Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet COROBOREES (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Socially interacting robots are widely envisioned to revolutionise learning and care, and as they become more ubiquitous, to perform tasks collaboratively. However, despite astounding progress in engineering adaptive capabilities in fundamental behaviours such as locomotion, social behaviour is still generally considered a separate 'add-on' component. COROBOREES will contribute to efforts to provide a bottom-up approach to social behaviour in automated systems. Combining methods from evolutionary robotics, collective behaviour and sound and music computing, the project will investigate ways to incorporate social information into the motion controllers of virtual agents, and to study how this can enable synchronisation of complex movement patterns. Specifically, the project will build on the central pattern generator (CPG) framework for robot motion. CPGs are widely used in robotic controllers for cyclic motions such as walking, and may include feedback mechanisms so that robots can adapt to new tasks and environments. Using evolutionary methods, COROBOREES will compare mechanisms for entrainment to rhythmic acoustic patterns as well as acoustically transmitted social cues. Methods from sound and music computing will be used to evaluate the complexity and synchronisation of the collective rhythms generated. In addition to the innovation within robotics, this work will result in a unique simulation platform for collective behaviour, complete with built-in sensorimotor mechanisms, for the use of researchers in artificial life, biology and neuroscience. The broadly applicable training-through-research nature of the action, the contact with numerous fields of research, as well as a tailored and extensive focus on transferable skills, will provide the Experienced Researcher with invaluable knowledge and experience for leading applied interdisciplinary research in the future.

Mots clés : collective behaviour

Participants :
- University of Oslo (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 202158.72 €
Projet FLOODARC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Society is becoming more vulnerable to natural climate variability through increasing exposure of people and infrastructure. Notably, floods are among the most destructive natural hazards causing widespread loss of life, damage to infrastructure and economic deprivation. Robust knowledge about their future trends is therefore crucial for the sustainable development of societies worldwide, particularly in sensitive areas such as Western Mediterranean. This Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the long-term variability of hazardous (high-impact) floods at different temporal and spatial scales. Through this action the Experienced Researcher (ER) will work within the Hydro-Meteorology, Climate and Society Interactions (HMCIS) group at the Host Institution (IGE) to develop a high-impact flood database in Western Mediterranean. State-of-the art statistical tools applied to the flood database will allow the ER i) to evaluate, for the first time, the causes of non-stationarity in the long-term flood pattern evolution at a sub-continental scale and; ii) to investigate the role of the climate variability on the high-impact flood patterns at centennial to millennial time-scales in W Mediterranean. The ER has expertise in high-resolution proxies of flood events contained in lacustrine and fluvial sediments. He aims to obtain specific training in geo-statistical tools applied to Flood Hydrology at the Host Organization. This MSCA project will significantly contribute to the career development of the researcher and will enhance our current understanding of the natural variability of floods and its trace in the sedimentary record. Therefore, this study will help to address major concerns in relation to flood hazards and adaptation strategies in line with the European engagement with climate change (EU report 2012, Horizon 2020, Climate Action) and the EU Floods directive (2007/60/EC).

Mots clés : paleoflood, western mediterranean, statistics of extremes, paleohydrology

Participants :
- Université Grenoble Alpes (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet SoRoHuMI (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Soft Robotics is an emerging technology that bridges the gap between humans and potentially harmful robots by developing devices, which are intrinsically safe to interact with. Former studies on Soft Pneumatic actuators (SPAs) show that they can be used for fine manipulation of fragile environments including interaction with living beings for rehabilitation purposes or as wearable devices for humans. The modeling and control challenges involving early designs of SPAs remain unanswered and hinder the application spectrum of such potentially disruptive innovation. Given the flexibility and scalability of SPAs, they can be also used as haptic devices in distributed surfaces. The development of these technologies has been limited to testbench prototypes and their integration into a single platform for sensing and actuating at different scales has not been successfully implemented yet. To address this need, we propose the design and control of Soft fluidic actuated interfaces for Human-Machine interaction for rehabilitation devices. The development of scalable interfaces require a novel approach of actuation and sensing co-design for variable impedance devices in contact with humans. Besides representing a step forward in the applicability of the Soft Robotics concept, the devices can also provide an intrinsically safe solution for rehabilitative robotics to address the challenge of physical interaction. Through this project, the ER will reach a level of maturity on technological aspects in this rapidly growing research field. The proprietary microfluidic control developments at Elvesys will be feeding directly the advancement of this research. Also, the ER will benefit from entrepreneurship skills specific to SME environments, including market research, product valorization and finance management. Following this new experience, the ER will reach the level of autonomy and leadership to envision managing a research team in the industrial level.

