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.

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

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.

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

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.

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

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.

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

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.

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

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.

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

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).

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

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.

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

The main reference of the webinar will be the Urban Air Mobility and Sustainable Development White Paper published last week (Jan 2023) by ASD Europe, of which I am the main author. In this study, a seminal framework towards transitioning to sustainability-driven business model(s) has been developed for addressing the sustainable development of the emerging UAM.

Learning Objectives:

The webinar will aim to meet two main goals:

• Raise awareness about both challenges and benefits related to UAM;
• Investigate the UAM Sustainability Framework proposed by the ASD Urban Air Mobility and Sustainable Development White Paper.

Therefore, embedded in a holistic approach, the webinar will touch aspects such as i) the main spheres of impacts of UAM, ii) their wider desirability by citizens (not just users), and iii) UAM total emissions released based upon an entire life cycle analysis approach.

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.

This course will concern the following learning objectives:

• Multidisciplinary optimization considering aerodynamics and structures.
• Algorithmic Differentiation (AD) to support an efficient evaluation of the sensitivities needed by gradient-base optimization techniques.
• Effects of flight dynamics and aeroelasticity coupling.
• Formulation of coupled problems.

Syllabus

• Introduction: new efficient wings, aerostructural coupling, and optimization
• Optimization: definitions, classifications, numerical optimization methods (gradient-based optimization)
• Gradient evaluation: the adjoint method. Algorithmic differentiation.
• Using AD library on a simple problem: forward vs reverse modes
• MDO and MDO architectures. Coupled gradient evaluation.
• Application of high-fidelity Aero-structural optimization with AD
• Introduction on non-conventional aircraft and coupled flight dynamic and aeroelastic effects.
• Formulation of the coupled problem, unsteady aerodynamic forces integration.
• Applications on non-wing&tube aircraft

> Download Course Brochure

Participation

You need to buy one of the package list available here and use the Order ID assigned to you after purchase.
You need to Login for registration.