TU Delft

The Delft University of Technology’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering is a renowned research, education, and innovation community solely focused on aerospace engineering. With over 200 science staff, approximately 250 PhD candidates, and over 2,700 BSc and MSc students, the faculty’s primary objective is to address global societal challenges, particularly climate change. The faculty’s core areas of interest include sustainable aerospace, big data and artificial intelligence, bio-inspired engineering, and smart instruments and systems.

Within Brightsky, three of TU Delft’s faculties are involved as research partners. For Work Package 1, these are the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering and the Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering (3mE). For Work Package 2 this is The Air Transport & Operations (ATO Group).

Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering (3mE)
The Department of Cognitive Robotics at 3mE is focused on creating intelligent robots that can be seamlessly integrated into our daily lives to assist humans in various complex tasks. To this end, different groups within the department perform cutting-edge interdisciplinary research on robot modelling, perception, learning and control, and human-robot interaction. The department is also strongly committed to transferring technology and knowledge into society through various projects, as well as through education programs such as MSc Robotics.

The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering
The Department of Aerospace Structures and Materials (ASM) of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft contributes to making aviation and spaceflight more sustainable by developing the structures and materials of tomorrow. This involves the development of new materials and structures that are lighter and stronger, as well as researching ways of recycling existing materials and extending the useful life of structures through better design and the development of new repair techniques. ASM offers its own track in the MSc Aerospace Engineering programme and has also contributed to education in the BSc program, as well as transferring knowledge and technology into society via industry collaborations.

The Air Transport & Operations (ATO) group
The Air Transport & Operations (ATO) group, from this faculty, is actively involved in the Brightsky project, to contribute to the digitalisation and sustainability of air transport processes. With a focus on data-driven solutions, the ATO group works towards enhancing the comprehension and optimisation of air transport processes. Additionally, the ATO group supports coordinating various stakeholders at different operational levels, promoting effective communication and collaboration among them.

TU Delft’s contribution to R&D Mobility fund

  • Smart MRO (WP1)

    Within WP1 the ASM department of Aerospace Engineering is working with EPCOR, KLM E&M, HvA, and NLR on the development of the cold spray repair technology. Within this part of the project, the ASM department is researching the use of microphones and AI-based signal analysis to monitor the cold spray process. By developing an automated process monitoring system, we will ensure the quality of the final repair and reduce the need for time-consuming and labour-intensive inspections.

    The Cognitive Robotics department at 3mE is working on developing novel methods for and on studying of human-robot collaboration in the context of introducing collaborative robots into repair & maintenance processes. The research work focuses both on the technical challenges of designing optimal control algorithms for human-robot interaction, as well as the scientific challenges related to the understanding of how to achieve meaningful human-robot role allocation, workers’ job satisfaction, and improved productivity/ergonomics. One of the key use-case tasks we focus on is the blending surfaces of jet engine fan blades, which is an essential part of the repair & maintenance process at our partner KLM.

  • Smart Availability (WP2)

    The ATO group is actively involved in Brightsky’s WP2- Smart Availability, which aims to develop digital solutions that optimize and enhance the planning of aircraft maintenance activities. The project’s primary goal is to decrease maintenance time, which will increase aircraft availability for operations. The faculty is contributing to the project by developing operational, tactical, and strategic simulation tools. The operational tools focus on optimizing the allocation of the workforce during line maintenance, while the tactical tools aim to improve the placement of a multi-fleet of aircraft inside a hangar. Lastly, the strategic simulation tools analyze various maintenance policies to prescribe optimal policies that will increase aircraft health and availability for the network.

    Link to the ATO group: – Air Transport and Operations (tudelft.nl)