Courses

Nonlinear spacecraft attitude control

Nonlinear spacecraft attitude control

6/8 November 2023

Overview and General Information: 

Spacecraft attitude control laws are often designed using linear control design techniques. As a result, their effectiveness can be guaranteed only for small attitude angles and small angular velocities since in that situation a linear approximation of the attitude equations can be employed. However, there are occasions when the spacecraft motion involves large attitude angles and large angular velocities. For those motions, the full nonlinear attitude equations must be used for evaluating the effectiveness of attitude control laws. In this course, basic results of Lyapunov stability theory will be presented and applied to nonlinear spacecraft attitude control.

Learning objectives: 

  • Spacecraft detumbling
  • Stability of nonlinear systems
  • Lyapunov theorems
  • Nonlinear spacecraft attitude stabilization
  • La Salle’s theorem
  • Lyapunov indirect method

Target audience

Doctoral students, non-academic professionals.

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    Courses

    Weapons bay aerodynamics and acoustic

    Weapons bay aerodynamics and acoustic

    20 October 2023

    Overview and General Information: 

    Modern combat aircraft design requirements impose the adoption of weapons bays to reduce radar signature and aerodynamic drag at transonic/supersonic speeds. Nevertheless, upon opening the bay, to release the store, aerodynamics and acoustic issues are generated which may potentially damage the structure of the cavity and the gimbal/sensors of the ordnance. Additionally, the trajectory of the store is strongly coupled to the unsteadiness of the aerodynamic field posing a hazard to a safe separation. Successful designs have been employed in current, low-signature,combat aircraft generation (F22, F117, F35, B2, J20, Su57), though each new design requires detailed studies to optimise the final architecture. In this webinar, the fundamentals of weapons bays aerodynamics and acoustic will be discussed.Attendees will learn to identify the major issues characterizing the topic, and what are the main difficulties during store release procedures. Numerical and experimental approaches for design procedures will be discussed as well.

    Learning objectives: 

    • Definition of main design challenges
    • Design approach and common solutions (including palliatives)
    • Fundamentals of store release
    • Examples of numerical and experimental approaches

    Target audience

    Doctoral students, non-academic professionals.

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      Courses

      Sensors and actuators for aerospace applications

      Sensors and actuators for aerospace applications

      12 September 2023

      Overview and General Information:

      Sensors and actuators are important for a variety of applications, such as control systems, robotics, mechatronic systems, biomedical devices, and aerospace. This seminar covers the fundamental physical principles, characteristics, and applications for various types of sensors and actuators including thermal, mechanical, electrical, electromechanical, and optical. After an introductory discussion on sensors and actuators, the focus will be on aerospace applications, where selected examples will be analyzed.

      Learning Objectives:

      • Introduction to sensors
      • Sensors’ characteristics
      • Physical principle of sensors
      • Analysis of different sensors (e.g. piezoelectric, indictive, capacitive, optical, etc.)
      • Actuators
      • Aerospace applications: case studies

      Seminar Learning Outcome

      1. Be able to recognize and calculate sensors’ characteristics for different sensors such as pressure, temperature, strain, level sensors, etc.
      2. Understand fundamental physics and constitutive laws for several common transducer types including electromagnetic, piezoelectric, and thermoelectric.
      3. Be able to apply and use sensing physics to design and analyze sensors and actuators.

       

      Target audience

      Undergrad and grands students are welcomed.

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        Courses

        Toward Smart Air Mobility: a Model-Based Design approach

        Toward Smart Air Mobility: a Model-Based Design approach

        20-21 July 2023

        Overview and General Information:

        The interest in Urban Air Mobility (UAM) had a step increase over the last few years. On the one hand, the slow growth rate of ground infrastructures led to a critical congestion in urban areas. On the other hand, the increasing demand for moving people and payloads further and faster drove the attention of research community and stakeholders toward the exploitation of the vertical dimension. With the aim to play a lead role in this new raising market, electrical air platforms with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities are being considered as key elements for the next generation of controlled airspace. In such a framework, crucial but challenging steps are represented by the optimization of novel configurations and the design of Guidance, Navigation, and Control systems. In this webinar, the fundamentals of Model-Based Design (MBD) approach will be discussed and applied to VTOL platforms. Attendees will learn the workflow of MBD and investigate the steps required for performance optimization and motion stabilization of rotary-wing vehicles. Test cases will be also presented.

