CASES STUDIES

Cas Madelec - Aero - www.madelec.fr

How an aeronautical supplier of 15 employees obtained the

confidence of the aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Cas Madelec - Aero - www.madelec.fr

Information legibility : essential for comfort and safety

The interior lighting of a cockpit constitutes an
essential element of the pilot’s comfort, on which
the safety of a long-haul flight depends. When
darkness falls on the cockpit, « reading lights »
enable the pilot to read essential navigation
documents.

Unlike the reading lights above the passenger seats,

well known to regular long-haul flyers, cockpit
reading lights have to comply with strict technical
constraints for obvious reasons :

 They must allow reading at night, without interfering with the night vision of the navigator :
there must be no dazzling.

 They must not emit stray light onto the cockpit screens : the colors of the information which
warn of danger (« aeronautical » red ), may be adversely affected (with the red taking on an
orange aspect, for example) by the light from the reading light.

 To do this, these particular light sources must give out a very directional beam, and diffuse light
uniformly onto the surface towards which they are focused.

For the future A 380, given the time allowed, the design specifications, the optimization and
manufacturing of these reading lights meant that the designer needed to use a simulation
software, so as to avoid too many exchanges between the supplier and the customer.

OPTIS (Headquarters) Page 1/2

ZE La Farlède - CS 40275 - 83078 Toulon cedex 9 - France
Tel : +33 494 086 690 Fax : +33 494 086 694
 CASES STUDIES
Cas Madelec - Aero - www.madelec.fr

The first prototype had to be the right one.

For this project, the simulation software had to fulfill two functions :
 Photometry, because it had to go from 40 lux on the lit surface to 0 lux just a few millimeters
away, and accurately quantify the number of lux received at different points on the reading
surface.

 Colorimetry, because the aeronautical standards regulate color on the basis of an international
chart, which specifies for example the way in which the pilot must perceive a given color.
Acquiring this technology represents for a lighting system designer an essential investment
before being able to enter the aeronautical industry.

This is how the chosen supplier, Madelec Aero, a Tier

1 parts manufacturer, was invited to a presentation
by company OPTIS of its SPEOS software.

The first simulations carried out on the virtual

prototype of the reading light presented remarkably
good results.

The results of the photometric and colorimetric

simulation obtained using SPEOS give a very
directional, clearly defined light beam.

By acquiring the SPEOS licence (for an investment of nearly 50,000 Euros) Madelec Aero was
able to successfully meet the specifications for the manufacturing of the reading light.

Colorimetric Analysis meets aeronautical

standards

OPTIS (Headquarters) Page 2/2

ZE La Farlède - CS 40275 - 83078 Toulon cedex 9 - France
Tel : +33 494 086 690 Fax : +33 494 086 694