Nowadays, although the use of satellite images is daily and allows the monitoring of the earth’s surface in many areas, it is difficult from an outside perspective to appreciate the complexity of their creation.

This #Twist can be used as a brief introduction to remote sensing, in order to get a glimpse of the issues and problems associated with it.

Quantifying continental water stocks and their variability over time using satellite data is one of the major challenges of the coming decades.

Depending on the geometry of the objects to be quantified at a time T (surface, depth), different acoustic tools can be used in the field to test/validate estimates from satellite data analysis. Depending on the desired resolution, these field approaches may be time-consuming, but necessary if they can refine our digital topographic models of the planet and our understanding of the impact of the water cycle on ongoing global warming.

This #Twist is part of the Startech activities and will be held at the Catalyst between 10am-1:30pm. The objectives of Startech are to give an entrepreneurial colour to the student and to allow them to put themselves in the shoes of an entrepreneur.

As such, this #Twist is a feedback pitch: each group of students presents their project, real or fictional, but with commercial potential and its development using the Business Model Canvas method.

Airbus Defence and Space, and more specifically Intelligence (www.intelligence-airbusds.com), has developed an open innovation initiative to provide easy and free access to satellite imagery for new Earth observation services and applications.

This #Twist was an opportunity to better understand why and how Airbus supports developers, students or start-ups, especially during hackathons or challenges, up to the creation of new partnerships.

With recent technological advancements, cryptography has begun to permeate all aspects of everyday life. Everything from smartphone to banking relies on cryptography to keep information safe and livelihood secure. With the huge amounts of personal data circulating the Internet, it is more important now than ever before to learn how to successfully protect the digital information.

This #Twist provided a simple beginner’s guide to cryptography. It will help to understand exactly what cryptography is, the goal and the types of cryptography, how it is used.

TwIST #48: Thales Alenia Space: it’s not just a satellite manufacturer

Techforspace has come to introduce you for a second session to the GarageSat game: available on Android and iOS, you play the role of a company manager who wants to revolutionize the world of space by creating the craziest satellites ever built!

Thanks to our sponsor Thales Alenia space, a team of young engineers and students have been able to start working on this subject and create a first beta version that we present to you.

The purpose of the intervention was to gather opinions and criticisms so that the game would be even better than we could imagine. Even better, if you are really motivated, you can even find your place on the team to participate in graphic design or the Unity programming part.

Link to the project: https://www.techforspace.com/project/garagesat

The Copernicus program has ushered in a new era in remote sensing by providing an unprecedented amount of Earth observation data. The concomitant advent of increased computing capabilities, made more accessible through cloud services, now makes it possible to develop and apply innovative image analysis methods to meet forest monitoring needs. These needs are linked to international agreements that will be presented in the introduction to this intervention.

In this #Twist, the presentation of a change detection method based on dense time series of satellite images will support a discussion on forest cover monitoring methods.

This Twist is part of the Startech activities and will be held at the Catalyst between 12:30 and 13:30. The objectives of Startech are to give an entrepreneurial colour to the student and to allow them to put themselves in the shoes of an entrepreneur.

As such, this #Twist is a preparation for the Pitch: each group of students presents their project, real or fictional, but with commercial potential and its stage of development by the Business Model Canvas method.

The automotive world is in the midst of a revolution with the arrival of autonomous cars. This is an area in which Toulouse is very involved through research and business. Driverless cars symbolize the maximum degree of research in the autonomous car sector. The University of Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier (UPS) wishes to become an experimental territory for autonomous and connected vehicles. Several industrialists based in Toulouse, interested, support the initiative: Continental, Renault Software Lab, Actia, EasyMile (shuttle without driver).

The idea appealed to the Occitan Regional Council and the Aerospace Valley competitiveness cluster. Called Autocampus, the project covers a private territory of 70 hectares, not constrained by legal obligations linked to open roads, with an urban-type environment, but easily manageable. “Autonomous vehicles already have experimental sites, but they are often closed to traffic. On the Toulouse campus, they will be able to be tested in a real environment, with pedestrian and vehicle flows,” says Yves Dordet, project manager at Aerospace Valley.

Aerospace Valley inaugurates the era of hackathons within the B612, the new building in Toulouse Métropole dedicated to innovation in the space and aeronautics sector. This international event is a clever mix between two such events:

• Organized on October 26^th on the theme of Climate, it is supported by Climate-KIC as part of the global event (104 cities, 45 countries) of the Climathon (http://climathon.climate-kic.org/)
• Themed on the use of satellite data to meet climate challenges, it is funded and labelled by the European Commission as part of the Copernicus Hackathon (https://hackathons.copernicus.eu/)

The objective of this event is to encourage the emergence of new ideas and the creation of start-ups. The winning projects will therefore have to offer innovative solutions with high growth potential, using satellite data to fight climate change. This event is open to all and participation will be in teams of 2 to 5 people. A team of business coaches and experts in the space and climate sector will be present during the 24 hours to accompany the teams. A Warm Up is scheduled for October 15th from 5pm to 9pm to present to the candidates the different data and tools made available to them by our partners during the event.