Mots clés : soft robotics, human machine interaction, impedance control, microfluidics

Participants :
- Elvesys (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet nanoOIPC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Soft, flexible electrode materials are needed for a variety of health and energy applications, e.g. nano-electrodes for bio-implantation and light weight electrodes for solar energy capture. Organic ionic plastic crystals (OIPCs), similar to ionic liquids (ILs), embedded with nano-particles (NPs) as reactive sites offer highly tunable solutions. OIPCs are also advantageous owing to a plastic phase that allows the conductive nano-plastic material to be molded at high temperature. However, the OIPC/NP field is in its infancy and little is understood regarding NPs stability/reactivity. By combining high resolution 3D optical imaging with electrochemistry, this project aims at mapping the NP reactivity and simultaneously correlate it to surface and chemical data based on NP density, from single NPs to collective or percolated films. New insights will be gained in the inherent chemical properties of composite materials as well as NP size, localization, etc. The synergistic interactions between NPs and ILs/OIPCs will be explored and exploited and will open new fields of research in materials science and optical imaging. Breakthroughs will include i) development of advanced plastic nanoelectrodes; ii) multiscale imaging (nm-µm) of innovative nanostructured electrodes. The experienced researcher (ER) will be trained in high resolution imaging techniques, while he is highly qualified to introduce the topics of IL/OIPC to the host laboratory. This new experience in optics, within the provided multidisciplinary scientific environment, will be an opportunity for him to complement to his current experience of chemistry. Dr. F. Kanoufi (supervisor) will also mentor the ER in course preparation and strategies through a teaching tribune. The ER will also conduct outreach events to the public with impressive video and hands-on demonstrations such as “mold your battery with Playdoh-like nanocomposites”. Through this critical “transfer of knowledge” the ER’s career will be enhanced.

Mots clés : organic ionic plastic crystals  oipc, scanning electrochemical microscopy  secm, 3d high resolution optical imaging, nano particles  nps, ionic liquids  ils, polycrystalline

Participants :
- Université Paris Cité (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173076.0 €
Projet GLOBALECOEVO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Soil is both the largest sink and source of organic carbon (C) exchanged with the atmosphere. These exchanges result from biological processes, the primary source being the decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM), which is controlled by physical factors such as climate. As such, soil C emissions are very vulnerable to climate change but can also be reduced with new land management practices if we can predict the outcomes of soil carbon-climate feedbacks. However, predictions from the existing large-scale soil C models strongly diverge, and reveal large uncertainties in the processes and controls at play. One of these uncertainties is the effect of change in precipitation regimes on SOM decomposition mediated by soil microorganisms. Functions describing the decomposition response of soil carbon to soil moisture are static in current large-scale models, yet recent empirical studies show that decay responses under new soil moisture conditions can change due to shifts in microbial communities. Recent evidence suggests that evolution is a key processes driving these shifts in microbial communities. This project proposes to integrate variable decomposition-moisture functions into a large-scale soil C model to reflect precipitation history and carbon substrate influence on microbial responses to changing soil moisture. These functions will be calculated from a mechanistic microbial model that accounts for both ecological and evolutionary processes. The mechanistic model will be an updated version of the trait-based model DEMENT developed by the fellow’s supervisor at the partner institution (UC Irvine). The moisture response functions will be integrated into a commonly used soil carbon model, RothC, that has been incorporated into the global land surface model (ORCHIDEE) of the host institution (LSCE).

