson idéal pour équiper notre nouvelle génération d'avions à rotor inclinable qui ont la particularité de voler comme un avion, mais de décoller et d'atterrir comme un hélicoptére et dont la mise en service est prévue pour 2010 ». L'équipe de recherche est impliquée dans trois autres projets du CRIAQ touchant les composites, d'une valeur totale de 1,9 M$. Un de ces projets a débuté en juillet 2004, le second en octobre 2006 et le troisiéme est en préparation pour débuter fin 2007.

Induction hardening of bevel gears for aerospace applications

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.12 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The aim of this project is to investigate the induction hardening behaviour of aeronautic martensitic steels in order to control the hardening patterns and predict the field performance of manufactured gears. Futhermore, the model will be used to develop contour hardening on bevel gears.

Induction hardening of bevel gears for aerospace applications

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.12 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The aim of this project is to investigate the induction hardening behaviour of aeronautic martensitic steels in order to control the hardening patterns and predict the field performance of manufactured gears.

Futhermore, the model will be used to develop contour hardening on bevel gears.

Development of carbon/epoxy composites with high electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness for aircraft applications

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 1.14 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project is to develop methods to make composite materials that are electrically conductive to provide protection for electrical components contained inside composite boxes against electrical spike coming from different sources inside and outside of an aircraft

Development of carbon/epoxy composites with high electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness for aircraft applications

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 1.14 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project is to develop methods to make composite materials that are electrically conductive to provide protection for electrical components contained inside composite boxes against electrical spike coming from different sources inside and outside of an aircraft

Optimized Design of Composite Parts by Resin Transfer Molding

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 1.15 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The goal is to develop an optimized design, analysis and manufacturing process for composite materials, using the Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) process as a technology demonstrator. An expert system will be developed which will integrate and optimize the RTM process.

Optimized Design of Composite Parts by Resin Transfer Molding

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 1.15 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The goal is to develop an optimized design, analysis and manufacturing process for composite materials, using the Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) process as a technology demonstrator. An expert system will be developed which will integrate and optimize the RTM process.

Development of Intelligent Health Monitoring System for Rotating Machinery and Structural Components

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.18 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

General Objectives Development of an on-line health monitoring system capable of detecting and identifying faults during engine operation as well as detecting component subsurface damage, and monitoring of the fault and its progression using Non Destructive Testing (NDT) s...

Development of Intelligent Health Monitoring System for Rotating Machinery and Structural Components

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.18 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

General Objectives

Development of an on-line health monitoring system capable of detecting and identifying faults during engine operation as well as detecting component subsurface damage, and monitoring of the fault and its progression using Non Destructive Testing (NDT) sensors.

Their performance will be demonstrated using simulated, experimental and operating condition data.

Development of Low-Cost Aircraft Structural Components using High-Performance Thermoplastic Composites

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 1.2 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Development of Low-Cost Aircraft Structural Components using High-Performance Thermoplastic Composites

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 1.2 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Erosion Resistant Coatings for Aerospace

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.20 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The CRIAQ 1.20 Project focused on novel protective coatings for aerospace applications with the main aim to improve erosion- and corrosion resistance and other functional characteristics of the compressor blades and of the leading edge of helicopter rotors.

Erosion Resistant Coatings for Aerospace

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.20 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The CRIAQ 1.20 Project focused on novel protective coatings for aerospace applications with the main aim to improve erosion- and corrosion resistance and other functional characteristics of the compressor blades and of the leading edge of helicopter rotors.

Development of Brazing Process Applied to Martensitic and Austenitic Stainless Steels and Nickel Superalloys

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.7 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project studied the behaviour of commercially available brazing alloys for joining different stainless steels and Nickel superalloys used in gas turbine engines, on structural and non-structural joints. Characterization of the brazed joints was also performed.

Development of Brazing Process Applied to Martensitic and Austenitic Stainless Steels and Nickel Superalloys

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.7 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project studied the behaviour of commercially available brazing alloys for joining different stainless steels and Nickel superalloys used in gas turbine engines, on structural and non-structural joints. Characterization of the brazed joints was also performed.

Optimization of High Performance Machining of Light Alloy Aerospace Components

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.8 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Aerospace manufacturing requires a significant proportion of machining of light alloy components. High performance machining will be studied using experimental and model based approaches to optimize machine and process parameters for high speed machining.

Optimization of High Performance Machining of Light Alloy Aerospace Components

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 1.8 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Aerospace manufacturing requires a significant proportion of machining of light alloy components. High performance machining will be studied using experimental and model based approaches to optimize machine and process parameters for high speed machining.

Improving the Acoustic Environment in Fixed Wing and Rotary Wing Aircraft

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 2.2 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project is the response to the recognition that the noise level is one of the most important factors contributing to the passenger perception of cabin comfort, in both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

Improving the Acoustic Environment in Fixed Wing and Rotary Wing Aircraft

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 2.2 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project is the response to the recognition that the noise level is one of the most important factors contributing to the passenger perception of cabin comfort, in both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

Low-Energy Ice Protection System Applied to Small Rotorcraft

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: 2.8 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Given the present state of knowledge and scientific advancement in de-icing technologies, the development of a low energy de-icing or anti-icing system for rotor blades with the capability of operating in icing conditions, constitutes a challenge in itself. Therefore, finding novel technologies an...

Low-Energy Ice Protection System Applied to Small Rotorcraft

Theme: ENERGY EFFICIENCY & HYBRID PROPULSION

Acronym: 2.8 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Given the present state of knowledge and scientific advancement in de-icing technologies, the development of a low energy de-icing or anti-icing system for rotor blades with the capability of operating in icing conditions, constitutes a challenge in itself.

Therefore, finding novel technologies and new designs applicable to a rotor blade de-icing system would constitute a breakthrough for all aeronautical and transportation industries for which ice can cause problems, for example: motor intakes, wings during low-altitude flights, unmanned aircraft, etc.

Impact Modeling of Composite Aircraft Structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 3.1 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The existing approach to flight object impact (e.g. bird strike) certification is conducted through physical testing. Developing design methodologies based on predictive numerical simulation methods for the high velocity impact would enhance our capability in predicting failure modes and optimizing ...

Impact Modeling of Composite Aircraft Structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: 3.1 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The existing approach to flight object impact (e.g. bird strike) certification is conducted through physical testing. Developing design methodologies based on predictive numerical simulation methods for the high velocity impact would enhance our capability in predicting failure modes and optimizing structural design.

Integration of Real-Time Flight Simulation and Computational Fluid Dynamics

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 3.2 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The project deals with the quantification of the real-time flight simulation models using state-of-the-art computational flight dynamics techniques in lieu of actual flight test data. Although such approach has wide range of applications, the proposed work will concentrate on the training flight sim...

Integration of Real-Time Flight Simulation and Computational Fluid Dynamics

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 3.2 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The project deals with the quantification of the real-time flight simulation models using state-of-the-art computational flight dynamics techniques in lieu of actual flight test data. Although such approach has wide range of applications, the proposed work will concentrate on the training flight simulators.

Development of Global Model Parameter Estimation Technology

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 3.4 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

New technologies will be developed to improve the generation of helicopter aerodynamic mathematical models from flight test data using parameter estimation techniques. Methods will be established to employ non-intrusive smart sensor flight test instrumentation systems for these applications. The r...

Development of Global Model Parameter Estimation Technology

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 3.4 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

New technologies will be developed to improve the generation of helicopter aerodynamic mathematical models from flight test data using parameter estimation techniques.

Methods will be established to employ non-intrusive smart sensor flight test instrumentation systems for these applications. The reduction in the number of test flight will result from this research.

MOSAIC - Multidisciplinary Optimization Standardization Approach for Integration and Configurability

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 4.1 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The current project, entitled MOSAIC (Multidisciplinary Optimization Standardization Approach for Integration and Configurability), aims to provide the industrial participants with powerful integration technologies and to demonstrate the capabilities of multidisciplinary optimization in the design o...

MOSAIC - Multidisciplinary Optimization Standardization Approach for Integration and Configurability

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 4.1 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The current project, entitled MOSAIC (Multidisciplinary Optimization Standardization Approach for Integration and Configurability), aims to provide the industrial participants with powerful integration technologies and to demonstrate the capabilities of multidisciplinary optimization in the design of aerospace systems.

The project involves three main classes of tasks:
1) The development of data exchange protocols allowing a seamless integration of
analyses and optimization software in an MDO context;
2) The development of specialized analysis and optimization software tailored for MDO;
3) The integration of analysis and optimization software into MDO systems adaptable to
the needs of the industrial participants.