        Learning objectives

        • Fundamentals of MBD method.
        • Application of MBD approach to a sample test-case.
        • Optimal sizing and performance estimation of rotary-wing aircraft.

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          Courses

          Introduction to peridynamics

          Introduction to peridynamics

          10-13 July 2023

          Overview and General Information:

          The nonlocal peridynamic theory provides the capability for improved modeling of progressive failure in materials and structures.  This course starts with an overview of the Peridynamic (PD) theory and derivation of its governing equations based on the balance laws of classical continuum mechanics.  Subsequently, it presents derivation of the PD differential operator (PDDO) which enables the PD form of the governing equations of classical continuum mechanics. This course presents not only the theoretical basis but also its numerical implementation for the solution of governing field equations.

          Learning Objectives:

          The primary objective of the course is to acquaint students with the concept of PD, and derivation of the bond-based and state-based PD equilibrium equations through the Euler-Lagrange equations.  Also, it acquaints the students with the derivation of PD differential operator, and its use in the construction of governing equations for elastic and elastic-plastic material response as well as the coupling of PD with the finite element analysis.

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            Courses

            Spaceports as gateway for sustainable access to space

            Spaceports as gateway for sustainable access to space

            22 June 2023

            The course provides an outlook at the technologies for commercial access to space, in particular suborbital flight, near space flight, satellite air launch, re-entry systems. Special focus is provided to the suborbital flight with special emphasis to the operational aspects and the opportunities of space exploitation offered by a suborbital spaceflight system. Elements of the expected suborbital market are provided, ranging from the space tourism to microgravity experimentation, to astronauts and pilots training. Matching of the suborbital flight to the New Space Economy opportunity is also discussed. The course addresses the concept and implementation of Spaceports as pivotal assets for commercial access to space and presents the major Spaceport functions that are identified to properly run the asset in support of flexibility to adapt non only to the current technologies but to the future developments. The main criteria to establish a Spaceport and relevant assessment methodology is presented, and the future Italian Spaceport is discussed. The Course continues with the description of the Ground Segment, a paramount asset to properly support a space mission execution both during flight mission and ground operations. The main Ground Segment functions and elements are described and the associated operations. The course describes the experience gathered during the development and execution of the ESA Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV) mission with details on the Ground Segment approach and various mission aspects. The mission was supported at the ALTEC mission Control Center in Torino, Italy. The course describes the aspects associated with the feasibility study of Spaceports evaluation in Malaysia and different study cases are presented. Malaysia is significantly interested in access to space and becoming part of the major international players. The class provides highlights on Regulatory aspects and in particular the outfitting of a Regulatory system that allows Spaceports outfitting and suborbital operations in the Italian Territory. Specific Forum are described such the European Spaceport Forum and the International Astronautical Congress, where participants are exposed to the state of the art in space business and can be part of promising network of operators. After the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, the space business has significantly changed, and the course provides an outlook of the new exciting opportunities ahead of us that are reshaping this fascinating business. The course provides elements to both doctoral students who are interested in enriching their curriculum with first-hand experience out of the space industry and operators who are interested in setting up space related services in support to the current and future developments.

