Large equipment

Digiscope is a network of platforms for the interactive visualization of large amounts of data and complex calculations. Located at the University of Paris-Saclay, Digiscope's ten rooms are interconnected by a telepresence network enabling remote collaboration. Target applications include scientific research, industrial design, decision support, and training.

 CentraleSupélec developed the equipment Synapse (Digital Interactive Display Room for Teaching and Science Excellence), an image wall based on a 3D rear projection system on a screen of approximately 11m2. The main uses of the platform are the visualization of scientific data from high-performance computing, teaching and student projects.

To increase immersion, motion tracking is provided by four infrared cameras. The computing power for real-time rendering is provided by a machine with 4 cores, 32 TB of RAM, two Nvidia K1 graphics cards, and SSD drives.

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Active since 2010, the CentraleSupélec mesocenter offers a high-performance service for research in the field of numerical simulation. It develops new numerical methods adapted to parallel computing and codes for national and European supercomputers. It is also a place for meetings and knowledge exchange through seminars and training sessions.

Until 2014, it offered a power of 816 computing cores and more than 2 Terabytes of RAM and approximately 30 Terabytes of storage, the platform recorded a load rate close to saturation, in particular due to its growing number of users. The extension implemented offers 288 computing cores and 384 Gigabytes of additional memory, resulting in faster and more efficient machines.

Within the LMPS laboratory, the Helios-660 combines scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-precision focused ion machining (FIB). It is equipped with crystallographic (EBSD) and chemical analysis tools, as well as 7 different detectors for electron imaging.

It thus allows:

• high-resolution imaging of sample surfaces (resolution down to 0,7 nm at low voltage);
• sample collection such as the preparation of TEM slides then potentially observed up to atomic resolution;
• complete characterization of the three-dimensional microstructure (crystallographic and chemical analysis);
• the observation of interfaces at these scales;
• three-dimensional reconstruction of a sample, for example of nanoparticles and their entanglement;
• machining of small samples taken from specific locations on the surface on conductive or non-conductive samples (charge neutralizer available for insulating samples).

The electron column (500 V-30 kV) allows, thanks to a monochromator as well as a beam deceleration stage, to achieve sub-nanometric resolutions. It is equipped with numerous detectors that can optionally superimpose their signals, thus revealing the smallest details of the microstructure. The ion column, with a resolution of 4 nm, allows precise etching of complex structures at the nanometric scale, whether for the preparation of slides for transmission microscopy or for three-dimensional characterization.

The TITAN3 G2 can operate at multiple voltages (60 to 300 kV), allowing a compromise between ultimate resolution and material degradation. With its high stability, it can operate in probe mode with aberration correction, resulting in very good spatial resolution.

Combined with various means of analysis (chemical by X-ray energy dispersion, as well as electronic by electron energy losses), this mode makes it possible to obtain a structural, chemical and electronic mapping of materials at the atomic scale. Another possibility of coupling, tomography with the chemical analyses previously mentioned allows for true chemical nanotomography because it has an ultimate resolution of 1 nm. Several other observation modes mentioned previously can be coupled.

Inaugurated in November 2014, the plasma torch was created within the EM2C laboratory to test materials that protect space capsules when they enter the atmosphere.

Complementing existing technologies for the study of atmospheric reentry, this torch offers enough power to generate realistic entry plasmas, at temperatures up to 10 K.

It is also equipped with cutting-edge optical diagnostics to better understand the physics of radiation and ablation, and thus contribute to the development of more accurate models of these phenomena. More generally, it will provide new and valuable assistance in strengthening European research and technology in the field of space plasmas.

Installed within the Chair of Biotechnology, on the Reims research campus of CentraleSupélec, the X-ray Nano-Tomograph (EasyTom from RX-solution) offers the possibility of producing a three-dimensional description of objects, covering a sub-micrometric scale (400 nm) on millimetric samples up to micrometric scales on centimetric samples.

 This instrument is a non-destructive means of observation, allowing the generation of essential data to characterize the internal structure of three-dimensional objects. It is equipped with two X-ray sources, including a sealed 150 kV µ-focus source and a 160 kV nano-focus open source. For greater flexibility, it is equipped with two imagers: a scintillator coupled to a CCD for high resolution and a flat panel array sensor for fast acquisitions with large samples. The device is complemented by Avizo image processing software.

The applications of this equipment are varied, including the detection of defects in components such as porosity and cracks, as well as the characterization and analysis of the microstructure of heterogeneous materials, including composites, ceramics, and biological products. 3D images allow a digital representation of morphology intended for the prediction of macroscopic properties by numerically solving homogenization problems. Finally, this equipment allows 4D inspection (3D spatial time-resolved) of objects under various stresses (hydric, mechanical, or thermal loading).

This equipment was acquired in 2017 with the help of:

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The SmartRoom is an experimental platform on the Metz campus of CentraleSupélec.

It integrates a network of sensors (cameras, microphones) and information distribution systems (screens, speakers). The robotics platform allows for experimentation of research carried out in the field of cognitive and interactive robotics in an environment where people and robots coexist.

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This platform allows the research carried out by the research teams of UMI n°2958 GeorgiaTech-CNRS (IDMaD and MALIS) in the fields of signal processing, digital and symbolic learning and distributed computing to be put into context.

It is also open to other external academic or industrial projects.

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As multimedia giants are fighting over the best computer graphics artists to design ever more realistic films and video games, researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a high-resolution 3D scanner that can capture the light properties (texture and reflectance) of any object, living or not.

The reason for such research? The human brain is capable of distinguishing between computer-generated images and real ones with a success rate that is beyond comprehension. This ability is all the more acute when it comes to a human face, as the slightest imperfection can cause it to lose all trace of realism.

This is where Light Stage technology comes in. It's capable of generating an ultra-high-definition 3D light model of a human face or even an entire actor! All you have to do is use a suitable algorithm to integrate this model into a given scene. The result is astonishing, and even our brains can no longer tell the difference.

A group of four students from the Rennes campus have embarked on the creation of such a system, a first in France!

Light Stage technology highlighted

Mapping of normals, obtained by a Light Stage

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A complete model of a human face is provided by an ultra-fine 3D model associated with a texture and a reflectance matrix. The feat achieved by current Light Stage technology is notably the capture of this 3D model, previous technologies only allowed the extraction of a coarse model by stereoscopy.

Obtaining such a degree of detail is made possible by exploiting the specific properties of the skin: directly reflected light retains its polarization, while that reflected by transluminescence partially loses it. By filtering and differentiation, it is possible to extract the specular reflection of the face, in all directions of space.

It is this information which, through fairly simple mathematical transformations, reveals the smallest details of the geometry of the face, down to the smallest pore of the skin!

This platform is used by the Electrical Engineering Laboratory of Paris.

Principle of electronic spectroscopies: Chemical analysis of the surface of materials (except H and He) and information on their electronic structure. Qualitative, quantitative and non-destructive analysis under ultra-high vacuum (10-9 -10-10 Torr).

Analysis depth: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS): 3 to 5 nm; Auger spectroscopy: around 2 nm; UV photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS): 1 nm