Améliorer durablement sa compétitivité, quel industriel n’en rêve pas ? L’innovation incrémentale, ou de rupture, est assimilée à un axe stratégique pour gagner de nouvelles parts de marché, ou du moins satisfaire et fidéliser les clients. Plus que tout autre, Airbus Helicopters investit et innove sur ses produits et services. Un nouvel axe se dessine à présent : l’innovation d’ingénierie qui comprend les processus, méthodes et outils de conception et certification d’un produit. L’innovation d’ingénierie s’inscrit dans une approche de « lean engineering ». Investir dans des innovations ne garantit pas pour autant d’impacter la compétitivité. Il faut viser le succès de l’innovation, c'est-à-dire, s’assurer, à chaque phase du processus, que l’innovation répond aux objectifs initiaux, la phase amont initiant le processus d’innovation. Cette thèse s’interroge sur comment structurer et piloter les études de faisabilité d’innovation d’ingénierie incrémentale, en vue d’anticiper un succès dès la phase amont ? A partir d’un diagnostic des pratiques industrielles, une méthodologie de pilotage d’innovation d’ingénierie en phase amont est proposée. Cette méthodologie s’appuie sur une typologie de projets amont, une typologie de parties prenantes, un processus accompagné de méthodes et outils. Le processus de pilotage s’articule avec une approche d’ingénierie système. Une première phase de spécifications s’appuie sur la modélisation de scénarios d’usage, et une seconde phase de vérification et validation est rythmée par une évaluation de la valeur. On propose de piloter une innovation d’ingénierie par l’évaluation de sa valeur fonctionnelle, de son utilité, de sa rentabilité et de sa valeur stratégique. La méthodologie de pilotage est formalisée par un modèle UML, exploitable pour gérer un portefeuille de projets amont. / Any industrial company wants to improve its competitiveness. Incremental or radical innovation is astrategic driver in order to increase market share, or at least satisfy and gain customers’ loyalty. AirbusHelicopters dramatically invests and innovates on products and services. However, a new innovationdomain has appeared: engineering innovation which gathers processes, methods and tools used bydesigners and analysts for developing and certifying a helicopter. Engineering innovation is closelyrelated to lean engineering. But investment on innovation is not a total guarantee of success.Industrials have to target innovation success, which means to ensure at each phase of the innovation process, that innovation answer properly initial customer needs. This PhD report studies how toorganize and steer feasibility study, from upstream phase, in order to anticipate innovation success?Based on a diagnosis of Airbus Helicopters industrial practices, a steering methodology of engineering innovation during upstream phase is proposed. The methodology is made of upstream projects typology, a stake holder typology, a steering process and associated methods and tools. Steering process relies on a “system engineering” approach. A first top-down phase specifies engineering innovation thanks to usage scenarios modelling. A bottom-up phase, verify and validate engineering innovation thanks to value assessment (Technology Value Level). An engineering innovation is steered in upstream phase depending on its functional value, its utility, its profitability and its strategic value. Steering methodology is formalized by an UML model, appropriate for managing a portfolio ofupstream project.

The topic of this master degree thesis is Formula Car Steering System Design. The thesis analyses principles connected with the steering system, such as aligning torque, camber variation from steering or spindle height change, as well as the influence of the steering wheel geometry on these principles. The main part of this thesis is steering system designing for practical purposes in international competitions of university teams. The simulation of parts is processed by finite element method. Also included are the load transfer and the tyre data sets topics. The thesis concludes with a list of several examples of car setup for cornering.

The characteristics of vehicle steering perception are decisive factors concerning vehicle safety and overall pleasure behind the wheel. It is a challenge for vehicle manufacturers to achieve these features and qualities, because usually vehicle tuning almost only relies on subjective evaluation of test drivers, which is costly and time consuming. In order to optimize suspension design and develop a tool that can be used to evaluate steering with objective metrics instead of subjective assessment, links between them must be confirmed. In this master thesis, both objective and subjective testing data of over 20 vehicles across four different segments are introduced in linear and nonlinear analysis. Linear regression analysis is applied to investigate simply positive or negative correlation between a pair of subjective-objective parameters. However, even if certain linear correlations are obtained, it is still hard to define the optimal value for objective metrics. Considering that the general shape of a correlation function can reveal which objective range give higher subjective rating, it is possible to define these preferred ranges with Neural Network (NN). The best data available is adopted from three drivers who tested 15 sedans, and some interesting results are found. The initial results demonstrate that NN is a powerful tool to uncover and graphically illustrate the links between objective metrics and subjective assessments, i.e., the specific range leading to better steering feel. Given a larger sample size, more reliable and optimal links can be defined by following the same method. These confirmed links would enable vehicle dynamics engineers to more effectively develop new vehicles with nearly perfect steering feel.