Product Design Optimization With Integration Of Computational Tools

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 4.14 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Product Design Optimization With Integration Of Computational Tools

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 4.14 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

IP2CM - Integrated Product-Process Change Management

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 4.3 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Models, methods and tools for integrated change management throughout product lifecycles: propagating engineering changes to manufacturing documents. Aerospace product development is an iterative process involving various information systems and expertise. This projects aims at defining, developing...

IP2CM - Integrated Product-Process Change Management

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 4.3 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Models, methods and tools for integrated change management throughout product lifecycles: propagating engineering changes to manufacturing documents. Aerospace product development is an iterative process involving various information systems and expertise.

This projects aims at defining, developing and validating models, methods and tools that will provide the interoperability required to achieve an integrated product and process change management throughout a product life cycle. Developing such a generic interoperability mechanisms between the involved systems will impact costs, quality and lead-times, and hence improve the productivity and competitiveness of industry.

Process Modeling Tools Development for the Virtual Manufacturing of Aerospace Components by Tube Hydroforming

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 4.6_Plan B /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Tube hydroforming is a new manufacturing technology that offers significant advantages and provide high quality products at lower life cost values. It may be critical to aerospace industry but is not yet fully exploited due to a lack of extensive knowledge base for process and tool design and whose ...

Process Modeling Tools Development for the Virtual Manufacturing of Aerospace Components by Tube Hydroforming

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 4.6_Plan B /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Tube hydroforming is a new manufacturing technology that offers significant advantages and provide high quality products at lower life cost values. It may be critical to aerospace industry but is not yet fully exploited due to a lack of extensive knowledge base for process and tool design and whose development is required.

Process Modeling Tools Development and Manufacturing of Aerospace Components by Tube Hydroforming, Part II

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 4.6 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

L'hydroformage de tubes est une technologie de fabrication relativement nouvelle qui offre des avantages significatifs dont un poids réduit et des produits de qualité supérieure à des coûts inférieurs. Sa principale caractéristique est l'usage...

Process Modeling Tools Development and Manufacturing of Aerospace Components by Tube Hydroforming, Part II

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 4.6 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

L'hydroformage de tubes est une technologie de fabrication relativement nouvelle qui offre des avantages significatifs dont un poids réduit et des produits de qualité supérieure à des coûts inférieurs.

Sa principale caractéristique est l'usage d'un fluide pressurisé pour l'expansion du tube dans un moule. La technologie a été adoptée par l'industrie automobile où elle est maintenant considérée comme un procédé de fabrication compétitif pour la production de masse.

Drawingless Product Development Process

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 4.7 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Drawingless Product Development Process

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 4.7 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Dynamic Test Bed for Flight Management Systems

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: 5.3 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Dynamic Test Bed for Flight Management Systems

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: 5.3 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Exploring Formal Methods in Model-Driven Development of Certified Avionics Software

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: 5.5 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Model-driven development (MDD) is a reality in modern software development, yet the constraints on software certification under DO-178B pose research challenges when applying formal methods. We seek to reduce the costs of certified avionics software using MDD and formal methods.

Exploring Formal Methods in Model-Driven Development of Certified Avionics Software

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: 5.5 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Model-driven development (MDD) is a reality in modern software development, yet the constraints on software certification under DO-178B pose research challenges when applying formal methods. We seek to reduce the costs of certified avionics software using MDD and formal methods.

Architecture exploration for high-integrated and low-cost avionic systems

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: 5.6_Plan C /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Modern avionics systems are software-intensive systems composed of a network of heterogeneous distributed embedded processors. These safety-critical systems must exhibit a series of quality attributes, among the most important being the system safety, reliability and fault-tolerance. Organizations...

Architecture exploration for high-integrated and low-cost avionic systems

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: 5.6_Plan C /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Modern avionics systems are software-intensive systems composed of a network of heterogeneous distributed embedded processors. These safety-critical systems must exhibit a series of quality attributes, among the most important being the system safety, reliability and fault-tolerance.

Organizations developing modern avionic systems face numerous challenges. Among them is the need to choose and exploit the right infrastructure technologies to architect product lines addressing the requirements of multiple customers. This research project will address some of these challenges, with an emphasis on the architectural impact of important components of the technological infrastructure: the system configuration, the operating system and the communication network.

The V-Model (Figure 1) is a system development model designed to simplify the understanding of the complexity associated with developing systems. Considering this V-Model, the proposed project concentrates on the Requirements and Architecture stage.

Microsystems for in situ Health Monitoring of Aircraft

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 6.1 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

"http://www.criaq.aero/media/articles/6-1.jpg"title="Link to poster"target="_blank">See poster of the project (May 2013)

Microsystems for in situ Health Monitoring of Aircraft

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 6.1 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

"http://www.criaq.aero/media/articles/6-1.jpg"title="Link to poster"target="_blank">See poster of the project (May 2013)

MEMS for Control and Monitoring of Gas Turbine Engines

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 6.2 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project is divided in two sub-projects: Pressure MEMS sensors for GTE applications and Temperature MEMS arrays for GTE applications. This last portion is already completed. The effort over the past 6 months was directed mainly towards the MEMS demonstrator. A detection system comprising two d...

MEMS for Control and Monitoring of Gas Turbine Engines

Theme: NEXT-GEN MANUFACTURING, TEST & MAINTENANCE

Acronym: 6.2 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project is divided in two sub-projects: Pressure MEMS sensors for GTE applications and Temperature MEMS arrays for GTE applications. This last portion is already completed.

The effort over the past 6 months was directed mainly towards the MEMS demonstrator. A detection system comprising two dynamic pressure sensors and two temperature sensors in a redundant configuration have been built in 10 prototypes. The design and the realization of the sensor did follow the specs of the product produced by PWC. The 10 systems have been tested to temperature and vibrations according to the specs provided by PWC.

One of the system was installed on the engine (bell mouth) in the test rig and used to measure the fan RPM against the present measurement system that is quite heavy. A significant accomplishment was possible through the excellent collaboration among PWC, Concordia and ETS. The team has requested a six mount delay without any budget change to complete task 11: Implement the micro sensors for testing on the ground equipment. And task 12: Refinement of the design, packaging and test which is completed at 80%.

Two international collaborations where developped during that project, one with Louvain-la-Neuve and one with The Catholic University of Brussels both from Belgium.
2 research associates, 2 post-doc, 2 Ph.D, 1 M.Sc.A and 8 B.Sc.A. participated in this project.

Laminar Flow Improvement on an Aeroelastic Research Wing

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 7.1 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims to investigate the design and to demonstrate the feasibility of an aeroelastic aircraft wing capable of modifying its geometry in real-time during flight in order to optimize the performance of the aircraft for a range of flight conditions.

Laminar Flow Improvement on an Aeroelastic Research Wing

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: 7.1 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims to investigate the design and to demonstrate the feasibility of an aeroelastic aircraft wing capable of modifying its geometry in real-time during flight in order to optimize the performance of the aircraft for a range of flight conditions.

Development of new liner technologies and local expertise for characterization and fabrication of nacelle acoustic treatments

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-1 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Pratt & Whitney Canada experience in nacelle acoustic treatments shows that extensive efforts are still required to ensure that liners are fabricated according to acceptable standards and to ensure that the liners acoustic performance are met. The project addresses these requirements (i) by develo...

Development of new liner technologies and local expertise for characterization and fabrication of nacelle acoustic treatments

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-1 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Pratt & Whitney Canada experience in nacelle acoustic treatments shows that extensive efforts are still required to ensure that liners are fabricated according to acceptable standards and to ensure that the liners acoustic performance are met.

The project addresses these requirements (i) by developing a local facility to fabricate and characterize nacelle treatments and (ii) by exploring and developing new liners technologies.

Active control of transmission noise in helicopters

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-2 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

In a continuation to the previous CRIAQ 2.2 project, this project is directed to develop an active control system for drive noise reduction for demonstration on board of a helicopter. The goal is to validate the effectiveness of active control in the real environment.The general objective is...

Active control of transmission noise in helicopters

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-2 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

In a continuation to the previous CRIAQ 2.2 project, this project is directed to develop an active control system for drive noise reduction for demonstration on board of a helicopter.

The goal is to validate the effectiveness of active control in the real environment.The general objective is to extend the laboratory active control system that was developed under CRIAQ 2.2 to a system capable of flight demonstration that will allow engineering demonstration of the feasibility of the system in the real environment.

While the Bell 407 continues to be the test platform for this research project, the project also looks at what challenges would need to be addressed in order to adapt this technology to other helicopter platforms considering the significant differences in drive systems and structural paths.

Sound field rendering in aircraft cabins

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-3 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

When it comes to acoustic comfort of an aircraft, usual engineering metrics (based upon A-weighted Sound Pressure Levels or Speech Interference Levels) do not "tell the whole story". In this respect, it would be very useful to be able to "hear" the ambiance of an aircraft cabin before it flies, an...

