Jens Dalsgaard Nielsen

The Máni mission will contribute to the overarching goal of enabling Europeans to explore the Moon by providing high-value and novel information that will assist in mission planning, de-risk landings, and facilitate scientific exploration. This will be achieved through a mapping mission that is designed from its inception to take advantage of recent advances in the field of photoclinometry and photometry.The Máni mission will be the first mission to employ a targeted multi-angular photoclinometric mapping approach to map key regions of interest of the Lunar surface. We aim to acquire the highest resolution orbital images of the Lunar surface, including the Polar regions, across a wide range of viewing geometries. From these images, we will produce detailed maps of the topography and reflectance properties at a resolution like that of the images. Additionally, through photometric analyses, we will provide sub-pixel information on surface properties down to mm-scale. Uniquely, from the probabilistic nature of the novel data processing employed, mission data products will all be accompanied with a measure of their level of confidence. This implies that future missions can select, e.g., landing sites that are not only predicted to comply with their mission requirements but also have a high level of confidence of complying with their requirements, thus lowering risks and increasing chances for mission success.The mission data processing is improved relative to already published work by mission members (1) in its integration of high-resolution imagery with available a priori information like laser altimetry data. It features a computationally efficient and advanced photoclinometric model that accounts for complex illumination and observing geometry. This enables pixel-level resolution in the simultaneous output of both topographic maps and surface reflectance maps. While novel and under ongoing development, the mission data processing approach is validated using available Lunar images.Exploration and scientific goalsBelow, we present a selection of studies that highlight the range of investigations that can be undertaken based on Máni mission data products.Assessing landing and mission sites of importance for human and robotic explorationThe primary focus of the Máni mission is to provide higher-resolution mapping of potential landing sites and locations of interest for exploration. The high-resolution images (as good as 20 cm/px at 50 km altitude) and topographic maps provided by the Máni mission enable unprecedented identification of hazards such as boulders, craters, and slopes that could jeopardize landing success. In particular, the ability to provide not only an accurate high-resolution topography of candidate landing sites but also assess the level of confidence of this presents a novel ability to not only select sites that are predicted to meet mission/lander requirements but sites that do so with a high probability.Sites of importance to future human and robotic exploration imposes demanding requirements on the operational orbit of the mission as many of these, e.g. for the Artemis missions, are situated close to the Lunar South Pole (2–4).Quantifying Earths albedo – a key parameter in climate modelsDetailed mapping of the lunar reflectance properties for two key regions, Grimaldi and Crisium, that has historically been used for Earthshine observations (5, 6) will enhance the value of lunar Earthshine data. It will not only strengthen future earthshine measurements but also enable a transformative reanalysis of archived earthshine data. This will yield more precise global (semi‐hemispheric) albedo estimates and facilitate targeted assessments of polar albedo—a critical parameter given current concerns over ice-cap melt, as well as address the observed decline in terrestrial albedo over a 20-year period.Effects of space weathering on the micro-texture of Lunar regolithWith the Máni mission we can take a new step forward in efforts to characterize and understand the lunar micro-texture. By deliberately targeting geological units from different ages and levels of maturity, we will be able to decipher the processes creating the regolith and estimate the evolution timescale. The Máni mission will augment these studies by mapping photometric properties at a resolution as good as ~20 cm/px. The high resolution provided by the Máni mission will also enable investigation of how other geological processes – e.g., lunar swirls, crater rays and volcanic flow – affect and modify the surface micro-texture. Mission and spacecraftThe Máni mapping methodology requires the acquisition of at least 5, preferentially 10, overlapping high-resolution images of a region of interest covering a range of viewing angles separated by more than 100°. Furthermore, at least two illumination angles, separated by at least 20°, must be captured as part of the images acquired of a region of interest. These requirements imply that at least two overflights, acquiring 5 images during each, of the target area separated in time by at least a full Lunar sideral period are needed to acquire the necessary image-data to map a region of interest.The Máni spacecraft is developed around the single large primary payload of the mission - an optical 300 mm telescope with a panchromatic 2D detector capable of acquiring images of the Lunar surface at a resolution as good or better than 20 cm/pixel at 50 km altitude. A secondary smaller colour imager intended to provide context for the primary images is also included.ReferencesI. Fernandes, K. Mosegaard, Planet. Space Sci. 218, 105514 (2022).E. Peña-Asensio, Á.-S. Neira-Acosta, J. M. Sánchez-Lozano, Acta Astronaut. 226, 469–478 (2025).C. Orgel et al., Planet. Sci. J. 5, 29 (2024).S. J. Boazman et al., Icarus. 421, 116240 (2024).P. R. Goode et al., Geophys. Res. Lett....