In this thesis the requirements for a rear wheel steering mechanism aimed to be implementedon KTH:s Formula Student car were evaluated. The requirements were obtainedby using already known loads, an analysis of how the quickly the driver turns the steeringwheel during track driving from video material and the Formula Student rulebook whichthe car is designed after. After the requirements were produced a number of concepts wereproduced and evaluated against each other. The concept that was given the highest scorewas a rack and pinion concept with a rotary actuator which was developed further.The design was made by first selecting an actuator with a planetary gearbox that couldfulfill the speed and load requirements and afterwards with CAD a design that could beintegrated on the car was made. The concept weighed around 1,7 kg and was compatiblewith the requirements. / I detta arbete undersöktes kraven som ställs på ett bakhjulsstyrningssystem för implementering på KTH:s Formula Student bil. Kraven togs fram genom att använda redan kända laster, en analys av hur snabbt föraren svänger utifrån videomaterial samt regelboken som alla formulastudentbilar är konstruerade efter. Efter att kraven tagits fram utvärderades ett antal koncept där det bästa konceptet, kuggstångsmekanism med ett roterande ställdon utvecklades vidare. Prototypdesignen gjordes genom att först välja ett ställdon med planetväxellåda som skulle klara av kraven och därefter med hjälp av CAD skapa en integrerbar design. Det färdiga konceptet väger ca 1,7 kg och klarar alla ställda krav.

Road feedback is an essential part of the driving experience, representing a connection betweenthe driver and the vehicle motion. Road feedback in a steer-by-wire system must berecreated and transferred to the driver through a feedback motor mounted on the steeringwheel. This project aimed to implement a function in the feedback motor control with thepurpose of giving the driver road feedback. The function should enhance the drivers trustand confidence in the steering system. Specifically, the function should provide the driverwith a feeling of being connected to the vehicle. A pre-study on the subject of steering feel was made as well as an interview study, whichresulted in a list of hypotheses. The hypotheses became a basis for generating conceptideas, together with measurement data of vehicle network signals for different drivingscenarios. Two different functions were then modelled and implemented in MathWorksSimulink. Function 1 models force components acting on the front road wheels in longitudinal,lateral and vertical direction. The forces result in a torque contribution fromeach dimension that acts around the steering axis and represents a reaction in the steeringsystem due to road disturbances. The torque is then translated to a steering wheel torque.Function 2 strives to capture road surface roughness through the high frequency informationin the steering rack motor torque. Three different road surfaces were studied; smoothasphalt, rough asphalt and gravel road. A test rig was used in order to verify the behaviour of the functions. The final step of theproject was to implement the functions in a test vehicle, where they could be further tunedand evaluated. The force component models of Function 1 captured different types of roadfeedback which were evaluated separately by timing, authenticity and desirability. Theresult of this evaluation was positive considering them separately. When the models werecombined it resulted in an unwanted behaviour. Function 2 gave torque feedback that feltauthentic and natural, especially for the gravel road case. However, it was more difficult todistinguish different asphalt types. The conclusion was that neither Function 1 nor 2 couldbe approved as finished functions, however both are considered as interesting concepts forfurther development. Fully steer-by-wire steering transmissions have now been approved for usage. This meansthat one of the remaining challenges for implementing steer-by-wire cars on today’s marketis the subjective views from the customers. Function 1 and 2 could be a way to providethe drivers with trust towards the steering, and at the same time, enhance the drivingexperience. / <p>The presentation was held at ACAS at Linköping University. The presentation included a summary and learnings from the project. A short demonstration was performed using a test-rig consisting of a steering wheel, a feedback motor and a control unit. </p>

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The aim of the study is to investigate how upper secondary school teachers of Swedish work with female authors writing in the period 1900–1940. The research questions concern how upper secondary school teachers work with the female authors, how their work interacts with steering documents and textbooks, whether the teachers show any similarities and differences in their work, and how female authors are treated in the textbooks and steering documents that are used. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with three upper secondary school teachers and one textbook per teacher was analysed together with the steering documents. The study reveals clear similarities and differences in the teachers’ work. The teachers work chronologically, period by period, and they deal with female authors in terms of a societal context, but they do not think that the work with women has any intrinsic value. Textbooks and steering documents have a central role to play in the teaching and are used together with other teaching material. The textbooks have an over-representation of male authors and the female authors are treated on their own, separated from the rest of the text and viewed in relation to male authors. The textbooks maintain a gender system where the man is the norm and the sexes are kept apart. The steering documents explicitly deal with female authors to a small extent and are shown to dictate of fundamental principles for what is considered valuable to consider in school work.