Many partners are supporting this event and will offer prizes to the most promising teams: the Climate Department of Toulouse Métropole, the Ministry of Ecologies and Energy Transition, Météo-France, the HD Rain start-up, and the EIT ClimateKIC Coté Spatial: Airbus Defense and Space, C-S, CapGemini, CLS, ISAE SupAero, FabSpace Business: GreenTech, Booster NOVA, ESA BIC Sud France, Pitch Me Up More information and registration on: www.booster-nova.com On the agenda: discover activities, challenges and upcoming events. We will also talk to you about the “Copernicus Hackathon & Climathon” which will be held in Toulouse on 26^th-27^th October.

Irrigation accounts for more than 40% of water withdrawals in the Southwest. In a context of climate change and conflicts of use, public policies are moving towards a different management of the resource for crops. Water retention is therefore at the heart of many of the government departments’ reflections today.

Knowledge of the volumes present in these reservoirs is becoming a major issue. However, no calculation method is yet satisfactory. Spatial data can therefore help us to answer two main questions:

• How can existing calculation models be improved?
• Are there other volume calculation models that can be developed?

Come and learn more about this theme during this Twist animated by Mr Tripiana, from the DRAAF (Direction Régionale de l’Alimentation de l’Agriculture et de la Forêt) Occitanie.

September 2018

TwIST #42: The keys to starting a business or a new application – Diginove Start-up

This Twist will present Diginove and will give a brief history of its activities in the field of spatial data but also documentary. The Digispace project will then be presented with an emphasis on the genesis of the project, the objectives and its originality as well as the implementation of the development (organization, financing, means management,…).

TwIST #41: How to act in favour of the climate through the Copernicus Hackathon and Climathon

Aerospace Valley inaugurates the era of hackathons within the B612, the new building in Toulouse Métropole dedicated to innovation in the space and aeronautics sector. This international event is a clever mix between two such events:

• Organized on October 26^th on the theme of Climate, it is supported by Climate-KIC as part of the global event (104 cities, 45 countries) of the Climathon (http://climathon.climate-kic.org/)
• Themed on the use of satellite data to meet climate challenges, it is funded and labelled by the European Commission as part of the Copernicus Hackathon (https://hackathons.copernicus.eu/)

The objective of this event is to encourage the emergence of new ideas and the creation of start-ups. The winning projects will therefore have to offer innovative solutions with high growth potential, using satellite data to fight climate change. This event is open to all and participation will be in teams of 2 to 5 people. A team of business coaches and experts in the space and climate sector will be present during the 24 hours to accompany the teams. A Warm Up is scheduled for October 15th from 5pm to 9pm to present to the candidates the different data and tools made available to them by our partners during the event.

Many partners are supporting this event and will offer prizes to the most promising teams: the Climate Department of Toulouse Métropole, the Ministry of Ecologies and Energy Transition, Météo-France, the HD Rain start-up, and the EIT ClimateKIC Coté Spatial: Airbus Defense and Space, C-S, CapGemini, CLS, ISAE SupAero, FabSpace Business: GreenTech, Booster NOVA, ESA BIC Sud France, Pitch Me Up More information and registration on: www.booster-nova.com On the agenda: discover activities, challenges and upcoming events. We will also talk to you about the “Copernicus Hackathon & Climathon” which will be held in Toulouse on 26^th-27^th October.

TwIST#31: Participez au développement d’une application mobile 

Speaker: Clément Goujon, Microwave Study Engineer at Thales Alenia Space Institutions, governments and companies rely on Thales Alenia Space to design, build and deliver satellite systems: to geolocate and connect people and objects around the world; to observe our planet; to optimize the use of the Earth’s resources and those of our Solar System. Thales Alenia Space believes that space brings a new dimension to humanity to build a better and sustainable life on Earth.  Within the New Generation Products Department, the design engineer is responsible for maintaining the electrical performance and industrialization of his equipment for the current business. It is also involved in upstream studies in partnership with CNES, ESA, laboratories and companies where it seeks innovative solutions to meet future market needs.  The #TwIST will focus on the satellite architecture and environmental constraints specific to the space industry. You will have the opportunity to assemble your own satellite on a prototype mobile application that we are developing. Don’t forget to bring your smartphones/computers!