Sound field rendering in aircraft cabins

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-3 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

When it comes to acoustic comfort of an aircraft, usual engineering metrics (based upon A-weighted Sound Pressure Levels or Speech Interference Levels) do not "tell the whole story".

In this respect, it would be very useful to be able to "hear" the ambiance of an aircraft cabin before it flies, and "hear" the impact of planned modification or acoustic treatment before it is actually implemented. Similarly, sound reproduction in cockpit simulators is considered an essential component to a virtual environment that adds ambience, emotion, and a sense of presence to the simulation for pilot training.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Embedded Damping Elements in Composites (EDEC)

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-4 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The general objective is to develop a low-cost, low-weight, low-noise composite that will satisfy helicopter industry requirements. The specific objectives of the projects are as follows: +Identify and characterize vibro-acoustic treatment materials that will be compatible with the composite...

Embedded Damping Elements in Composites (EDEC)

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-4 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The general objective is to develop a low-cost, low-weight, low-noise composite that will satisfy helicopter industry requirements. The specific objectives of the projects are as follows:
+Identify and characterize vibro-acoustic treatment materials that will be compatible with the composite manufacturing processes, and that will allow the component to maintain its strength, its stiffness, its damage tolerance, its ability to be finished and its ability to be repaired.
+ Develop a composite material vibro-acoustic damping treatment capable of yielding high vibration attenuation and high acoustic insulation for frequencies of 10 – 2 000 Hz.
+ Predict vibration insertion loss and acoustic transmission loss from numerical model simulations.
+ Verify and quantify experimentally the actual vibration and noise attenuations achieved on representative prototypes.
+ Verify and quantify experimentally the mechanical behavior and fatigue damage of the prototypes.
+ Provide design guidelines and implementation procedures for industrialization purposes.

SOFTAIR (Experimental and numerical aeroacoustic study of airplane pressurization valves to reduce their noise in different flight conditions)

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-503_INTL /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Caractérisation aéroacoustique expérimentale et numérique de vannes de pressurisation aéronautiques en vue de réduire leur bruit dans les différentes phases de vol. ...

SOFTAIR (Experimental and numerical aeroacoustic study of airplane pressurization valves to reduce their noise in different flight conditions)

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-503_INTL /Status: Completed Project

International collaboration: France

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

Caractérisation aéroacoustique expérimentale et numérique de vannes de pressurisation aéronautiques en vue de réduire leur bruit dans les différentes phases de vol.
See poster of the project (May 2013)

Structural-Acoustic Protection for sandwich-composite structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-504_INTL /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The main objective is to develop add-on sound acoustic protection of launchers payloads under constraints. The structural-acoustic performances (joint optimization of the composite structure and the acoustic blanket) in low-mid frequencies will be achieved.

Structural-Acoustic Protection for sandwich-composite structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: ACOU-504_INTL /Status: Completed Project

International collaboration: France

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

The main objective is to develop add-on sound acoustic protection of launchers payloads under constraints. The structural-acoustic performances (joint optimization of the composite structure and the acoustic blanket) in low-mid frequencies will be achieved.

An IoT Platform for Disaster Response

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: AUT-1629_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

This project aims to introduce new emerging technologies to the aerospace arena, while also contributing to areas of research. Today, rising trends in the aerospace industry are include in the areas of automation, miniaturization, overall mission cost reduction, reduction of energy footprint. This p...

An IoT Platform for Disaster Response

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: AUT-1629_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project

Program: Maturing Technology

This project aims to introduce new emerging technologies to the aerospace arena, while also contributing to areas of research. Today, rising trends in the aerospace industry are include in the areas of automation, miniaturization, overall mission cost reduction, reduction of energy footprint. This project will contribute to opening new frontiers in all of those areas mentioned. But more importantly, the project aims to introduce emerging technologies to the aerospace sector. These include technologies such as: collaborative robotics, advanced human interface, and innovative telecommunication architecture. To successfully achieve our aim, we require the collaboration of researchers and industry specialists with strong and diverse subject matter expertise. The project will achieve the successful integration of diverse technologies that have not yet matured, or found practical application. We’re primarily seeking to develop practical application in various emergency situations, employing the aerospace medium.
 

More specifically, the aim of this project is to develop a novel information technology platform to improve the effectiveness of emergency response in disaster areas, ultimately saving lives. In case of any emergency response, the local communication infrastructure cannot be generally relied upon: therefore, we propose a distributed, self-organizing information system based on off-the-shelf mobile devices, supported by a self organizing self deploying UAVs. This platform is based on 4 research areas: autonomous networking, swarm robotics, Internet-of-Things, and data analytics.

The project is led by the team Humanitas Solutions (HS), a Montreal-based technological solution provider focusing on developing novel solutions to support emergency responders and lead them to improve their performance. The other industrial partners are Bell Helicopter (BH), Dassault Systems (DS), and Elisen & Associés (EA) who see great potential of the mission-critical-solution and its future application scenarios in other sectors.

A typical application scenario for the proposed platform can be the establishment of a temporary field hospital in a disaster area: tablets and smartphones of first responders collaborate to establish an ad-hoc network used to exchange messages, multimedia content, or run other collaborative user applications. Some UAVs place themselves in strategic points to increase the performance of the ad-hoc local network and to build long range communication channels with other distant areas. Other UAVs may be involved in other tasks such as search and rescue operations or patrolling. Finally, a secondary ad-hoc network may be established to connect multiple sensors, e.g., bracelets that monitor patient conditions, and to interact, when needed with the primary human-based network. The large amount of data collected by the whole infrastructure can be exploited to further improve the performance of the system, perform troubleshooting and make accurate predictions about future conditions. Both application and system data can be stored and synchronized with the cloud infrastructure, which can be also interrogated on-demand to perform advanced computing operations.

Being the project leader and main developer, HS will take in charge of the project coordination and the final outcome will be in its product range. BH will provide the expertise on helicopter dynamics and will benefit from the helicopter-based platform technology. DS will contribute to the development of a 3D-based human-computer-interface and will integrate its applications on the resulting network layer. EA will provide expertise on the certification of airborne systems, and will benefit by developing strategies for the certification Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs).

All the industrial partners will be supported by three universities: Polytechnique Montreal, which will provide engineering research efforts for the project in all fields, Carleton University, which will develop the IoT secondary network, and HEC, which will provide analysis capability and research equipment for all the human factors involved in the project (e.g. human behavior analysis, UAV control interfaces). The expected outcome will be a converged self-organizing and self-healing IT platform able to cope in a seamless way with heterogeneous resources, mutable conditions and different quality of service requirements.

MOBILIZING PROJET : Medium-sized VTOL UAV

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: AUT-703_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

The project CARIC AUT-703 involves four Canadian SMEs supported by two specialized Engineering universities, École Polytechnique de Montreal and the ÉTS, in order to develop several concepts and technologies in the field of UAVs. The quartet of companies will demonstra...

MOBILIZING PROJET : Medium-sized VTOL UAV

Theme: UAVs AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Acronym: AUT-703_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project

Program: Maturing Technology

The project CARIC AUT-703 involves four Canadian SMEs supported by two specialized Engineering universities, École Polytechnique de Montreal and the ÉTS, in order to develop several concepts and technologies in the field of UAVs. The quartet of companies will demonstrate an unmanned helicopter prototype intermediate category.

Located in Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine in Quebec, the company LAFLAMME AERO demonstrate the expertise and technologies of the young aerospace company offering a revolutionary concept helicopter small size, performance and unmatched versatility.

The company N.G.C. AEROSPACE from Sherbrooke, specializing for his part in the design and deployment of intelligent software for space, aeronautical and land systems, will use its expertise and technologies in developing and integrating a system of navigation, guidance and control with avoidance obstacle to the drone.
For its part, ROY AIRCRAFT AVIONICS & SIMULATION is one of the few companies in the world with the expertise and products needed to develop and implement an integrated test unit for a complete aircraft. RAAS develop during this project extensible test environment and ground control station technologies.
SINTERS AMERICA, located in Boucherville, develops and manufactures automated and maintenance equipment for aerospace test systems. The company wants to develop an acquisition card dedicated to UAV for gauge sensors and also position themselves in the new market for drones.

These four SMEs wanting to use the "technology maturation" program offered by the CARIC to propel each company to greater heights. This project will diversify, develop and improve the expertise of partner companies. This project is also an opportunity to build a strong partnership between the four industrial partners and two universities in the aerospace sector, a first initiative that could lead to short and medium term to substantial business opportunities. Finally, the AUT-703 project will also enable the development and validation of high-tech products that can then be sold on the UAV market is growing rapidly. This project could be a lever that will result in the retention and creation of ten jobs in aerospace in small and medium-sized businesses in the high technology sector.

