PHD Development of an Autonomous Solar- and Wind-Powered Surface Drone with Foils for Long-Duration Ocean Observation(M/F)

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Laboratoire de Mécanique et Génie Civil Research Field Engineering Physics » Acoustics Engineering » Materials engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Application Deadline 6 Oct 2026
- 23:59 (UTC) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Nov 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The Sosud project focuses on innovations for sustainable and autonomous maritime navigation. It aims to develop a hybrid surface drone, combining robotic sail propulsion, electric motorization, and self-regulating foils to reduce energy consumption. The project leverages the expertise of LMGC, LIRMM, and IES, integrating simulation, robotics, and energy management. The thesis work will finalize the wing sail control and motorization, and carry out experimental tests. The goal is to demonstrate the platform's performance and efficiency, with strong potential for scientific and technological valorization

Continuous and reliable in situ monitoring of marine and lagoon environments remains a major challenge for marine sciences and environmental observation. Existing autonomous platforms are often limited by their energy autonomy and operational capabilities, restricting their ability to perform long-duration missions. The SoSud project aims to address this challenge through the development of a low-energy autonomous surface drone designed for long-term environmental data acquisition.

The proposed platform combines several complementary technologies: a steerable rigid wing for wind propulsion and photovoltaic energy production, T-shaped hydrofoils to reduce hydrodynamic drag, reversible electric motors that can provide propulsion or recover energy through hydrogeneration, and an onboard control and decision-making system. The electric propulsion system can also provide temporary assistance to reach the speeds required for foil-borne operation and efficient wind propulsion. A foldable wing configuration will also be investigated to improve the robustness and compactness of the platform in adverse conditions.

The integration of these subsystems raises several scientific challenges related to the strongly coupled and nonlinear dynamics of the platform. The thesis will investigate the interaction between aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, propulsion, energy management, and control. Particular attention will be paid to the development of robust and adaptive control strategies capable of operating under variable environmental conditions. The optimization of energy flows between renewable energy production, storage, propulsion, and energy recovery will also be addressed.

A central objective of the thesis will be the development of a digital twin integrating the mechanical, aerodynamic, hydrodynamic, energetic, and control models of the platform. This digital twin will be used for performance prediction, system optimization, control development, and mission and trajectory planning while accounting for the available and expected energy resources.

The research will combine numerical modelling, control development, optimization, and experimental validation. The work will build on existing prototypes, including a small-scale electrically powered quadri-foiler, its associated simulation tools, and a full-scale robotic wing. The research programme will progressively address wing control and characterization, wind-powered propulsion experiments, and the coupling of wind propulsion with the quadri-foiler to achieve a fully autonomous platform.

The thesis will involve interdisciplinary collaboration between the LMGC, LIRMM, and IES laboratories at the University of Montpellier, with interactions with MARBEC for environmental missions and instrumentation. Collaborations with IMFT are also envisaged for wind-tunnel experiments aimed at calibrating aerodynamic models and improving the velocity prediction tools used for trajectory optimization.

The expected outcome is both scientific and technological: the development of new modelling, control, energy-management, and optimization approaches for innovative autonomous marine platforms, together with their experimental validation on a low-energy surface drone capable of performing long-duration environmental observation missions.