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              Courses

              Acoustics in aerospace – Numerical methods and materials characterization

              Acoustics in aerospace – Numerical methods and materials characterization

              14-15 June 2023

              The aim of this webinar is to deal with the main criticisms related to acoustic simulation and noisesuppression in the aerospace sector. This objective is achieved by initially introducing and discussing the state-of-the-art methods and technologies that are relevant to this field.Subsequently, the fundamentals of analytical (Transfer Matrix Method) and numerical (Wave Finite Element Method) approaches are illustrated, which constitute powerful and efficient techniques to estimate the absorption and transmission properties of a sound package. Lastly, some innovative acoustic meta-material configurations are presented, based on a periodic pattern of porous unit cells, whose main homogenization models are defined and discussed too. These topics address different applications not only in the aerospace industry, but more generally in transportation(automotive, railway), energy and civil engineering sectors, where both weight and space, as well as vibroacoustic comfort, still remain as critical issues.

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                Courses

                Optical methods for spacecraft attitude and orbit determination

                Optical methods for spacecraft attitude and orbit determination

                30-31 May 2023

                Images of celestial bodies collected by a camera contain much valuable information for a spacecraft, which can be used to infer the relative position and/or attitude. Imaging systems have been successfully employed in the past decades to this end, in the form of, e.g., star trackers, navigation cameras, horizon sensors. Depending on the apparent size of the targeted body within the image, different techniques are used to extract the relevant information. In this webinar, the fundamentals of optical navigation techniques will be discussed. Attendees will learn image processing techniques and attitude/position estimation algorithms. Test cases will also be discussed.

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                  Courses

                  Boosting the commercialisation of space activities

                  Boosting the commercialisation of space activities

                  15 May

                  The short course will introduce the market challenges and the business opportunities offered by the emerging
                  space economy.

                  The course will:

                  • present the Space Economy and introduce the New Space revolution;
                  • describe the new business models and technology trends;
                  • describe the space finance landscape and challenges to access finance faced by European space ventures;
                  • provide an Overview of the European Institutional toolbox to foster commercialization of space (e.g., the
                    ESA BIC model, Phi-Labs, Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, competitions, challenges, export
                    sales support).

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                    Courses

                    Multi-scale, multi-physics, and multi-technique computational tools for materials computational modelling

                    Multi-scale, multi-physics, and multi-techniquecomputational tools for materials computationalmodelling

                    8-9 and 10-12 May

                    The short course will describe the main aspects of recently developed two- and three-dimensional
                    computational frameworks for multi-scale and multi-physics analysis of polycrystalline and composite
                    materials, including the representation of degradation and failure, based on the employment of techniques
                    different from standard FEM.
                    The described models are based on the explicit representation of the considered materials mechanics at the
                    meso-scale, including the initiation, evolution and coalescence of micro-damage and cracking. The strategies
                    to capture the exchange of information between different scales, namely the component level (macroscale)
                    and the material level (mesoscale), will be described, as well as the techniques to include multi-physics
                    representations (e.g. piezoelectric, thermoelastic, chemical diffusion).
                    The potential benefits of employing different techniques for different material phases will be discussed and
                    an example about the coupling of the recent developed Virtual Element Method and the Boundary Element
                    Method will be presented.
                    The course will describe the main features of the proposed frameworks, their main advantages, current issues,
                    and direction of potential further development. Several applications to the computational analysis of damage
                    initiation and micro-cracking of common and piezoelectric polycrystalline aggregates under different loading
                    conditions will be discussed. Examples about modelling damage initiation and evolution in composite unit cells
                    will be presented.

                    Syllabus:

                    • A boundary element computational framework for micromechanics (2 hours)
                    • The boundary element method: integral equations and their numerical treatment (4 hours)
                    • Introduction to the Virtual Elements Method (2 hours)
                    • Construction of a boundary elements multiscale formulation including damage and failure (2 hours)
                    • Multi-scale, multi-physics and multi-technique formulations for materials modelling (2 hours)

                    Learning Objectives:

                    At the end of the class the attendees will have learned how to use integral equations to model solids
                    mechanics problems, will have a clear understanding of strengths and weaknesses of the Boundary Element
                    Method, and will know how to use it in combination with other techniques, such as FEM, VEM, Cohesive Zone
                    Modelling, Continuum Damage Mechanics to address a wide range of materials mechanics problems.

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