ACTIVE HAPTIC TRIM ACTUATORS FOR ROTORCRAFT APPLICATIONS

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: AVIO-1503_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

Active haptic pilot controls have the capability to generate tactile cueing signals to warn the pilot of approaching flight envelope limitations or hazards. This is particularly of interest for helicopters because they regularly operate near their maximum gross weights and power levels. Active hapti...

ACTIVE HAPTIC TRIM ACTUATORS FOR ROTORCRAFT APPLICATIONS

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: AVIO-1503_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project

Program: Maturing Technology

Active haptic pilot controls have the capability to generate tactile cueing signals to warn the pilot of approaching flight envelope limitations or hazards. This is particularly of interest for helicopters because they regularly operate near their maximum gross weights and power levels. Active haptic cueing alerts the pilot of an impending aircraft flight limit without requiring supplementary attention. This allows a more efficient usage of the aircraft capabilities while increasing safety by enhancing pilot’s situational awareness.
In order to generate adequate tactile cues, active controls require high‐bandwidth actuators, which typically come with added system complexity, cost and weight. For this reason, active control technology is not currently seen in lighter aircraft. However, the need for increased safety makes the advantages of active controls desirable for all aircraft types.
From 2013 to 2015, following the CRIAQ ENV‐404 project aiming at developing all‐electric actuation technologies for aircraft, Bell Helicopter and Exonetik developed an active haptic trim actuator using Magnetorheological Fluids (MRF) as a form and fit replacement to current passive trim actuators used in light helicopters. The developed MRF active haptic trim actuator can be used with both existing platforms having conventional controls and new fly‐by‐wire aircraft.
The objective of this CARIC project proposal is to design, build and test prototypes, on ground and subsequently in flight, of MRF trim actuators, in order to make the technology progress from TRL4 to TRL6.

Degraded Visual Environment Navigation Support (DVENS)

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-1601_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

o A Degraded Visual Environment (DVE) exists when conditions of low visibility, including conditions caused by rotor downwash in sand/dust (“brown-out”), snow (“white-out”/snowball) or water, obscures both horizon and terrain features. A DVE may also occur when environmental ...

Degraded Visual Environment Navigation Support (DVENS)

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-1601_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project

Program: Maturing Technology

o A Degraded Visual Environment (DVE) exists when conditions of low visibility, including conditions caused by rotor downwash in sand/dust (“brown-out”), snow (“white-out”/snowball) or water, obscures both horizon and terrain features. A DVE may also occur when environmental conditions such as fog, precipitation, snow, clouds or smoke adversely impact a rotorcraft operator's abilities to operate safely and effectively. DVE operations are mostly associated with helicopters that are in critical phases of flight (i.e. landing and take-off) however a DVE can occur in any flight profile. The broad range of operational conditions which may lead to a DVE presents hazard across a broad range of current and potential Canadian Forces and civilian operational environments. The impact of DVE conditions on operations can range from a nuisance to a serious hazard jeopardizing aircraft and lives. DVE conditions have resulted in numerous NATO aircraft helicopter crews and vehicles being lost in Afghanistan. Operations in cold climates also experience similar white-out conditions; as such DVE poses a significant risk factor for future Arctic rotary wing operations.

Cosmic radiation In-flight Measurement and real-time analysis for Electronic Systems and passenger protection (CIMES)

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-1603_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

To answer customers concerns and to be compliant with FAA requests on the subject, aircraft and flight systems manufacturers must collect in-flight data for cosmic radiations and develop a global strategy for real-time processing of this data to provide pilots, crew and aircraft operations, appropri...

Cosmic radiation In-flight Measurement and real-time analysis for Electronic Systems and passenger protection (CIMES)

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-1603_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project

Program: Maturing Technology

To answer customers concerns and to be compliant with FAA requests on the subject, aircraft and flight systems manufacturers must collect in-flight data for cosmic radiations and develop a global strategy for real-time processing of this data to provide pilots, crew and aircraft operations, appropriate information to help them make the right decisions in case of unusually high cosmic radiation exposure.Researches have started in order to better assess the effect of Cosmic radiation on health. And some data exists for the effect on systems in the literature as well as from previous project AVIO-403. AVIO-403 and its continuum (WP4 of Project EPICEA) are intended to better assess the risk and accordingly adapt electrical system design and integration to the new industry paradigm (lightweight, more electric, manufacturing cost efficiency …). In parallel, AVIO-1603 is intended to develop an in-flight response to the challenge of CR events.

Data Networks and Smart Sensors for Safety-Critical Avionics Applications

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-402 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims at developing a new avionics communication network allowing a reduction of the complexity of cabling by adopting a smaller wire-count solution, using the state-of-the-art avionics data network technologies. Digital interfaces will be developed to connect the legacy position senso...

Data Networks and Smart Sensors for Safety-Critical Avionics Applications

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-402 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims at developing a new avionics communication network allowing a reduction of the complexity of cabling by adopting a smaller wire-count solution, using the state-of-the-art avionics data network technologies.

Digital interfaces will be developed to connect the legacy position sensors and actuators to data buses. Emerging MEMS and photonic technologies will be employed to develop new lightweight, contactless, and highly reliable position sensors in order to provide an enhanced performance while reducing the cost of deployment and maintenance.

Issues related to frequency selection and electromagnetic compatibility and interference will also be addressed for forecasting the further development of wireless avionics communication systems.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Development of next generation airplane AFDX communication network with enhanced security

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-402_INTL /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

L'introduction de nouvelles architectures avioniques, telles que l'avionique modulaire intégrée (AMI), et l'augmentation du nombre et de la complexité des composantes embarquées dans les aéronefs impliquent un accroissement considérable de la quantité de données échangées. Pour répondre...

Development of next generation airplane AFDX communication network with enhanced security

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-402_INTL /Status: Completed Project

International collaboration: China

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

L'introduction de nouvelles architectures avioniques, telles que l'avionique modulaire intégrée (AMI), et l'augmentation du nombre et de la complexité des composantes embarquées dans les aéronefs impliquent un accroissement considérable de la quantité de données échangées.

Pour répondre à ce défit technologique, l'industrie aérospatiale a établi de nouvelles normes de réseaux de communication avioniques basées sur les technologies d'information et de communications modernes.

Le réseau AFDX (Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet) est une des normes les plus connues dans ce contexte qui repose sur la technologie de l'Éthernet commuté.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Cosmic Radiation & Effect on Aircraft Systems, Part I

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-403_Plan C /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims to explore design and verification techniques for radiation tolerant electronic systems that ease test, diagnosis and fault emulation. Cosmic radiations have always been associated with space missions. Until recently, the space community was practically the only one preoccupied w...

Cosmic Radiation & Effect on Aircraft Systems, Part I

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-403_Plan C /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims to explore design and verification techniques for radiation tolerant electronic systems that ease test, diagnosis and fault emulation.

Cosmic radiations have always been associated with space missions. Until recently, the space community was practically the only one preoccupied with cosmic radiations, mainly due to the natural protection provided by the atmosphere and the relative insensitivity of the electronic systems to the radiations.

However transistor scaling generally makes electronic devices more sensitive to radiations. Many people believe that many 'No Fault Found' (NFF) failures are caused by radiations. As a consequence, the avionic and even space electronic systems contain more and more rad-hard devices, which are limited in availability. This explains the growing interest toward design and verification techniques for such electronic systems.

Cosmic Radiation & Effect on Aircraft Systems

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-403_INTL /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

L'objectif principal de ce projet est le développement et la validation de techniques de conception et de vérification facilitant le test, le diagnostic et l'émulation de pannes pour les systémes tolérants aux radiations, dans le but d'accélérer...

Cosmic Radiation & Effect on Aircraft Systems

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-403_INTL /Status: Completed Project

International collaboration: France

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

L'objectif principal de ce projet est le développement et la validation de techniques de conception et de vérification facilitant le test, le diagnostic et l'émulation de pannes pour les systémes tolérants aux radiations, dans le but d'accélérer la mise en uvre et la certification de tels systémes, ainsi que le diagnostic des dysfonctionnements liés aux radiations.

L'atteinte de cet objectif passe par l'exploration d'architectures facilitant l'atteinte de l'objectif principal.

Plan d'action: Analyse de systémes avioniques existants, commercialisés par nos partenaires industriels afin de mieux comprendre les contraintes et requis (notamment au niveau de la qualification), de faire l'inventaire des mécanismes de tolérance déjà présents, et d'identifier les modéles de simulation existants pouvant s'arrimer avec l'infrastructure logicielle envisagée.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Wave Propagation, Antennas and Radio Systems for Future Energy Efficient Aircraft

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-404 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project will develop new antennas that will be compatible with the electric properties of composite materials used in future fuselages. The effects of composite materials on wave propagation and the reduction of electromagnetic interference associated with radio equipment will be studied. ...