Evaluation is an institutionalized practice in the western public sector with several applications and uses. At the same time, the effectiveness and use of evaluation is seldom demonstrated. This evaluation paradox is due to the fact that evaluation is constrained and shaped in relation to, among others, a political context.  In this dissertation, the political context is examined from the assumption that governance shapes evaluation. The aim is to analyze the relationship between governance and evaluation, by studying the translation (i.e. inter­pretation) of the European Union evaluation approach ongoing evaluation in Sweden, in the context of Cohesion policy 2007-2013, which in Sweden aims at reinforcing competitiveness and employment. The relation­ship is examined through documents and interviews on a European union and a Swedish level, and in the translation process in between. With key concepts such as steering logics, participatory evaluation and translation through framing, the formation of evaluation in relation to governance has been mapped. This is particularly interesting in Sweden where the approach puts forth ideals of learning and interaction that seem to depart from ongoing evaluation.    Results show that governance cannot fully explain the shape of evaluation. Instead, Swedish agencies and other implementing actors have promoted their evaluation norms while at the same time fulfilling the Swedish ministries’ learning frame. It is an actor perspective comple­menting the relation­­ship between gover­nance and evaluation previously presented. The evaluation approach in Sweden has been translated to a practical participatory evaluation approach within a larger group of collabora­tive inquiry. In conclusion, evaluation on both levels has functioned as a relatively un­critical supportive resource for decision making within predetermined boundaries, more connected to the object of evaluation than to a larger gover­nance context. Evaluation in Sweden is being separated from questions of accounta­bility, and participation in evaluation is for goal fulfillment rather than for critical examination of basic assumptions underpinning projects and programs. Results made possible through the lens of trans­lation show that the Swedish approach was made possible by the vague borders of the field of evaluation, the rhetorical use of evaluation terminology in translation, skilled institutional entrepreneurs using legitimizing strategies, and the framing by the Commission and state ministries that opens up for national variation.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1993 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Two different types of tracking feeds are currently used in the majority of telemetry tracking antenna systems when autotrack operation is required. They are of the conical scanner or of the single channel monopulse family and they employ well known technologies. In broadband applications, these feeds all suffer from the same inherent degradation in efficiency caused by their inability to maintain a constant crossover loss value and by their failure to properly illuminate the reflector. In high dynamics situations they can also generate unwanted and sometimes detrimental modulation whenever on-axis tracking is not maintained. In addition, currently available versions of the conical scanner are not capable of high scan rates or of scan rate agility and they are ill-suited for use in tracking systems based on non-orthogonal axes positioners. This paper describes a new high efficiency tracking feed system based on proven conical scanner technology. Its design incorporates features such as variable crossover, steerable beam, high scan rates, scan rate agility as well as stable reference coordinate system. In addition to these features, this new feed is also capable of delivering, in all but one operational category, levels of performance superior to that achievable to date by any other implementation of the conical scanner or of the single channel monopulse technology.

Visible-light optical wireless communications (OWC) is a potential technology that can help resolve the crowdedness of the radio-frequency bands, whilst conveniently exploiting energy-saving light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as transmitters for both illumination and communications. Since there usually are many LEDs in a lighting unit, OWC has a multi- input multi-output (MIMO) geometry which, thanks to its channel diversity, can offer wireless local networks at data-rates many times higher than possible with single-channel systems. In such systems, MIMO-detection methods to separate the different optical channels play an important role in improving the system performance by helping reduce cross-talk between channels. To measure the performance of a particular geometry for MIMO communications, a simulation study, reported in this thesis, found that, amongst the signal- independent metrics, the condition number may be used as a rough predictor of the performance, whilst the channel Signal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR) is the most appropriate for geometry assessment. Combined with the fact that the overall performance of a MIMO system is mostly dominated by its worst channel, this indicates that the most effective way to improve the system performance is to maximise the worst channel’s SINR. One of the possible solutions to improving the SINRs is to use holograms to steer the transmitter images such that their distributions over the photo-detectors reduce overlaps. As LEDs emit partially-coherent light, the beam steering has to be carried out with partially- coherent illumination. By using two lenses to parallelise and collect partially-coherent light before and after the hologram, respectively, the source and image intensity distributions, and the autocorrelation of the hologram can be related in a succinct mathematical relationship. This leads to the development of three computational algorithms based on the autocorrelation function to obtain a quantised hologram with the desired beam-steering capability. These algorithms have their cost functions and performance comparison done at the hologram plane instead of the image plane, which therefore takes less time than traditional image-based methods. Specifically, one of these algorithms is able to save significant time over both the other autocorrelation-based algorithms and the direct binary-search, by 33% and by 50% respectively. A simulation-based study and a corresponding experiment, both reported in this thesis, found that the one of the proposed algorithms had poor power efficiency, whilst the other two were both highly effective in generating digital holograms with precise and power-efficient beam-steering performance. Of these two algorithms, one had superior time performance and was likely the best of the three proposed autocorrelation-based algorithms for generating beam-steering holograms. MIMO-OWC simulation also demonstrated the capability of using beam-steering holograms to design the channel and improve the system performance. Combining reported findings, a strategy can be devised to optimise the throughput of an imaging MIMO-OWC system for a given transmitted power.