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Oleg Kononenko, Hero of Russia, Deputy Head of the Cosmonaut Training Centre, Commander of the Roscosmos cosmonaut squad, visited the University’s Advanced Aerospace Engineering School (AAES). Being Samara University’s Honorary Graduate and a current cosmonaut, he has got interested in the developments for the space industry, made in the AAES. The acquaintance with them began with the cyber-physical factory of small spacecrafts. This is one of experimental sites where scientists and students practice and prepare for the robotic production technologies to be introduced at enterprises.
Ivan Tkachenko, Deputy Rector and Director of the AAES, said that the School’s educational and research activities cover several key areas of the aerospace industry. These are small spacecrafts, aviation equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles and small engines.
“Within the framework of the Industry 4.0 concept, we have developed the digital factory model, on the basis of which we have created the digital factory for designing aviation equipment and two cyber-physical factories for small-sized gas-turbine engines and small spacecrafts, which we are currently in. These factories are our scientific and educational testing grounds, where the AAES students participate in developing robotic production technologies, for subsequently transferring them to our industrial partners”, explained Ivan Tkachenko.
He drew attention to the important distinctive feature of Samara University’s cyber-physical factories: their structure is not flow-based, but matrix-based, which now increasingly become part of global practice and is considered the most promising. The AAES scientists are working on creation and development of standard intelligent production cells, from which production of any required scale can then be formed.
The AAES specialists showed to Oleg Kononenko the robotic warehouse operation, transportation of components for assembly, as well as the automatic tool change by the robot assembler. Observing the intelligent production cell operation was accompanied by lively discussing the technical solutions adopted, as well as various alternatives.
“For switching robotic production technologies, we need to fundamentally change the very philosophy of creating spacecrafts”, stated Oleg Kononenko.
The cosmonaut’s opinion is based on his extensive personal experience of a space-technology designer, which is combined with the unique experience of its operator. Oleg Kononenko has completed 5 long-term expeditions to the International Space Station, as well as 7 spacewalks, with 44 workhours and 30 minutes, and has been a holder of the world record for the total duration of a flight, which exceeds 1,110 days.
Ivan Tkachenko fully agreed with Oleg Kononenko’s opinion and, as a supporting example, spoke about developing “AIST-ST” – a 12-unit radar surveillance cubesat, which is scheduled to be launched in 2025. He noted that the device design had to be seriously redesigned in course of adapting it to the robotic assembly.
Using augmented reality (AR) glasses, Oleg Kononenko tried himself as a robotic site operator, and then shared his own experience of applying VR and AR technologies, as well as his impressions of visiting robotic production lines at leading industrial enterprises.
The acquaintance with virtual and augmented reality technologies to be integrated into the educational process continued in the interactive advanced-training complex for engineering personnel “VR Technologies”. Aleksandr Kuzin, Head of the Training Researchers Office, spoke about the ways how virtual reality helps study aviation technologies in winter, when weather conditions make it impossible to conduct practical classes at the University’s training airfield.
“We do not aim at surprising anyone with virtual and augmented reality. We just teach students how to use these tools competently. They are very good at visualizing various objects, helping present them in full size. A flat image on a monitor does not provide completeness and emotionality of perception, but all this can be achieved by using virtual reality”, explained Aleksandr Kuzin.
In the interactive complexes of mechatronics and robotics, as well as additive technologies, Oleg Kononenko saw how the AAES students use modern equipment, in particular 3D printers, during the educational process and for solving real design problems. The acquaintance with the Advanced Aerospace Engineering School ended in the Laboratory of the Industrial Internet of Things.
“At present, the industry is facing an utilitarian, but no less important task: to combine existing high-tech equipment into the single production system, thereby significantly increasing efficiency of its use. The developments of our Laboratory of Industrial Internet of Things are precisely aimed at solving this task”, summarized Ivan Tkachenko.
During the working visit, Oleg Kononenko also focused his attention on the developments of the Scientific School guided by Viktor Soifer, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of Samara University. The cosmonaut has got acquainted with the technologies designed by the School in the field of the Earth remote sensing, optics, nanophotonics, and artificial intelligence.
During his visit to specialized laboratories, Oleg Kononenko was shown hyperspectral equipment currently operating in orbit: in particular, these are hyperspectrometers installed in the nanosatellites “HyperView-1G” and “Colibri-S” launched into space at the end of 2024, for the purpose of tracking oil spills and predicting forest fires.
Oleg Kononenko also inspected smart unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with the software developed at the University’s Institute of Artificial Intelligence. These unmanned aviation systems (UAS) have already been in demand by the University’s partners: the Russian Railways system and the company “Transport of the Future”, which mass-produces UAS in the Tolyatti SEZ (Special Economic Zone).
Scientists who are part of Soifer’s School told the cosmonaut about the latest developments that they plan to implement in the near future, together with the University’s technological partners in various industries.
Photo: Olesya Orina