Wave Propagation, Antennas and Radio Systems for Future Energy Efficient Aircraft

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-404 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project will develop new antennas that will be compatible with the electric properties of composite materials used in future fuselages. The effects of composite materials on wave propagation and the reduction of electromagnetic interference associated with radio equipment will be studied.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Time-Triggered Architectures and Mixed Criticality Systems Integration

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-503_Plan C /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims at applying Model Driven Architectures (MDA) and Development Environment (MDE) to build Time-Triggered Architectures (TTA), defining models and automatic techniques for developing and integrating TTA based mixed criticality avionic systems, and experimenting integrated modular avio...

Time-Triggered Architectures and Mixed Criticality Systems Integration

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-503_Plan C /Status: Completed Project

International collaboration: Austria

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

This project aims at applying Model Driven Architectures (MDA) and Development Environment (MDE) to build Time-Triggered Architectures (TTA), defining models and automatic techniques for developing and integrating TTA based mixed criticality avionic systems, and experimenting integrated modular avionics (IMA) systems using TTA based data communication networks.

Software radios for highly integrated system architecture

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-505 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Le projet consiste en la mise en place de méthodes et de systémes de traitement des informations pour des dispositifs de communication efficace et efficiente dans le domaine de l'aéronautique et de l'aérospatial. Ce projet vise l'intégration des multiples sys...

Software radios for highly integrated system architecture

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-505 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Le projet consiste en la mise en place de méthodes et de systémes de traitement des informations pour des dispositifs de communication efficace et efficiente dans le domaine de l'aéronautique et de l'aérospatial. Ce projet vise l'intégration des multiples systémes de communications afin de minimiser l'espace nécessaire à leurs utilisations, la réduction du nombre de piéces de rechange nécessaires liées aux équipements de télécommunication ainsi qu'une diminution du poids totales des appareils. Le tout dans un but de réduction des gaz à effets de serre et d'optimisation des performances des appareils de communication.

Dans la mesure où le futur avion typique est désormais constitué de matériaux composites, il devient nécessaire de minimiser l'utilisation de câbles coaxiaux. En effet, ces derniers sont soumis à des champs électromagnétiques qui influencent grandement le fonctionnement des appareils lorsqu'il n'y a pas de mise à la terre solide et commune aux différents systémes, et ceci sans négliger le poids de l'ensemble de ses câbles ainsi que des diverses radios existantes dans les systémes conventionnels.
Bombardier et MDA aimeraient définir une nouvelle approche en utilisant un systéme leur permettant de remplacer les multiples radios auparavant utilisées par un seul systéme générique. L'utilisation d'antennes multibande pour les différents types de communication sera aussi un élément de travail. La radio et l'antenne utilisée devront permettre une simultanéité de fonctionnement des différents types de communication sans fil. Il serait avantageux que la partie RF du systéme de communication soit le plus prés possible de l'antenne afin de minimiser le bruit induit et les pertes de puissance dans les câbles. L'idée étant de faire une conversion de RF à IF à l'antenne et de transmettre les signaux en bande de bases vers la radio générique pour la démodulation numérique et autre traitement sur les signaux.
Afin d'intégrer les différents systémes de communication sous une même plateforme, un dispositif de radio défini de maniére logicielle sera utilisé. Ce systéme nous permettrait l'utilisation dune carte analogique générique adaptée pour divers protocole de communication, le tout combiné à une partie numérique reconfigurable de maniére logicielle afin de répondre aux exigences dune multitude de protocoles de communication. ISR en tant que partenaire industriel du présent projet, propose l'utilisation de leur systéme de radio défini par logiciel afin de mettre en place un tel systéme novateur dans le domaine de l'aéronautique et de l'aérospatial.

ICD Management

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-506 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Modern systems interfaces definition, evolution and tracking are an ever increasing challenge. The growing functional density, distributed over multiple processing resources, cause the physical and function interfaces to be increasingly difficult to manage. This problem becomes more intense with th...

ICD Management

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-506 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Modern systems interfaces definition, evolution and tracking are an ever increasing challenge. The growing functional density, distributed over multiple processing resources, cause the physical and function interfaces to be increasingly difficult to manage.

This problem becomes more intense with the physical capacity provided by modern platforms, which are used by these systems to enrich user experience. This capacity requires massive data to be defined and exchanged over multiple communication channels, including complex protocols.

This project will consist of creating a capability to master this challenge using tools, standards, and algorithms. This capability will greatly increase the efficiency of systems integration and provide a strong discriminator in the system life-cycle cost management.

Diagnostics for Real Time Distributed Multicore Architectures

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-508 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

On board avionics systems are rapidly increasing in complexity and are starting to use advanced technology such as real-time ethernet, multicore distributed systems and virtualization. The possibilities and expectations for detailed extremely realistic simulations have greatly increased the need for...

Diagnostics for Real Time Distributed Multicore Architectures

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-508 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

On board avionics systems are rapidly increasing in complexity and are starting to use advanced technology such as real-time ethernet, multicore distributed systems and virtualization. The possibilities and expectations for detailed extremely realistic simulations have greatly increased the need for more computing resources, mandating the use of large distributed real-time multicore 64 bits systems.

Leveraging the processing power of multicore architectures is not an obvious task. The increased performance comes from the parallel computations and this involves deep changes in software architecture, design, implementation and debugging. Indeed, parallel processing brings a whole new class of problems both in terms of correctness (proper locking to synchronize concurrent accesses among multiple threads, avoid races, and insure consistency and isolation) and performance (load balancing, avoid cache bouncing, achieve good locality of reference at all levels in the memory hierarchy).

Parallel processing has been used for some time in High Performance Computing and they have developed over the years a number of communication frameworks and analysis tools adequate for their applications. These applications typically divide a huge problem in small chunks, distribute the chunks over a large cluster of perhaps 1024 computing nodes and communicate the results periodically. The underlying complexity in these applications is more manageable because all the computing nodes run the same program, these programs are CPU intensive, and structured frameworks like the Message Passing Interface (MPI) is used to manage and synchronize the data exchanges.

The situation is different for these new avionics and simulation applications. The distributed system is highly heterogeneous, each computing node runs a different software module, and operates in real-time. A new set of algorithms, techniques and tools is required to extract detailed execution traces from these real-time distributed multicore, multi-threaded, systems and to analyze these traces. The main challenges are that the tracing activity should minimally perturbate the system being monitored, both in terms of timing and throughput, that there is no common reference time since all the distributed computing nodes use independent clocks, and that sophisticated analysis tools are required to help the system engineers process the potentially huge amount of tracing data to rapidly identify the problems.

The outcome will be an increased understanding and control on these real-time distributed multi-core systems. This will result in more reliable systems and better resources utilization, thus either decreasing hardware costs or increasing the level of realism in the simulations.

Architecture Exploration for Highly-Integrated and Low-Cost Avionics (Part II of CRIAQ 5.6_plan C)

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-509 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This research project will address the IMA challenges, with an emphasis on two crucial aspects for our industrial partners: 1) the architectural impact of important components of the IMA platform including the system configuration, the operating system and the communication network and 2) the migr...

Architecture Exploration for Highly-Integrated and Low-Cost Avionics (Part II of CRIAQ 5.6_plan C)

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-509 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This research project will address the IMA challenges, with an emphasis on two crucial aspects for our industrial partners:
1) the architectural impact of important components of the IMA platform including the system configuration, the operating system and the communication network and
2) the migration of an Augmented Visionics System (AVS) application from a Windows prototype to an IMA platform.

Interference mitigation in satellite communications

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-601 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Technological developments will continue to lower the entry requirements for space, increasing the number of players in orbit. As a consequence, radio frequency interference in space will be growing. New technologies as well as existing technologies used in military applications or in extremely con...

Interference mitigation in satellite communications

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-601 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Technological developments will continue to lower the entry requirements for space, increasing the number of players in orbit. As a consequence, radio frequency interference in space will be growing.

New technologies as well as existing technologies used in military applications or in extremely congested wireless terrestrial communications could be adapted to resolve satellite link interference issues.

Objectives:

+ Characterise interference signals in satellite communications
+ Identify digital signal processing and antenna technology, communications systems and devices to mitigate the effects of interfering signals
+ Develop new techniques to sense and adapt to the congested Radio Frequency environment

Specification and Verification of Design Models for Certifiable Avionics Software

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: AVIO-604 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

(1) Procuce avionics software models, using enhanced design notations for understandability. (2) Model compiler producing certifiable code. Languages : UML, Simulink Objectives: + Create an enhanced UML profile inspired from RSML +Requirements State Machine Language + Create a methodology for Simuli...