Mots clés : global soil carbon, drought, moisture, microbe, evolution, modeling, metacommunity, decomposition, biogeochemical model, trait based model

Participants :
- Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 257619.84 €
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet IDESoWa (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Soil stores the largest terrestrial pool of organic carbon (C), and can act as a source and/or filter for water pollutants like nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and suspended solids (SS). Fine soil particles (clays, Fe, Al and Mn (hydr)oxides, carbonates) play a crucial role in the stability of carbon and nutrients in soil. Previous studies have found that even a few decades of increased drainage, due to subsurface drainage installation, can substantially change the proportion and composition of fine soil particles closest to the drain. This raises questions regarding increased precipitation, and thus increased soil water flux, effects on the mineral composition and C and nutrient stability in soil. By studying soils on a water flux gradient perpendicular to subsurface drainage pipes, the IDESoWa project will calculate soil element fluxes within soil, and their losses with drainage water. It will determine relationships between between drainage water chemistry and soil properties. By jointly analysing published literature, weather records, precipitation chemistry, drain flow quantity, and soil and drainage water properties, the IDESoWa project will develop a conceptual framework for soil development in two common European agricultural soils (Cambisol and Luvisol), and under two agricultural practices (tilled soil vs. pasture).

Mots clés : soil minerals, dissolved elements, suspended solids, carbon, nutrients

Participants :
- Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (Lettonie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 152202.24 €
Projet NoSoilPV (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Soiling (i.e. the accumulation of dust on photovoltaic modules) is an issue affecting photovoltaic (PV) systems worldwide and causes significant economic losses. An appropriate cleaning schedule can raise the energy yield of the PV modules and reduce the operating costs, increasing the revenues and, at the same time, limiting the need of non-renewable energy generation. NoSoilPV aims to tackle this issue by developing a smart method capable of quantifying the soiling accumulated on the PV modules in real time without the need of expensive additional hardware. Moreover, through the analysis of historical precipitation datasets and the use of weather prediction models, the algorithm developed in this project will predict the economic impact of soiling and notify at which time artificial cleanings should be performed in order to minimize costs and maximize the energy production. NoSoilPV will be conducted by Dr. Leonardo Micheli within the Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy and Environment (CEAEMA) of the University of Jaén (Spain). CEAEMA is an ideal environment for this project, which involves PV performance analysis, weather and dust prediction modelling and machine learning techniques, because of the high quality research conducted in PV and in all the multidisciplinary aspects of the project. NoSoilPV aims to answer a number of unsolved questions in soiling and to provide the community a useful tool to increase the energy production and the economic revenues. The project will support the EU in its effort to increase the clean energy share and to maximize material efficiency, leading to an increase in PV energy yield, without the installation of new modules or systems. In addition, this fellowship will favor the EU reintegration of Dr. Micheli and will give him the opportunity to enhance his career as an independent researcher.

Mots clés : photovoltaics, soiling, modelling, prediction, seasonality, performance, reliability, artificial neural networks, machine learning, precipitation, dust

Participants :
- University of Jaén (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet IDeCAST (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Solar energy has been considered as one of the viable sources of renewable energy over the past years. Many solar energy collection systems have been developed to convert solar energy into either electrical or thermal power for the industrial and domestic applications. In these systems, solar trackers are generally utilized to increase the solar panel/mirror area exposed to the direction of the sun radiation. However, the current solar tracker mechanisms are heavy, expensive and extremely high energy consumption, which significantly limits the applications of solar energy collection. The objectives of this project are to investigate the innovative design and control method of a new generation of solar tracker which has the characteristics of small torque, low energy consumption and high stiffness. The expected achievements will provide unique techniques/methodologies for breakthrough design and development of solar trackers. In this project, the Grassmann Geometry and the work principle of stone mill in ancient China will be utilized to invent a novel solar tracker with small torque and high energy efficiency, and the performance atlas method will be explored for mechanical structure optimization. Further, the friction compensation and wind disturbance rejection control methodologies are established to improve the performance of the developed system. This project will bring the complementary expertise in advanced measurement and control, robotics and mechanisms led by the Warwick Group and the solar tracker design and analysis by Dr Wu. This combination has placed the team in the best position to achieve the ultimate objectives. The research will provide benefits for the sponsor by publishing high-ranking papers and inventing new solar trackers. The capability of development of new solar trackers is of prime importance to both UK and European engineers and scientists for better utilization of solar energy in the 21st century.