Interdisciplinary collaboration is considered a key competence for engineers and necessary to solve society’s wicked problems in environmentally and socially sustainable ways. However, designing and developing successful and sustainable interdisciplinary PBL-projects that provide students with opportunities to engage in interdisciplinary learning, is no easy task. It requires cross-cutting collaboration, not only between students themselves but also between supervisors and facilitators, study management and administration. This paper provides indicative and explorative insights into potentials and challenges related to designing interdisciplinary PBL, exemplified through an empirical cross-case analysis of the “System Projects” initiative at the Technical Faculty of IT and Design at Aalborg University. Through in-depth interviews with project coordinators, we identify eight dimensions of system project integration and develop a curricular model for mapping variation within system projects: the System Project curricular spiderweb. We discuss key drivers for success and typical challenges, finding that successful interdisciplinary PBL can be achieved when the definition of the type of project is not too rigid, when we provide space for prototyping, experimentation and co-creation between staff, students and stakeholders, and when the objectives are perceived by all involved as engaging and important with purpose extending beyond just academic goals.

IntroductionEfforts to quantify lunar surface properties, rover traversability, potential for in-situ resource utilization, or geological processes, all benefit from better optical resolution. The obvious preference for higher resolution is however bound by optical limitations potentially necessitating unwieldy large telescopes to meet the desired goals. To overcome this limitation, multi-angular photometry provides an innovative pathway to evaluate surface properties at subpixel scales, thereby alleviating the need for unfeasible telescope payloads while still meeting the desired exploration goals. Mission conceptWe propose a multi-angular photometry mapping mission that will provide an optical map and digital elevation model (DEM) of target areas of the Lunar surface at a resolution as good as 20 cm/pixel. Additionally,this mission will provide unique knowledge of the reflectivity and micro-texture of the Lunar surface down to µm scales. To meet these objectives, we will exploit the exciting developments in multi-angular photometric methods (Fernandes & Mosegaard, 2022; Fernando et al., 2013, 2016; Schmidt & Bourguignon, 2019) to quantify the key surface parameters and produce DEMs down to the scale of the optical resolution – as well as quantify the associated uncertainties.To utilise the novel photometric mapping approach, a dedicated exploration strategy is required. Usually, the exploration strategy for a mapping mission is to maximise surface resolution and coverage. This implies that the acquisition of overlapping images is limited, and that images are preferentially acquired in nadir geometry (perpendicular to the surface). To apply the multi-angular photometric approach, we need multiple (5+) overlapping images at phase angles (angle between the incident light and reflected light) between 0° to more than 110° to be able to constrain the subpixel characteristics of the surface (Schmidt & Bourguignon, 2019) including precise Bayesian uncertainties propagation (Mosegaard, K. & Tarantola, 1995). This range of observation geometries has never been observed on the Moon and constitute the main goal of our mission. Figure1: Concept of the mission. The target will be observed several times (> 5) at spatial resolution 20 cm/pixel, during one orbit, at several observations conditions (emergence direction). We plan to target ~1000 areas of interest all over the Moon. The main products are the images, the precise topography (20 cm/pixel), and the local average microtexture parameters (µm scale roughness, µm scale grain shape). We envision the orbiter would be placed in a low Lunar orbit that enable mapping of areas of interest over the entire Lunar surface, with a nominal mission duration of three years. Key areas of interest, e.g., Artemis and Argonaut landing site candidates and other areas of geological and exploration interest identified in collaboration with ESA and the planetary exploration community, will be prioritised for observations and coverage then continuously expanded to maximise coverage of the Lunar surface.The scientific payload consists of two imagers: a primary high-resolution panchromatic imager based on a 25 cm diameter telescope to acquire the high-resolution images needed for the multi-angular photometric mapping and a supporting wide-angle colour imager. The wide-angle colour imager provides colour documentation of the Lunar surface as context for the high-resolution greyscale images. The imagers will be fixed on the orbiter, and the orbiter attitude control system will be utilised to acquire images with the range of observation geometries required.The resulting map of the Lunar surface properties (elevation, roughness, microtexture) will represent a clear improvement to the existing knowledge of the Lunar surface and augment existing scientific datasets to substantially improve geological maps and answer scientific questions, e.g., regarding space weathering, impact crater formation, lava flow thickness etc.. For future Lunar exploration missions, the mission data will provide key information to better assess rover traversability, landing-site suitability and characterize the candidate areas for in-situ resource utilization. In particular, the ability to provide predictions measurements of surface microtexture properties and their associated uncertainty presents a unique ability to de-risk mission-critical decisions. Furthermore, the knowledge of model uncertainty holds the potential to enable a reduction in how much data needs to be downlinked without losing trust in model predictions – thereby making photometric mapping feasible for missions further from Earth where downlink capability is limited. Finally, the refinements this mission will provide to our knowledge of the Lunar surface reflectivity holds great promise to also support Earth Observation missions by enabling high-quality independent estimates of terrestrial albedo. ConclusionThis concept is currently in pre-phase A at ESA. Our proposed mission addresses three of the four exploration goals for this call, most prominently the priority area of “Providing improved / higher resolution mapping of potential landing sites and locations of high interest for Exploration”. The high-resolution multi-angle images with a resolution as good as 20 cm/pixel, but also the high-resolution DEM and the derived µm scale micro-texture properties (roughness, grain shape) will provide unprecedented information on the target areas. The mission is also relevant for the priority areas “Observing, predicting and mitigating changes that human activity will introduce to these environments” as this mission will enable quantification of temporal effects to the micro-texture of the surface after any outside disturbance. Finally, the mission can contribute to “Finding, characterising, and quantifying potential resources and understanding how local...