Specification and Verification of Design Models for Certifiable Avionics Software

Theme: INNOVATIVE DESIGN & SIMULATION

Acronym: AVIO-604 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

(1) Procuce avionics software models, using enhanced design notations for understandability. (2) Model compiler producing certifiable code. Languages : UML, Simulink Objectives: + Create an enhanced UML profile inspired from RSML +Requirements State Machine Language + Create a methodology for Simulink inspired from RSML. + Enable design-by-contract and the use of C++as a target language in a context of Model-Driven Development. + Develop a model compiler ready for qualification at the highest design Assurance Level (DAL A).

Test Automation with TTCN-3

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-605 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

System test methodology, based on the Test and Test Control Notation (TTCN-3) Objectives: + Gap analysis between TTCN and current test languages and environments. + Upgrade TTCN language and associated tools if necessary. + Large scale case study. Use of codecs in test environments and in target...

Test Automation with TTCN-3

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-605 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

System test methodology, based on the Test and Test Control Notation (TTCN-3)

Objectives:

+ Gap analysis between TTCN and current test languages and environments.

+ Upgrade TTCN language and associated tools if necessary.

+ Large scale case study. Use of codecs in test environments and in target systems.

Ruggedized OLED Displays

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-606_Plan C /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The increasing demand of LCD displays in glass cockpits requires the need to introduce new display technologies at lower cost and higher performance. Objectives: + Caracterize the OLED display technology for avionic applications and identify ways to ruggedize it + Identify OLED type suitab...

Ruggedized OLED Displays

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-606_Plan C /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The increasing demand of LCD displays in glass cockpits requires the need to introduce new display technologies at lower cost and higher performance.

Objectives:

+ Caracterize the OLED display technology for avionic applications and identify ways to ruggedize it

+ Identify OLED type suitable for avionic applications and ruggedization solutions

Time-Triggered Architectures and Mixed Criticality Systems Integration

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-613 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims at applying Model Driven Architectures (MDA) and Development Environment (MDE) to build Time-Triggered Architectures (TTA), defining models and automatic techniques for developing and integrating TTA based mixed criticality avionic systems, and experimenting integrated modular avio...

Time-Triggered Architectures and Mixed Criticality Systems Integration

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-613 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims at applying Model Driven Architectures (MDA) and Development Environment (MDE) to build Time-Triggered Architectures (TTA), defining models and automatic techniques for developing and integrating TTA based mixed criticality avionic systems, and experimenting integrated modular avionics (IMA) systems using TTA based data communication networks. href="http://www.criaq.aero/media/articles/AVIO-613.jpg" target="_blank" title="Link to poster">See poster of the project (May 2013)

Technologies for Reconfigurable antennas used in Satellite and Terrestrial Links (TRUST)

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-707 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The general objective of the proposed research is to investigate the feasibility of implementing electronically reconfigurable antennas with the following desired characteristics: capability to operate under realistic transmit power conditions, flexibility for beam steering and shaping, capability o...

Technologies for Reconfigurable antennas used in Satellite and Terrestrial Links (TRUST)

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-707 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The general objective of the proposed research is to investigate the feasibility of implementing electronically reconfigurable antennas with the following desired characteristics: capability to operate under realistic transmit power conditions, flexibility for beam steering and shaping, capability of retuning the frequency of operation, capability to operate under varying temperature conditions and reconfiguration time in the order of microseconds. To accomplish this, we will investigate the characteristics of tunable components under severe conditions (high power and varying temperature) to determine their limitations. Approaches to mitigate the performance degradation will have to be developed and validated. Concurrently, reconfigurable antenna prototypes demonstrating the enhanced robustness of the design method will be designed and implemented. These prototypes will allow assessment of performance and limitations of the proposed concepts.

Active haptic sidestick for aircraft applications

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-718_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

Since 2013, Design Exonetics (a spinoff from the CAMUS - Conception d’Actionneurs et de Moteurs de l’Université de Sherbrooke – laboratory) has been developing a novel actuation technology for the aerospace industry in collaboration with an aerospace OEM. The technology offe...

Active haptic sidestick for aircraft applications

Theme: AIRBORNE SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Acronym: AVIO-718_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project

Program: Maturing Technology

Since 2013, Design Exonetics (a spinoff from the CAMUS - Conception d’Actionneurs et de Moteurs de l’Université de Sherbrooke – laboratory) has been developing a novel actuation technology for the aerospace industry in collaboration with an aerospace OEM. The technology offers lighter and faster actuation than high-end electromagnetic motors or hydraulic systems, while matching the most stringent aerospace reliability and weight requirements, necessary for critical applications such as primary flight controls. Recently, Exonetics has been investigating new applications for the technology, one of the most promising being active haptic devices. The preliminary study has led to a commercial-product idea revolving around multi Degrees-Of-Freedom joystick actuated by cable mechanisms, which could find applications in a variety of aircrafts. The objective of the CARIC project proposal is thus to design, build, and test a prototype of a cable-mechanism for an active haptic joystick, in order to entice market interest and have the product evolve from TRL3 to TRL4. The main technical challenges of this project are: (1) the integration of electric/electronic and mechanical hardware in a commercially attractive product, (2) the development and implementation of optimal control strategy for cable-driven haptic devices and, (3) the production of the parts with state of the art aeronautical processes. These challenges need to address by partners in each specific field.

Manufacturing of an Aerospace Primary Composite Structure Prototype with Thermoplastic Materials

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-BAVARIA-1_INTL /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The objective of the project is to manufacture an aerospace fibre composite prototype with thermoplastic matrix materials in order to compare with aluminium and standard thermoset materials in term of weight, performance, manufacturability and cost. ...

Manufacturing of an Aerospace Primary Composite Structure Prototype with Thermoplastic Materials

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-BAVARIA-1_INTL /Status: Completed Project

International collaboration: Bavaria

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

The objective of the project is to manufacture an aerospace fibre composite prototype with thermoplastic matrix materials in order to compare with aluminium and standard thermoset materials in term of weight, performance, manufacturability and cost.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Out of Autoclave Composite Aerospace Structures Manufacturing

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-1 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The main objective of this project is to investigate the relationship between the performance (mechanical, quality) and the production costs (tooling, cure cycle) associated with the manufacturing of a composite airframe structure using out-of-autoclave technologies. Suitable materials must be id...

Out of Autoclave Composite Aerospace Structures Manufacturing

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-1 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The main objective of this project is to investigate the relationship between the performance (mechanical, quality) and the production costs (tooling, cure cycle) associated with the manufacturing of a composite airframe structure using out-of-autoclave technologies.

Suitable materials must be identified and characterized to establish a database of properties that can be compared to autoclave processed composites. Optimum processing conditions and cure cycles must be determined for both the OOA prepregs and VARTM cured in an oven. A suitable representative sub component will be identified and tested in order to assess the production costs using OOA technology.

The production costs will include tooling, processing, cycle time and floor space required for OOA composite structure production.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Complex composite structure multifunction for aerospace

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-1601_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

The new generation of complex composites structures that will be developed by Hutchinson and its partners will integrate several functions, including mechanical and robustness contribution brought by the integrated structure, esthetic contribution and more. These new technologies will allow to reduc...

Complex composite structure multifunction for aerospace

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-1601_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project

Program: Maturing Technology

The new generation of complex composites structures that will be developed by Hutchinson and its partners will integrate several functions, including mechanical and robustness contribution brought by the integrated structure, esthetic contribution and more. These new technologies will allow to reduce the amount of parts and the amount of operations required to build an assembly with a one-shot process, generating an energy saving in the global process. The self-stiffened part that will be developed will also allow to replace traditional metal components by composite materials. Combined with design optimization, a weight reduction will be achieved, generating a reduction of aircraft’s fuel consumption. These innovative technologies can be possible by combining a multiple expertise, and by developing specific know-how.

Natural Laminar Flow Nacelle Lip in Composite

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-1602_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

The aviation industry is constantly progressing towards its goal of minimum impact on the environment, with the aim to reduce in half its carbon emission by 2050 (IATA). To reduce the carbon emissions of an aircraft, with the same flying time, the aircraft manufacturer strives to reduce its weight a...

