VEDECOM at the 2019 IRT & ITE Forum: Coming together and creating synergy

On Tuesday, 8th October 2019, the VEDECOM Institute participated in the first Forum bringing together the eight Technological Research Institutes (IRTs) and 8 Institutes for Energy Transition (ITEs) in Lille. The event was an opportunity to start the process of bringing together research institutes as desired by the Government. This process aims to ensure French institutes are a powerful force on equal footing with global institutes.

Strengthening French competitiveness through greater collaboration between IRTs and ITEs

Since 2013, FIT (French Institutes of Technology), the association created in 2015 by IRTs to promote their exchanges, influence and drawing power, has brought its members together each year for an annual forum. The 2019 edition, which was held on 8th October at the Hauts-de-France Regional Hotel in Lille, included for the first time the eight ITEs that joined the FIT in 2019 in compliance with the Government’s wishes. It was a chance for the 16 French research institutes to lay the first solid foundations for future work together that will only enhance their already rich history. The goal: to become the French spearhead for scientific innovation and excellence to position the country in the front lines, especially at a European level. Currently, 80% of IRTs and ITEs are already involved in over 190 European projects with French institutes receiving nearly 64.4 million in European funds. Their rapprochement promises to help them stand out even more, taking a place alongside major global institutes.

The government representative at the Forum, Guillaume Boudy (Secretary General for Investment), hailed the precursor partnerships between IRTs and ITEs and shone a light on the fruitful collaboration between VEDECOM and the IRT SystemX in the field of autonomous vehicle validation.

VEDECOM and the themes of mobility, environment, and sovereignty

As it is every year, the Forum was an opportunity for institutes to present their major results and successes. It gave VEDECOM the chance to showcase its work since the institute had a stand in three of the eight themed villages open to visitors. In the Sovereignty and Security village, VEDECOM presented the possible applications of technological bricks developed in the framework of the European project Autopilot for the field of ground robots, especially in the context of logistics convoys and the opening of new routes. A Renault Twizy involved in platooning experiments (autonomous convoys) led by the Institute was exhibited and hosted Guillaume Boudy for a photo.

Finally, an important first was the organisation of a stand shared by all the institutes (at VEDECOM’s instigation) to show how IRTs and ITEs can help increase skills within technological fields through training. The Institute’s Training team offered activities to help visitors discover new mobility options.

Technology transfers: the design and production of electric motors as an example

With stands, keynotes, thesis presentations, and partner statements, the event aimed to be a live demonstration of how IRTs and ITEs contribute to French scientific excellence by accelerating innovation via transfers to industry and by creating partnerships abroad.

The stand in the Environmental and Energy Transition village took stock of VEDECOM research aimed at taking electric vehicles from a niche market to a mass market with the presentation of a 30-kW wireless dynamic charging system able to recharge a Zoé while it’s being driven and thereby increase its range.

In the Mobility village, VEDECOM exhibited the results of its research into introducing smart and connected vehicles able to spark new uses of mobility options: innovative methods for locating autonomous vehicles in their environments, communication solutions between vehicles and infrastructure, vehicle-driver collaboration systems (the European AutoMate project), and even Project MOOVE.

Safran, a partner of the Institute, came to speak about a successful collaboration with the Institute in the framework of the design and production of an electric motor with a very high torque for a future electric traction system for taxiing planes. The collaboration involved sharing different methods and skills, rapid execution, and innovation to achieve “greener” planes!

VEDECOM: a committed actor in bringing together IRTs & ITEs

VEDECOM has been closely involved in building ties between the various French institutes. It is part of the working group composed of two IRTs (SystemX and Saint-Exupéry) and two ITEs (Efficacity and VEDECOM) that identifies concrete actions to help increase collaboration between research institutes. According to Philippe Watteau, “There are many possible synergies between our institutes, both for working together on projects and stimulating industrial relationships. After the rapprochement, 2020 will be the year of synergies”.

For example, Féthi Ben Ouezdou, the VEDECOM Scientific Director, and Lionel Pujol, his counterpart at the IRT Railenium, agreed that the time had come to collaborate on the convergence of research into autonomous vehicles and autonomous trains.

The VEDECOM ITE was chosen to organize the 2020 annual Forum.

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Le stand du village Transition Energétique et Environnementale faisait le point sur les recherches de VEDECOM pour faire passer le véhicule électrique d’un marché de niche à un marché de masse, avec la présentation d’une solution de recharge dynamique sans contact de 30 kW, capable de recharger une Zoé en roulant et d’augmenter ainsi son rayon d’action.

Dans le village Mobilité, VEDECOM exposait les résultats de ses recherches pour permettre l’introduction de véhicules intelligents et connectés, initiateurs de nouveaux usages de mobilité : méthodes innovantes de localisation du véhicule autonome dans son environnement, solutions de communication entre véhicules et infrastructure, systèmes de collaboration véhicule-conducteur (projet européen AutoMate) ou encore projet MOOVE.