Mixed-criticality systems, where multiple systems with varying criticality-levels share a single hardware platform, require isolation between tasks with different criticality-levels. Isolation can be achieved with software-based solutions or can be enforced by a hardware level partitioning. An asymmetric multiprocessor architecture offers hardware-based isolation at the cost of underutilized hardware resources, and the inter-core communication mechanism is often a single point of failure in such architectures. In contrast, a partitioned uniprocessor offers efficient resource utilization at the cost of limited scalability. We propose a partitioned real-time asymmetric architecture (PaRTAA) specifically designed for mixed-criticality airborne systems, featuring robust partitioning within processing elements for establishing isolation between tasks with varying criticality. The granularity in the processing element offers efficient resource utilization where inter-dependent tasks share the same processing element for sequential execution while preserving isolation, and independent tasks simultaneously execute on different processing elements as per system requirements.

Real-time embedded platforms with resource constraints can take the benefits of mixed-criticality system where applications with different criticality-level share computational resources, with isolation in the temporal and spatial domain. A conventional software-based isolation mechanism adds additional overhead and requires certification with the highest level of criticality present in the system, which is often an expensive process. In this work, we present a different approach where the required isolation is established at the hardware-level by featuring partitions within the processor. A 4-stage pipelined soft-processor with replicated resources in the data-path is introduced to establish isolation and avert interference between the partitions. A cycle-accurate scheduling mechanism is implemented in the hardware for hard-real-time partition scheduling that can accommodate different periodicity and execution time for each partition as per user needs, while preserving time-predictability at the individual application level. Applications running within a partition has no sense of the virtualization and can execute either on a host-software or directly on the hardware. The proposed architecture is implemented on FPGA thread and demonstrated with an avionics use case.