Natural Laminar Flow Nacelle Lip in Composite

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-1602_TRL4+ /Status: Completed Project

Program: Maturing Technology

The aviation industry is constantly progressing towards its goal of minimum impact on the environment, with the aim to reduce in half its carbon emission by 2050 (IATA). To reduce the carbon emissions of an aircraft, with the same flying time, the aircraft manufacturer strives to reduce its weight and drag. This project addresses these two levers by creating a Natural Laminar Flow Nacelle Lip (low drag) that is made of Composite materials (low weight). To reduce the engine fuel consumption, the trend with the turbofan engine manufacturers has been to increase the bypass ratios for greater propulsion efficiency. To push this efficiency higher implies larger fans and therefore larger exposed nacelle surfaces, and thereby increased drag. Reducing the friction drag on such surfaces would therefore have a noticeable impact on the overall aircraft drag. In this scenario, research on composite materials and technologies are ongoing to avoid autoclave curing in order to achieve required mechanical performance and geometric complexity, avoiding a high energy and time consumption. As composite parts grow in size and number, the need for faster and more cost-effective manufacturing comes into conflict with the limitations of traditional processing methods. Given the predicted market growth for composites and the economic and time limitations of autoclave processing, out-of-autoclave manufacturing techniques with special regards to thermoplastic composite are becoming very interesting. In this project a Nacelle Composite Lip will be realized after a down selection between Thermoforming and Automated Fiber Placement manufacturing processes with the aim to obtain good surface quality, concerning laminar requirements, generated by these out-of-autoclave technologies: particular attention has to be spent to obtain a good surface waviness and roughness through Consolidation-in-Situ (CiS) due to difficulties to control the crystallization.

Flame retardant FRP systems for aircraft interior applications

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-1633_INTL /Status: Completed Project /Program: Maturing Technology

Due to aircraft manufacture volume increase there is a dramatic need for economic fibre -reinforced composite materials and processing technologies that fulfil - besides high mechanical properties and reliability - also specific fire, smoke and toxcity characteristics (FST). As inherent flame retard...

Flame retardant FRP systems for aircraft interior applications

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-1633_INTL /Status: Completed Project

International collaboration: Germany

Program: Maturing Technology /Sub-program: International

Due to aircraft manufacture volume increase there is a dramatic need for economic fibre -reinforced composite materials and processing technologies that fulfil - besides high mechanical properties and reliability - also specific fire, smoke and toxcity characteristics (FST). As inherent flame retardant composite resins are very expensive this projects will optimise the FST characteristics of existing resin types like epoxy and vinylester by flame retardant fillers. Consequently the processing technologies have to be adapted not to wash out the solid fillers by impregnation processes. To compensate the increase of density due to the high filler content, the reinforcing fibre amounts will be partly substituted by light nanocellulose fibres. The developed materials and processes will lead to the manufacture of three different demonstrator parts. All materials and processes show a high potential for immense cost cutting. The materials and processes will be evaluated mechanically by the universities first as coupon and later as demonstrator part. In addition Comprisetec and the HSU will evaluate the cost benefit by process cost analyses and the ecological impact by a life cycle assessment.

Static, Fatigue and Ageing Behaviour of Composites Used at High Temperature

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-3 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Polymer matrix composites are increasingly used in the aeronautics industry. Some of these materials can withstand temperatures up to 550F in service over long periods of time. Exposition to elevated temperature leads to a viscoelastic behaviour for the matrix, which can have significant influence o...

Static, Fatigue and Ageing Behaviour of Composites Used at High Temperature

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-3 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Polymer matrix composites are increasingly used in the aeronautics industry. Some of these materials can withstand temperatures up to 550F in service over long periods of time. Exposition to elevated temperature leads to a viscoelastic behaviour for the matrix, which can have significant influence on the material's in-service behaviour. In addition, exposure to high temperature accelerates the material ageing.

Finally, engine components made of such materials are subjected to both thermal and mechanical fatigue loadings. Fatigue is therefore an aspect that mus be considered when dealing with such materials.

The objective of this collaborative research work is to develop new methodologies for predicting the static as well as the fatigue behaviour of polyimide braided carbon reinforced composite taking into account temperature and ageing effects. The project will be carried out by 3 Ph.D. students and 3 M.Sc. Students., spread over École Polytechnique de Montréal, Concordia University and Ryerson University. NRC is also a partner in this project. The industrial partners are Pratt and Whitney Canada and Rolls Royce Canada.

Flaw Growth Thresholds in Composites

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-407 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The objective of this research program is to propose experimental and modeling methodologies to determine endurance limit for damage onset in composite based on fracture mechanics and fatigue crack initiation monitoring using wave mode propagation based on Modal Acoustic Emission new approaches (MAE...

Flaw Growth Thresholds in Composites

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-407 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The objective of this research program is to propose experimental and modeling methodologies to determine endurance limit for damage onset in composite based on fracture mechanics and fatigue crack initiation monitoring using wave mode propagation based on Modal Acoustic Emission new approaches (MAE) [3-8]. Through an analysis of the guided wave mode propagation and signal contents, the approach will be developed to determine the endurance limit related to the onset of delamination and cracks initiation in composite materials, as function of cyclic loading and environmental conditions related to temperature and humidity.

Analytical and numerical modeling tools will be performed to predict delamination onset and growth. Crack propagation of the starting delamination will be modeled by the Virtual Crack Closure Technique and Cohesive Zone method. Experimental procedures and analytical model will be proposed to determine composite stiffness loss induced by delamination initiation and propagation, and to measure delamination toughness over a wide range of mode I / mode II ratios as well as for pure mode I and mode II loadings. The total strain energy release rate G and its mode I (GI) and mode II (GII) components will be evaluated for the mixed-mode bending (MMB) test configuration using a fracture mechanics approach. Toughness test results and modal acoustic emission data related to crack initiation will be used to define the delamination initiation criteria envelope for the composite. These failure envelopes will enable predictions of delamination onset in composite materials.

Impact Modeling of Composite Aircraft Structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-410 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Developments of design methodologies based on predictive numerical simulation methods for soft and hard body impact that would enhance our capability in predicting multi mode failure mechanisms and optimize structural design. ...

Impact Modeling of Composite Aircraft Structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-410 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Developments of design methodologies based on predictive numerical simulation methods for soft and hard body impact that would enhance our capability in predicting multi mode failure mechanisms and optimize structural design.
See poster of the project (May 2013)

Thermoplastic Composites Forming Technology for Complex and Integrated Aerospace Components

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-412 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project involves the development of analytical modelling and simulation tools, combined with novel, optimized tooling and manufacturing techniques for the cost-effective use of compression molding in the design and manufacture of aerospace structures. ...

Thermoplastic Composites Forming Technology for Complex and Integrated Aerospace Components

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-412 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project involves the development of analytical modelling and simulation tools, combined with novel, optimized tooling and manufacturing techniques for the cost-effective use of compression molding in the design and manufacture of aerospace structures.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Optimum design of steered-tow composite structures via characterization of Automated Fibre Placement induced defects

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-413 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project investigates the defect formation emerging during the AFP manufacturing of curvilinear shaped composite structures. An integrated optimization module will be developed to manufacture optimized composite parts free of detrimental defects. ...

Optimum design of steered-tow composite structures via characterization of Automated Fibre Placement induced defects

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-413 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project investigates the defect formation emerging during the AFP manufacturing of curvilinear shaped composite structures. An integrated optimization module will be developed to manufacture optimized composite parts free of detrimental defects.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Mechanical behavior of composite laminates after being subjected to extreme space environments

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-415 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Composite materials used to make space structures are subjected to space environments where the temperature can fluctuate between -170 oC to + 150 oC, where different types of failure may occur. The project studies this problem.

Mechanical behavior of composite laminates after being subjected to extreme space environments

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-415 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Composite materials used to make space structures are subjected to space environments where the temperature can fluctuate between -170 oC to + 150 oC, where different types of failure may occur. The project studies this problem.

Thermoplastic composite tail-boom concept demonstrator

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-5 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims at the development of tapered thermoplatic composite tail booms for helicopters which has the configuration of a tapered cylinder. It connects the cabin of the helicopter to the tail rotor, whose function is to control the direction and stability of the aircraft. The tail boom is s...

Thermoplastic composite tail-boom concept demonstrator

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-5 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

This project aims at the development of tapered thermoplatic composite tail booms for helicopters which has the configuration of a tapered cylinder. It connects the cabin of the helicopter to the tail rotor, whose function is to control the direction and stability of the aircraft. The tail boom is subjected to a large amount of bending moments and stresses.

For weight saving purposes, the tail boom is usually a thin walled tube. It is located in the wake of the exhaust gas coming from the engine. As such, it needs to be made of a material with sufficient high temperature performance. The tail boom has been made using aluninum which possesses the characteristics of light weight, sufficiently good strength, stiffness and temperature performance.

This project will address the stress analysis for design of the tail boom using thermoplastic composites, and issues related to the manufacturing of the tail boom using fiber placement technique. Properties of laminates containing laps and gaps (or curved fiber paths) will be studied and used for the development of the composite tail boom. Manufacturing, analysis and design techniques will be developed.

