Abstract: A method for performing automatic valet parking, which includes selecting a road scenario applicable to a roadway; notifying a driver to release manual control elements of a motor vehicle and to leave the motor vehicle; checking whether the control elements have been released and the driver has left the motor vehicle and, in this case, entering an EXPLORE mode in which the motor vehicle is slowly driven autonomously and searches for a free car space or a parking space using the vehicle's own environmental sensors, before the motor vehicle is placed in a parking position; and then to change from the EXPLORE mode to a PARKING mode in which the motor vehicle is parked in the car space or in the parking space from the parking position by means of the longitudinal and lateral controllers and using the environmental data previously obtained from the environmental sensors in the EXPLORE mode.

Abstract: A method for performing automatic valet parking, which includes selecting a road scenario applicable to a roadway; notifying a driver to release manual control elements of a motor vehicle and to leave the motor vehicle; checking whether the control elements have been released and the driver has left the motor vehicle and, in this case, entering an EXPLORE mode in which the motor vehicle is slowly driven autonomously and searches for a free car space or a parking space using the vehicle's own environmental sensors, before the motor vehicle is placed in a parking position; and then to change from the EXPLORE mode to a PARKING mode in which the motor vehicle is parked in the car space or in the parking space from the parking position by means of the longitudinal and lateral controllers and using the environmental data previously obtained from the environmental sensors in the EXPLORE mode.

Abstract: A ram jet engine including a combustion chamber ending in a gas injection nozzle, a cruising propulsion unit fee ding liquid propellant into the combustion chamber, and at least one air duct for feeding air intended for combustion of the fuel in the combustion chamber. A rigid tubular element is incorporated into the ramjet engine, with an interior volume of the rigid tubular element being divided into two spaces by an intermediate transverse partition. One of the spaces houses the cruising propulsion unit while the other space houses the combustion chamber. Passages are cut into the intermediate transverse partition to allow feeding of liquid fuel into the combustion chamber, and the air duct is mounted on the tubular element to feed the combustion air through the tubular wall of the tubular element.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for monitoring combustion stability of an HCCI internal combustion engine equipped with a crankshaft, an intake manifold and at least one cylinder, wherein stability is determined based on a deviation of an engine operating parameter such as, for example engine load or engine speed, from a predetermined threshold.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for monitoring combustion stability of an internal combustion engine equipped with a crankshaft, an intake manifold and at least one cylinder, including the following steps: determining the absolute deviation e of indicated mean effective pressure pind or indicated torque Tind with respect to their actual set point, i.e., with respect to actual indicated mean effective pressure set point pind,setpt or actual indicated torque set point Tind,setpt, namely ?pind or ?Tind, or alternatively determining the relative change ?e in said deviation between two consecutive combustion cycles k, k+1 of said at least one cylinder, i.e., determining (?pind,k+1?pind,k) or (?Tind,k+1??Tind,k) or determining the relative change ?e in angular acceleration ?? of the crankshaft between two consecutive combustion cycles k, k+1, i.e.

Abstract: A fuel injection strut for a ramjet adapted to operate at high Mach numbers includes a combustion chamber into which a flow of combustion-supporting gas is introduced. A first end of the strut includes a stem having a leading edge with a dihedral shaped wall for defining a chamber on a concave side for receiving the flow of combustion supporting gas. An injection member generates a plurality of jets impinging cooling fluid on the concave side of the wall to cool the strut. The leading edge provides two-way permeability so that at lower speeds, air permeates through the leading edge to facilitate pilot combustion in the combustion chamber, and a higher speeds, the cooling fluid permeates through the leading edge to cool the strut.

Abstract: The present invention concerns a fuel injection device for ramjets for supersonic and/or hypersonic aircraft, said ramjet comprising a combustion supporting gas inlet and, downstream thereof, a combustion chamber and a nozzle adapted to channel gases leaving the combustion chamber. In accordance with the invention, the injection device includes at least one injector having a structure with a plurality of spaced walls extending generally along the longitudinal axis of the ramjet body, fuel being injected into each space formed by two adjacent walls of said plurality of walls and at the downstream end of said structure.

Abstract: A ramjet for supersonic and/or hypersonic aircraft, designed to operate over a wide range of speeds, includes an inlet for a combustion supporting gas; a fuel injection device; and a ramjet body. The ramjet body has a combustion chamber in which the combustion supporting gas is mixed with a fuel to be burned and an exhaust nozzle to channel gases leaving the combustion chamber and which has, at least in a transition area between the combustion chamber and the exhaust nozzle, a variable geometry enabling its longitudinal section to be progressively modified. The ramjet body has at least one controllable opening adapted to establish communication between the combustion chamber and the exterior to enable the introduction of an exterior air stream into the transition area.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an aircraft ram jet engine for supersonic and/or hypersonic flight, intended to operate over a wide range of speeds.According to the invention, the ram jet engine comprises a ram jet engine body (5) including a combustion cheer portion (6) and a jet pipe portion (7), and, in the vicinity of the transition region (8) between the combustion chamber (6) and the jet pipe (7), having a changing geometry passing progressively from a convergent then divergent longitudinal section, for speeds corresponding to a low Mach number, to an at least substantially constant then divergent longitudinal section for speeds corresponding to a high Mach number.

Abstract: An aircraft ram jet engine for supersonic and/or hypersonic flight, intended to operate over a wide range of speeds, of the type including: (a) an oxidant inlet; (b) at least one fuel injector; (c) a body in which the oxidant and fuel intended to be burned are mixed and the gases resulting from this combustion are channeled; and (d) at least one wall of the body consisting, at least partially, of plates (12) linked together by articulations. The ram jet engine comprises first fluid blowing means (19, 22), mounted in the region of the articulations (13), in order to cool them.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a device generating a hot air flow, including an air source generating an air flow at its outlet (17), a heating system (13) generating heat energy and heat-exchange elements (27) capable of storing heat energy generated by said heating system (13) and of yielding this heat energy to said air flow.According to the invention, said heating system (13) and said air source are mounted fixed, and said heat-exchange elements (27) are arranged on a mobile support (3) capable of continuously renewing the heat-exchange elements (27) arranged in said air flow and previously heated by said heating system (13).

Abstract: The combustion chamber of the ramjet is mounted on a support which allows partial freedom of longitudinal movement. A nozzle is arranged at the intake of the combustion chamber, with a flexible, fluid-filled bladder being disposed between the nozzle and the combustion chamber. Air is blown into the combustion chamber through the nozzle, and fuel is fed into the combustion chamber to achieve combustion. The pressure of the fluid in the bladder is measured.

Abstract: To generate an unpolluted high enthalpy air blast of several seconds duration a mass of feed air intended to constitute the high enthalpy air blast is preheated to a given temperature and stored at a given pressure in an elongate confinement tunnel with thermally insulative walls. A downstream orifice of the tunnel is kept closed and a blast of high-pressure air is applied to the upstream end of the mass of feed air to compress it quasi adiabatically to obtain a feed air temperature of at least 1,800K. The downstream orifice is opened and application of the high-pressure air blast is continued whereby the mass of feed air is expelled through the downstream orifice in the form of a feed blast, the temperature of which remains constant for several seconds.

Abstract: In machining parts and especially optical lenses by means of a model, a single model having a shape which is the reverse of that of the part to be obtained is used for all of the various machining operations. In the machining operations, on the one hand, the model is coupled with the tool which machines the part and, on the other hand, the part to be machined is coupled with a feeler which is in contact with the model.