Méthodologie de conception de lois de retour d'efforts pour un mini-manche actif

International audienceSAFRAN Electronics & Defense and the Information and Systems Processing Department (DTIS) of ONERA have begun a cooperation to evaluate the interest and the methods of use of Active Side Stick Units (ASSU) to improve the safety and flight qualities of helicopters. This paper describes the work carried out to model an environment for simulation and evaluation of haptic feedback laws. An experiment, implemented in the simulator PycsHel at ONERA Salon de Provence, has brought some insight about the influence of ASSU's parameters on the detection of specific haptic feedbacks (Softstops). The results obtained will be added to the simulation model in order to allow the specification, optimal if possible, of the haptic cues.SAFRAN Electronique & Défense et le département Traitement de l'Information et Systèmes (DTIS) de l’ONERA ont entamé une coopération pour évaluer l'intérêt et les méthodes d’utilisation des mini-manches (ASSU: Active Side Stick Units) pour améliorer la sécurité et la qualité de vol des hélicoptères. Ce papier décrit les travaux menés pour modéliser un environnement de simulation et d'évaluation des lois de retour haptique. Une expérimentation, implémentée dans le simulateur PycsHel de l’ONERA Salon de Provence, a apporté un éclairage sur l’influence de paramètres de l’ASSU pour la détection de rretours haptiques spécifiques (SoftStops). Les résultats obtenus seront intégrés au modèle de simulation afin de permettre la spécification, optimale si possible, des signaux haptique

Outils basés simulation pour la conception d'une protection haptique sur l'axe de roulis pour hélicoptère

International audienceThe latest evolution of pilot controllers, referred to as ASSU (Active Side Sticks Units) provides static and dynamic tactile force (or haptic) feedback to the pilot at the grip. Combined with FBW (fly-by-wire), this promising technology has enhanced safety levels compared to the original mechanical linkage systems they have started to replace, while offering vast improved benefits in terms of carefree handling and pilot situational awareness. In the framework of a PhD thesis, the Information Processing and Systems Department (DTIS) of ONERA and SAFRAN Electronics & Defense have started a cooperation to evaluate the interest and the different possibilities offered by the ASSU technology to improve safety and handling qualities of rotary wing aircraft. Up to now, the design and tuning of these functions were essentially performed thanks to numerous simulator sessions or flight tests with pilots. More than just providing a set of values for the required parameters defining the cueing function (hopefully an optimal set of parameters), it is expected that the approach presented here would reduce the number of piloted simulation tests and associated difficulties of the availability of pilots, the significant amount of time and material resources. The main objective of this work is to develop a design methodology based on the simulation of the entire helicopter control loop (also including the pilot in some form) and enabling the definition and parameterization of cueing functions. Moreover, some objective criteria will be defined and used to design the force feedback laws, bringing additional means of evaluation and validation than the classical subjective rating scales

Design methodology of force feedback laws through helicopter control loop simulation

International audienceThe latest evolution of pilot controllers, referred to as ASSU (Active Side Sticks Units) provides static and dynamic tactile force (or haptic) feedback to the pilot at the grip. Combined with FBW (fly-by-wire), this promising technology has enhanced safety levels compared to the original mechanical linkage systems they have started to replace, while offering vast improved benefits in terms of carefree handling and pilot situational awareness. In the framework of a PhD thesis, the Information Processing and Systems Department (DTIS) of ONERA and SAFRAN Electronics & Defense have started a cooperation to evaluate the interest and the different possibilities offered by the ASSU technology to improve safety and handling qualities of rotary wing aircraft. Up to now, the design and tuning of these functions were essentially performed thanks to numerous simulator sessions or flight tests with pilots. More than just providing a set of values for the required parameters defining the cueing function (hopefully an optimal set of parameters), it is expected that the approach presented here would reduce the number of piloted simulation tests and associated difficulties of the availability of pilots, the significant amount of time and material resources. This paper describes the work done during the first half of the thesis. The main objective of this work is to develop a design methodology based on the simulation of the entire helicopter control loop (also including the pilot in some form) and enabling the definition and parameterization of cueing functions. Moreover, some objective criteria will be defined and used to design the force feedback laws, bringing additional means of evaluation and validation than the classical subjective rating scales

Helicopter Augmented Control Laws for Ship Deck landing: HACLAS ONERA/DLR Joint Team

