Course Description

Autonomous Systems for Structural Health Monitoring in Aeronautics

Coordinator  :

- Dr. J. Suski, Memsfield

Speakers :

- Ir. V. Rouet, EADS
- Prof. N. Harris, Univ. Southampton
- Dr. H. Rouault, CEA-Liten
- Prof. D. Flandre, UCL 

Venue :

Monday, November 29th, from 9:00 to 17:00 in Aud. Barb 10. 

See map on http://www.uclouvain.be/cps/ucl/doc/adpi/documents/PLAN_2007recto.pdf.   Aud Barb (building nr 6) is located in square E8

Abstract :

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) becomes very important for Aeronautics as well for other industrial sectors involving big mechanical constructions, e.g. off-shore platforms.

The primary objective of the SHM is to lower the maintenance cost through in-time alerts resulting from in-situ measurements of targeted structural parameters during the exploitation of constructions.

In the present 1-day course, we will review the concepts and difficulties of SHM in aeronautics applications, then three experts will present the emerging technological solutions selected by the TRIADE FP7 Consortium http://triade.wscrp.fr/:
. Energy harvesting based on seismic mass and electromagnetic conversion,
. Energy storage using rechargeable devices,
. Fully Depleted SOI (Silicon on Insulator) CMOS technology to address Ultra Low Power (ULP) functions, sensors and interfaces.
Technical development will result in a disposable SHM Smart Tag that includes a battery, an antenna, an RF inductive coupling link, a memory, an energy harvesting part, a power management circuit and a microprocessor.

1. Health monitoring, diagnostics and prognosis (V. Rouet)

Aeronautic applications have to deal with harsh environments.  However, the diversity of loads impacts differently the reliability of aircrafts.  For this reason, monitoring systems have been introduced onboard to measure these loads and compute a damage assessment accordingly.  The diagnostics of the aircraft may also be completed by a prognosis forecast to improve the aircraft maintenance.

2. Fashioned small batteries for NTIC applications : adjustable design, voltage, capacity and performances (H. Rouault)

Since the Li-ion technology exhibits the highest energy density, innovative small Li-ion batteries may be designed and built in order to be used on a large field of applications, supplying smart systems, communicating sensors ...  The batteries may be implantable or wearable , exhibit high lifetime or sustain high charge rates, withstand high vacuum, hot or low temperature, vibrations ... Depending on the application, their design may be adapted in thin and flexible configuration or in rigid casing.  New manufacturing processes (e.g. based on printing techniques) may also be developed in order to realize conformable thin film batteries

3. Vibration Energy Harvesting - Basic Principles and Examples (N. Harris)

Scavenging energy from the environment has received significant amounts of research over the last few years, particularly as the technology enabling low power wireless sensor networks has matured.  The ability to have self-powered wireless devices has opened up the scope of application tremendously, with the promise of a disruptive technology that allows applications that up until now, have been inconceivable.  This workshop will concentrate on one class of energy scavenger - the vibration scavenger-, and will describe its operating principles, and explain its limitations and attractions.  These points will be illustrated with examples of vibration scavengers, that are being developed for aeronautical applications in Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS).

4. Fully-depleted SOI CMOS technology for ultra-low-power electronics (D. Flandre)

The assetss of SOI CMOS technologies for structural health monitoring and energy harvesting, and more particularly disruptive ULP (Ultra Low Power) circuit design techniques, will be reviewed.  An autonomous wireless sensor network node should operate on a very tight power budget on the order of 100 µW.  Considering the number and diversity of the circuit functions to be implemented in such a node (i.e. from analog sensor interfaces to RF connectivity, power management, data processing and memory), power efficiency is of prime importance throughout circuit and system design.  The following related innovative concepts introduced by UCL to be compatible with the µW target, even under high-temperature conditions, will be covered : energy harvesting from a miniature solar cell embedded in a SOI CMOS circuit, high-efficiency power transmission and regulation by inductive couling, time-to-digital CMOS sensors, ultra-low-leakage digital and memory cells, pulse generation for Ultra-Wide-Band communication ...