Integrated Modular Avionics enables applications of different criticality levels to share the same hardware platform with an established temporal and spatial isolation. On-chip communication systems for such platforms must support different bandwidth and latency requirements of applications while preserving time predictability. In this paper, our concern is a time-predictable on-chip network architecture for targeting applications in mixed-criticality aerospace systems. The proposed architecture introduces a mixed, priority-based and time-division-multiplexed arbitration scheme to accommodate different bandwidth and latency in the same network while preserving worst-case time predictability for end-to-end communication without packet loss. Furthermore, as isolation of erroneous transmission by a faulty application is a key aspect of contingency management, the communication system should support isolation mechanisms to prevent interference. For this reason, a sampling port and isolated sampling buffer-based approach is proposed with a transmission authorisation control mechanism, guaranteeing spatial and temporal isolation between communicating systems.

System software subsystems in an unmanned aircraft system share hardware resources due to space, weight, and power constraints. Such subsystems have different criticality, requirements, and failure rates, and can cause undesired interference when sharing the same hardware. A component with high failure rate can reduce the reliability of the system unless a fault containment mechanism is adopted.This work proposes an asymmetric multiprocessor architecture to establish isolation at the hardware level for distributed implementation of safety-critical subsystems along with user defined payload subsystems on the same hardware with minimally reduced reliability of the system. To achieve that, subsystems are strategically segregated in separate processors, connected to an on-chip protective interconnect for inter-processor communications. A custom watchdog and reset mechanism are implemented to reset a specific processor without affecting the entire system if required. The architecture is demonstrated on a FPGA chip. In addition, an example of an optimised distribution is provided for a specific flight control system with five subsystems.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is one among several approaches to active learning. Being a teacher in a PBL environment can, however, be a challenge because of the need to support students’ learning within a broad ‘landscape of learning’. In this article we will analyse the landscape of learning by use of the study activity model (SAM) developed by the Danish University Colleges, with the aim of investigating to which extent this may lead to explication and clarification concerning the challenges faced by teachers in a PBL environment. In the case study, the SAM is applied to the first semester of an engineering programme at Aalborg University, a university setting where the PBL approach to teaching and learning is dominant. The results of the analysis are presented and discussed, and the conclusion is that the model, in spite of some shortcomings, is useful in clarifying the role of the teacher in a PBL environment.

The amount of food transported long distances in reefer containers is constantly increasing and so is the cost per mile because of rising fuel prices. One way to reduce the cost is to minimize the energy consumed by reefer containers through a better controller but in order to achieve this a fast and flexible simulation model is needed for controller development. The simulation model may also be used for developing fault diagnosis methods for the reefer container and thereby further lowering costs by reducing the amount of functioning spare parts that is replaced and by providing early warning for faults enabling preventive maintenance. In this paper the feasibility of using different simulation methods is assessed with the goal of identifying a fast but accurate method that works well in a multi-rate environment. A modular multi-rate simulation environment for a dynamical system consisting of components with different dynamical speeds is presented with an improvement of previous results. The simulation speed is improved by 350% with no reduction in the accuracy of the solution, by substituting the Matlabode15s solver with an explicit first-order solver with a step-size calculation algorithm that ensures numerical stability and that the error is bounded using a minimum of calculations. The reefer container model is simulated using both ode15s and the proposed method both in multi-rate and monolithic configurations. The results are analyzed and compared with respect to speed and accuracy.

The problem tackled is selecting a viable method for communication among pumps in a district heating system. This system is viewed as a metropolitan wireless sensor network, the nodes of which are confined underground and physically connected by pipes. In a further horizon, providing sophisticated control systems for similar urban utilities motivates this research problem. Here we have reported the results of investigating several potential methods for realizing the idea of “the talking pumps” in a district heating system. This includes a diverse list of key references, simulations for some methods and experimental results for some others, followed by selection of the most appropriate option. The methods considered used (1) acoustic waves through water and pipelines; (2) power-line communications; (3) the electrical conductivity of pipes; (4) cell-phone infrastructure; (5) free and guided radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic (EM) waves; and (5) free and guided very low frequency (VLF) electric and magnetic fields, also known as magnetic induction. The viability of the latter method was verified by simulations and primitive experimental results.