ILA At a Glance

EADS, IRIAS and IITP Present New Set of Tools

At ILA Berlin Air show held from June 12 to 17, EADS and the Russian research Institutes IRIAS and IITP presented for the first time MACROS, a software which makes predictive modelling and design optimisation easier, faster and more accurate.
MACROS is a technology implemented in a set of tools for predictive modelling and simulation based on data handling. It includes modules for automated construction of data-based models, assessment of their accuracy, reduction of models, data fusion etc. and solutions for design optimisation. Moreover, MACROS is a new design methodology, which allows extracting as much information as possible from as little data as possible. One of the technology appealing features is that it is very simple in use and oriented towards engineers and not math experts.

“With MACROS a company can do more with less,” said CEO of Macros Solutions Ltd, Pierre-Laurent Kociemba. “In other words, if you have only a small amount of data, you can get much more accurate results with MACROS than with any conventional tool. If you want to achieve a quantum leap in terms of accuracy of results, with MACROS you don’t need to have as much data as you would need with today’s technology.”

MACROS technology — simulation, based on data handling — could be used in various domains, for example automotive, shipbuilding, financial services, biotechnology and even agriculture. It is based on a synergy of four elements: advanced mathematical methods for data analysis combining topological and statistical approaches; advanced optimisation algorithms including surrogate-assisted multi-objective optimisation; cognitive technology and advanced IT solutions.

MACROS set of tools was developed by International Research Institute of Advanced Systems (IRIAS) and Institute for Information Transmission Problems (IITP) as parts of Russian Academy of Sciences.
EADS and Airbus supported the programme financially and with their knowhow.

Experts from EADS performed assessments using methods, algorithms, and the software and implemented a final validation and acceptance of MACROS. Based on preliminary studies, Airbus engineers estimated that usage of MACROS surrogate models instead of real computations could potentially reduce an aircraft fuselage weight optimisation computation from a few weeks to a few hours, while still maintaining an optimal accuracy relevant to the problem. Airbus is currently in the process of validating MACROS for real industrial engineering problems. The first real results are expected this summer. MACROS tools have also been successfully applied to find the solution to optimise and improve characteristics in Formula One.

EADS, Eurocopter & BioCombustibles del Chubut sign agreement

The creation of an aviation biofuel production facility in Brazil will be evaluated by EADS, Eurocopter and BioCombustibles del Chubut under terms of a cooperative agreement signed at last month’s ILA Berlin Air Show.
The accord will benefit from the pioneering work in algae-based biofuels already conducted by EADS and BioCombustibles del Chubut, and it builds on Eurocopter’s growing presence in Brazil.

“EADS understands the importance of working with all elements of the ‘value chain’ in developing biofuels as an alternate to fossil fuels used in aviation,” said EADS

chief technical officer Jean Botti said, “By teaming with BioCombustibles del Chubut, we will benefit from the company’s unmatched experience in developing microalgae as a source of next-generation biofuels.”
“The signature of this agreement is the first step in changing the future of aviation as we know it today,” said the president of BioCombustibles del Chubut, Marcelo González Machin. “Furthermore, through the production of this biofuel, the EADS Group will start a very significant social and productive change worldwide. It will be a revolutionary change, not only for the massive reductions in CO2 emissions that it is to provide, but also for production system that it will establish,” he added.
“Eurocopter has made the development of more eco-friendly helicopters one of its priorities,” said Eurocopter’s business engineering vice president, Didier Renaux. “Moreover, the concept of local production of algae biofuel is particularly adapted to helicopter operations, and opens new business opportunities,” he added.

Under terms of the agreement signed at the Berlin Air Show, the team of EADS, Eurocopter and BioCombustibles del Chubut will perform feasibility studies using microalgae farming to produce aviation-grade biofuel. The feasibility of helicopter flight tests with the biofuel is currently under assessment.