Short biographies of the speakers

Vincent Rouet (EADS). Vincent Rouet graduated in 1997 from ESIEA (Ecole Supérieure d'Informatique-Electronique-Automatisme) in Paris with an engineer degree in Numerical Electronic Design and Real-Time Software (Signals and Image).  From 1997 to 2001, he worked within VITEC (VIdeo TEChnology) company in Chatillon (France) where he participated in the design and development of an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) dedicated to real-time video and audio coding and the associated driver and software. In 2001 he joigned EADS France - Innovation Works, in he electronic reliability group and has been involved since in the design and development of Time Stress Measurement Device/Health and Usage Monitoring System and Prognostic & Health Management integration.

Hélène Rouault (CEA-LITEN). After receiving the Electrochemical and Materials engineering from the Institut National Polytechnique of Grenoble and graduating as PhD in Materials Science and Processing (INPG), in 1991, Hélène Rouault joined as R&D engineer the Process and Electrochemical Research Center (Grenoble).  In 1995, she integrated the CEA's Rhone Valley Center to work on nuclear waste treatment before entering the CEA-Grenoble in 1998 to develop advanced Li-ion batteries.  Since 2005, she is in charge of the "small batteries for specific applications" team and is involved in several French and European projects concerning the energy storage for autonomous and/or communicating Microsystems in large field of applications (transport, industrial environment, ambient intelilgence, aeronautics, space, wearable devices, ...).  In parallel she ensures teaching activities at the university adn  engineer school.

Nick Harris (University of Southampton). Nick Harris is a senior lecturer in the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, Southampton, UK, and he has more than 75 publications in the fields of wireless sensor networks, energy harvesters, biosensors, microfluidic systems, and processing.  He was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 1997 by the University of Southampton, Department of Mechanical Engineering.  After a period of time working in the seismic industry Dr. Harris was appointed principal engineer at ERA Technology in the Microsystems and Materials Group before returning to the University of Southampton as a senior research fellow with research interests in miniaturized fluidic systems.  This resulted in a unique type of microfluidic particle concentrator using ultrasonic standing waves.  Current research areas include self-powered health and usage monitors and embedded electrochemical condition-monitoring microsystems.  His other research interests include wireless sensor networks and analogue and digital electronic sensor circuit design.  He is a member of the IET and a Chartered Engineer, director of consulting company D4 Technology Ltd and a co-founder of Perpetuum Ltd, the world's leading vibration energy harvesting company

Denis Flandre (UC Louvain).  Denis Flandre received the EE and Ph.D. degrees from the Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, in 1986 and 1990.  His doctoral research was on the modelling of Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) MOS devices for characterization and circuit simulation, his Post-doctoral work on systematic and automated synthesis methodology for MOS analog circuits.  Since 2001, he is full-time Professor at UCL.  He is currently involved in the research and development of SOI MOS devices, digital and analog circuits, as well as sensors and MEMS, for special applications, more specifically high-speed, low-voltage low-power, microwave, biomedical, rad-hard and high-temperature electronics and microsystems.  He has authored or co-authored more than 500 technical papers or conference contributions.  He is co-inventor of 10 patents.  He has organized  or lectured many short courses on SOI technology, devices and circuits in universities, industrial companies and conferences.  He has been a member of the Advisory Board of the EU Network of Excellence for High-Temperature Electronics ("HITEN") and is now a member of the Governing Board of the European  "SINANO Institute" and of the Executive Board of "NANOSIL" (the EU Network of Excellence of Silicon nano-devices).  Prof. Flandre is a co-founder of CISSOID S.A., a spin-off company of UCL founded in 2000, focusing on SOI high-temperature IC solutions.  He is a member of the SOI Industry Consortium and of the EUROSOI network.

Registration fees

Free of charge for university members, 125 € for non-university members to be paid on the following bank account, mentionning "for ICTM1861 + name of the participant"

091-0015728-43 (Dexia)
IBAN : BE66.0910.0157.2843
BIC (SWIFT) : GKCCBEBB
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