3D Textile Carbon Fibre Preforms

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-501 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Infusion processes offer great potential for accelerating the production of aerospace polymer composite parts and reducing unit costs when compared with traditional prepreg-based techniques. However, producing carbon fibre preforms to the complex shapes of 3D composite parts by assembling multiple l...

3D Textile Carbon Fibre Preforms

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-501 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Infusion processes offer great potential for accelerating the production of aerospace polymer composite parts and reducing unit costs when compared with traditional prepreg-based techniques. However, producing carbon fibre preforms to the complex shapes of 3D composite parts by assembling multiple layers of the thin reinforcements is slow and labour-intensive. Furthermore, preforming from thin reinforcements leads to high variability in production and final performance. In industrial practice the slow pace, cost and variability associated with preforming from thin 2D reinforcements negate the potential advantages of infusion-based composite manufacturing processes. A limited group of innovative fabric manufacturers have recently started offering different types of 3D reinforcements. They are available at fibre volume fractions similar to those of the composite parts. Hence de-bulking during manufacture is no longer necessary.

The "3D Textile Carbon Fibre Preforms" project aims at producing near net shape 3D textile preforms for fast manufacture by infusion of complex shape composite parts. Commercially available 3D reinforcements will be tested as well as some produced by new technologies developed in parallel by project partners. Several assembly techniques for 3D textiles will be evaluated for their performance and speed. A characterization of the reinforcement formability as well as the mechanical performance of corresponding composite samples will be performed at all stages of the project in order to select the best 3D textiles and assembly techniques. These will be used to produce several demonstrator parts corresponding to scalable complex 3D geometries.
This technology seeks to simplify and improve the reproducibility of preforms and composite parts manufacture. The research team includes experts in 3D leaving, resin infusion, textile reinforcement structures, preforming, fabric shaping, part design, as well as textile and composite mechanics and evaluation. The project is also based on a strong partnership with industrial leaders in textiles, composites and in the aerospace industry. Such partnership will benefit the introduction of this technology in the Canadian ind

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Conductive surface films or coatings for composite structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-502 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

href="http://www.criaq.aero/media/articles/COMP-502.jpg" target="_blank" title="Link to poster">See poster of the project (May 2013)

Conductive surface films or coatings for composite structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-502 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

href="http://www.criaq.aero/media/articles/COMP-502.jpg" target="_blank" title="Link to poster">See poster of the project (May 2013)

Design and Analysis of Hybrid (Bonded and Bolted) Joints for Aerospace Structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-506 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

The goal is to develop an optimized design methodology for bolted/bonded joints for composite materials. When anaylzed independently, there are existing methodologies for both bonded and bolted joints. Combined together as a bolted/bonded joint, the problem becomes more complex. The interactions and...

Design and Analysis of Hybrid (Bonded and Bolted) Joints for Aerospace Structures

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-506 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

The goal is to develop an optimized design methodology for bolted/bonded joints for composite materials. When anaylzed independently, there are existing methodologies for both bonded and bolted joints. Combined together as a bolted/bonded joint, the problem becomes more complex. The interactions and failure modes must be understood in order to avoid overdesign and weight penalty in aerospace structures.
See poster of the project (May 2013)

Development of New Repair Technologies for Out-of-Autoclave Aircraft Composite Components

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-507 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

Composite materials are increasingly being used for primary aircraft components because of their superior performance such as high strength and stiffness, long fatigue life and light weight. These components will eventually develop damage in service and will have to be repaired. Some repair methodo...

Development of New Repair Technologies for Out-of-Autoclave Aircraft Composite Components

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-507 /Status: Completed Project

Program: Exploring Technology

Composite materials are increasingly being used for primary aircraft components because of their superior performance such as high strength and stiffness, long fatigue life and light weight. These components will eventually develop damage in service and will have to be repaired.

Some repair methodologies have been developed for secondary structures but these technologies will be very difficult to adapt for primary structures. Primary structures are often quite thick to carry structural loads and have to meet high damage tolerance requirement. For such structures, it is crucial to design repairs that provide a significant level of recovery of residual strength. However, engineers responsible for damage assessment and repair designs currently do not have sufficient reliable analysis methodology to design high confidence repairs. In order to design reliable repairs, it is essential to develop a robust analytical tool to allow engineers to analyze and predict the behavior of the repaired component.

The developed analysis methodology should integrate modern CAE software and customized database system and be capable of assisting both engineers and technicians in determining reliable structural repairs for advanced composite aircraft structures. The primary goals of this tools future are thus (i) to provide reliable tools for aerospace structural engineers to design and analyze repairs and to improve the maintainability and structural integrity of those repairs (improved reliability of aircraft composite structural repairs);(ii) to provide a virtual environment to train aircraft maintenance and structural engineers in designing valid repairs and field technicians in performing these repairs, and (iii) finally to allow a widespread insertion of this repair technology throughout the fight transportation companies resulting in increased maintainability of composite aircraft structures.

This tool will be used to study the effects of various parameters (geometry, choice of materials and lay-up, thickness, etc.) on the repair strength. Various types of repair (scarf, patch, bonded and bolted) on monolithic stiffened panel as well as sandwich construction will be evaluated. The effects of processing parameters and abnormalities (surface preparation, contamination during repair) on the final strength will be studied. However a reliable analysis response depend on the reliability of the implemented material damage and fatigue models, if the composite materials used are not standard, their material models and parameters are unknown and should be first established through a material characterization process under both static and dynamic loadings.

The developed material models should be implemented in existing commercial codes used to assess their damage tolerance characteristics. One of the aims of the project is thus the development of an enhanced model to predict fatigue damage progression in primary aircraft composite structure and repaired primary composite structures and its validation based on experimental testing. The ability to predict the rate of fatigue damage is critical to damage tolerance analysis of a repair. And damage tolerance analysis allow the designer to assess the design life, assign inspection intervals, determine the likely failure mode of a repair and it is required for airworthiness certification for operating conditions.

See poster of the project (May 2013)

Composite Rotor Flex Beam Flapping Optimization

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-509_INTL /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

L'objectif du projet de recherche envisagé consiste à mettre au point de nouveaux centres de têtes rotor en matériaux composites ayant une capacité de battement de 7 degrés tout en ayant une durée de vie en fatigue similaire à celle des cent...

Composite Rotor Flex Beam Flapping Optimization

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-509_INTL /Status: Completed Project

International collaboration: India

Program: Exploring Technology /Sub-program: International

L'objectif du projet de recherche envisagé consiste à mettre au point de nouveaux centres de têtes rotor en matériaux composites ayant une capacité de battement de 7 degrés tout en ayant une durée de vie en fatigue similaire à celle des centres actuels dont la capacité est de 4 degrés. Il est possible d'y parvenir en modifiant le profil d'amincissement de la fibre pour effilement, en ajoutant un renforcement suivant l'épaisseur de la poutre ou en modifiant le matériau de la matrice du composite. Le nouveau matériau de la matrice peut être un thermoplastique ou il est possible de le renforcer à l'aide de nanoparticules comme les nano-argiles. Ce projet vise à étudier ces possibilités et leur influence sur la performance des centres de têtes rotor. Il permettra d'étudier la résistance au cisaillement inter-laminaire des poutres en matériaux composites soumises à des tensions élevées, que l'on retrouve couramment dans les structures des centres de têtes rotor des hélicoptéres. Une analyse paramétrique sera effectuée pour connaître l'influence des critéres de conception comme la rigidité de la fibre de verre et de la résine, les discontinuités au niveau de l'amincissement des couches, les charges de traction/flexion, les caractéristiques de résistance au cisaillement de la résine, les propriétés de l'épaisseur, etc. L'analyse servira à optimiser la conception des structures des poutres en flexion fabriquées en matériaux composites, en ce qui a trait à la résistance et à la durabilité dans l'espace de conception paramétrique. Les résultats de l'optimisation permettront de suggérer des modifications structurales. Ces modifications porteront sur de nouvelles caractéristiques de conception et de sélection de matériaux appropriés, portant aussi bien sur les fibres que la résine. Parmi les études figureront les systémes de résines à déformation élevée à la rupture, comme les thermoplastiques, ainsi que les résines à haute résistance au cisaillement associée à un renforcement tridimensionnel et/ou une modification de résine à l'échelle nanométrique. Parmi les activités du projet figureront les développements technologiques nécessaires à la fabrication et aux essais de la configuration améliorée en vue de démontrer que ses performances sont supérieures à celles des conceptions de référence.

Development of Nanochemicals Filled Epoxy Systems for Aerospace Applications

Theme: ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE

Acronym: COMP-510 /Status: Completed Project /Program: Exploring Technology

This project will develop a complete industrial solution based on nanochemicals for the manufacture of structural parts and tooling using resin film infusion, with a focus on the effect of a nanochemicals modified resin on the processing and performance of fibre reinforced composites. A lot...