Different types of control laws are implemented, tested and compared for maritime operations particularly ship deck landing maneuvers at he flight simulation facilities at both DLR (German Aerospace Center) and ONERA (The French Aerospace Lab). At DLR, ”classical” cyclic and collective stick flight controls were used during the piloted simulator trials while active side-sticks were operated at ONERA. A joint maritime scenario for ship deck landing in the simulation environments of both institutes is presented. Test methodologies and assessment techniques to evaluate the ship deck landings are harmonized based on different criteria such as quantitative measures and handling qualities (HQ) ratings in order to analyze the developed control laws. Simulation results based on pilot studies for an EC135 in the DLR simulator and an EC225 at ONERA are presented

Proto-Planetary Disk Chemistry Recorded by D-Rich Organic Radicals in Carbonaceous Chondrites

Insoluble organic matter (IOM) in primitive carbonaceous meteorites has preserved its chemical composition and isotopic heterogeneity since the solar system formed ~4.567 billion years ago. We have identified the carrier moieties of isotopically anomalous hydrogen in IOM isolated from the Orgueil carbonaceous chondrite. Data from high spatial resolution, quantitative isotopic NanoSIMS mapping of Orgueil IOM combined with data from electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy reveals that organic radicals hold all the deuterium excess (relative to the bulk IOM) in distinct, micrometer-sized, D-rich hotspots. Taken together with previous work, the results indicate that an isotopic exchange reaction took place between pre-existing organic compounds characterized by low D/H ratios and D-rich gaseous molecules, such as H_2D^+ or HD_2^+. This exchange reaction most likely took place in the diffuse outer regions of the proto-planetary disk around the young Sun, offering a model that reconciles meteoritic and cometary isotopic compositions of organic molecules

High-Resolution Optical Line Width Measurements as a Material Characterization Tool

We present a case study on Eu^(3+)-doped Y_2O_3 transparent ceramics in which high-resolution laser spectroscopy is used as a material characterization tool. By comparing the results from coherent and incoherent optical spectroscopy with other characterization methods, we show that optical techniques can deliver supplementary information about the local environment of the activator ions in materials. Thus, high-resolution spectroscopy may be of interest for the investigation of a wider range of rare earth doped optical materials beyond materials studied for quantum information technology. The refinement of optical spectroscopy for the study of narrow optical transitions in rare earth ion single crystals has demonstrated that these techniques are extremely sensitive tools for probing the local environment of the rare earth ion. These techniques, such as photon echo experiments, have been important in developing materials for quantum information technology and spectral filtering applications. Here, we apply these techniques to transparent ceramic samples and compare the results with information gained from conventional material characterization techniques. Our present study demonstrates the high sensitivity of laser spectroscopic methods to microstructural strain and the presence of defects. In particular, the sensitivity is sufficient to detect small changes introduced by different thermal treatments in nominally equivalent materials. The results of our work show that it is possible to relate high-resolution optical measurements to defects and microstructural strain

In Vitro Study of Mutagenesis Induced by Crocidolite-Exposed Alveolar Macrophages NR8383 in Cocultured Big Blue Rat2 Embryonic Fibroblasts

Asbestos-induced mutagenicity in the lung may involve reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) released by alveolar macrophages. With the aim of proposing an alternative in vitro mutagenesis test, a coculture system of rat alveolar macrophages (NR8383) and transgenic Big Blue Rat2 embryonic fibroblasts was developed and tested with a crocidolite sample. Crocidolite exposure induced no detectable increase in ROS production from NR8383, contrasting with the oxidative burst that occurred following a brief exposure (1 hour) to zymosan, a known macrophage activator. In separated cocultures, crocidolite and zymosan induced different changes in the gene expressions involved in cellular inflammation in NR8383 and Big Blue. In particular, both particles induced up-regulation of iNOS expression in Big Blue, suggesting the formation of potentially genotoxic nitrogen species. However, crocidolite exposure in separated or mixed cocultures induced no mutagenic effects whereas an increase in Big Blue mutants was detected after exposure to zymosan in mixed cocultures. NR8383 activation by crocidolite is probably insufficient to induce in vitro mutagenic events. The mutagenesis assay based on the coculture of NR8383 and Big Blue cannot be used as an alternative in vitro method to assess the mutagenic properties of asbestos fibres