Mots clés : parallel mechanism, hybrid robotics, mechanical design optimization, solar tracker

Participants :
- University of Warwick (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet IRPV (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Solar energy reaching Earth is ubiquitous and unlimited. However, current solar technologies in the market converting light directly to electricity theoretically can harvest only 33% of this energy. Stacking several solar cells with appropriate optical properties, power conversion efficiency (PCE) can be almost doubled. Albeit, current multiple junction (MJ) solar cells are very expensive and unaffordable for large scale applications. Combination of well-established thin film solar technologies is a promising strategy for fabrication of high-efficiency and cost-effective MJ solar cells. Dual junction solar cells combining Si and wide bandgap thin films are extensively studied. Infrared (IR) part of solar spectrum is not utilized by such dual junction. PCE can be boosted up to 49% by adding IR solar cell. However, there are only few materials with suitable bandgap for IR solar cells, and they contain toxic chemical elements and/or are expensive to synthesize. Evidently, there is an urgent need to explore novel materials for IR solar cells which is the main goal of the current Marie Skłodowska-Curie project. Chalcogenide-perovskites (CP) is an emerging class of materials that has been highly regarded for optoelectronic application. However, little experimental evidence of photovoltaic (PV) properties has been demonstrated. This project aims to unravel the potential of CP materials for IR PV. First bulk material will be synthesized and characterized to filter out CPs with 0.7 eV bandgap. Then, CP thin films will be fabricated and tested to evaluate potential for PV. The researcher dr. Rokas Kondrotas will be returning after a two-year post-doc in China. He will be contracted with Fiziniu ir Technologijos Mokslu Centras (FTMC) and supervised by prof. Arūnas Krotkus. Through the course of the project, applicant will adopt new competence, research and academic skills, and strengthen his position as the leading scientist in the newly emerging PV group.

Mots clés : structural properties of materials, electronic properties of materials

Participants :
- Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (Lituanie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 146112.0 €
Projet SAT STABILIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Space stakeholders manifest an increasing interest in small satellites dictated by reduced, global costs and “time to market”. Since redundancy is kept to a minimum, achieving attitude stabilization in actuator failure mode with the remaining control torques can offer a fail-safe operation mode, improving the reliability of the attitude control system. The, still open, underlying control problem is challenging, since the nonlinear underactuated system is nonholonomic, admitting only non-smooth stabilizing feedback. Depending on actuator type and additional restrictions on the symmetricity of the spacecraft or its angular momenta, non standard, discontinuous or time-varying solutions have been proposed. Though any continuous-time controller is inevitably implemented digitally on the on-board computer, leading to loss of performance or even destabilization, the effect of sampling is never considered in the state-of-the-art. The aim of the present proposal is to develop novel control algorithms for three-axis attitude stabilization of an underactuated spacecraft in actuator failure mode without significant performance degradation with the remaining control torques. To this purpose, we follow a sampled-data methodology that considers the sampling issues from the beginning in the design process. Theoretical investigations will be conducted for ad-hoc digital solutions based on equivalent discrete models, finite computability and multirate control laws, permitting to impose digital performance objectives that cannot be set in continuous-time. The quality of the innovative algorithms developed is assured by extensive software simulations and application on an experimental attitude control platform. In-orbit technology demonstration and testing, and exploitation of the research outcomes are the focus of the industrial secondment foreseen. The applicability of the results to general classes of underactuated mechanical systems and other related control problems is expected.

Mots clés : underactuated spacecraft, attitude stabilization, digital control, nonlinear control, sampled data systems, small satellite, failure recovery

Participants :
- Sapienza University of Rome (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 180277.2 €