Multi-sensory Fusion and Understanding in Robotic Assistive Technology Environments. The research will yield improved international standing through scientific advances disseminated through high impact refereed publications and open source software. The synergy between Language Technology and Robotics will attract post-graduate students in these areas, and potentially commercialisation interest. The demonstration prototype will provide proof of concept of an application that improves the capabil ....Multi-sensory Fusion and Understanding in Robotic Assistive Technology Environments. The research will yield improved international standing through scientific advances disseminated through high impact refereed publications and open source software. The synergy between Language Technology and Robotics will attract post-graduate students in these areas, and potentially commercialisation interest. The demonstration prototype will provide proof of concept of an application that improves the capabilities of human-centric environments, especially for people with limited mobility or cognitive function. The deployment of this research will extend the independence of such people beyond the time when they may otherwise need to be institutionalized, which will benefit both them and the remainder of society.Read moreRead less
Intelligent Information Assimilation. Making intelligent and informative choice usually involves assimilating information from multiple sources. The underlying emphasis and priorities of different sources vary. That makes the task of assimilating such information very difficult. Recent research on belief merging provides a formal framework designed to facilitate this task. In this project we will (1) examine existing and novel belief merging strategies, (2) study their impact on allied disciplin ....Intelligent Information Assimilation. Making intelligent and informative choice usually involves assimilating information from multiple sources. The underlying emphasis and priorities of different sources vary. That makes the task of assimilating such information very difficult. Recent research on belief merging provides a formal framework designed to facilitate this task. In this project we will (1) examine existing and novel belief merging strategies, (2) study their impact on allied disciplines, (3) extend the framework for suitable applications and (4) design, implement and test fielded applications of this framework. The outcome of this research will provide the basis for many industrial applications such as agent negotiation.Read moreRead less
Autonomous Agents and Systems with General Intelligence. Autonomous software agents and robotic systems with general intelligence are frontier technologies that have the potential to significantly enhance Australia's leading role in information and communication technology. A new generation of intelligent software is provided by computer programs that can adapt fully automatically to previously unknown situations without the need to be re-programmed. Innovative products will also emerge from a n ....Autonomous Agents and Systems with General Intelligence. Autonomous software agents and robotic systems with general intelligence are frontier technologies that have the potential to significantly enhance Australia's leading role in information and communication technology. A new generation of intelligent software is provided by computer programs that can adapt fully automatically to previously unknown situations without the need to be re-programmed. Innovative products will also emerge from a new generation of autonomous systems that are able to adapt to different environments.Read moreRead less
Complex Decision Making in Intelligent Agent Systems. This project will bring benefit in that it will increase the ability of autonomous computer systems to make complex decisions in dynamic environments. As the use of intelligent autonomous technology is increasing, from smart air-traffic control systems to personal digital assistants to internet software agents, there is also increased demand for more sophisticated reasoning. This is showing in a range of applications such as autonomous vehicl ....Complex Decision Making in Intelligent Agent Systems. This project will bring benefit in that it will increase the ability of autonomous computer systems to make complex decisions in dynamic environments. As the use of intelligent autonomous technology is increasing, from smart air-traffic control systems to personal digital assistants to internet software agents, there is also increased demand for more sophisticated reasoning. This is showing in a range of applications such as autonomous vehicles and equipment, scheduling and resourcing, and business processing. This project will contribute to provide such capabilities to existing technology. It will also assist the Australian Partner Organisation to stay at the forefront internationally in this fast moving area.Read moreRead less
Autonomous Functions for Smart Cars. The aim of this project is to develop autonomous functions for smart cars, such as lane departure warning, driver fatigue warning, and automatic lane following. Every year 70,000 people are killed in road accidents, 95% of which can be attributed to driver error. The potential outcomes of this project therefore significant. Many of the theoretical methods required for this project have been developed by our group. However, further theoretical refinements fo ....Autonomous Functions for Smart Cars. The aim of this project is to develop autonomous functions for smart cars, such as lane departure warning, driver fatigue warning, and automatic lane following. Every year 70,000 people are killed in road accidents, 95% of which can be attributed to driver error. The potential outcomes of this project therefore significant. Many of the theoretical methods required for this project have been developed by our group. However, further theoretical refinements followed by experimental verification is necessary. For smart cars to be accepted, the systems must be demonstrated to be reliable and to operate in a wide range of conditions.Read moreRead less
Vision Based Guidance, Navigation and Control of a Tail-Sitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The development of a high precision visual guidance system for vertical takeoff and landing UAVs will significantly enhance their operational effectiveness by allowing them to land accurately on the back of small vessels or in confined clearings. Together with the extra navigation-system redundancy vis-a-vis GPS system failure and the ability to self-identify reasonable emergency landing sites, the proposed v ....Vision Based Guidance, Navigation and Control of a Tail-Sitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The development of a high precision visual guidance system for vertical takeoff and landing UAVs will significantly enhance their operational effectiveness by allowing them to land accurately on the back of small vessels or in confined clearings. Together with the extra navigation-system redundancy vis-a-vis GPS system failure and the ability to self-identify reasonable emergency landing sites, the proposed vision-based system represents a significant capability improvement over what is currently available. It will thus enhance the ability of defence and civil-defence units to patrol Australian borders effectively and to react to threats. It will also have significant export potential to allied nations.Read moreRead less
Operator Decision Modelling in Autonomous Systems. The incorporation of humans as decision-makers into a complex system comprising of many autonomous agents is becoming increasingly important in areas such as defence, search-and-rescue, special emergency services, bush-fire and ecology management. This project will address how human decisions are made in such systems through the formulation and demonstration of innovative algorithms which model the operator decision making process. Generating so ....Operator Decision Modelling in Autonomous Systems. The incorporation of humans as decision-makers into a complex system comprising of many autonomous agents is becoming increasingly important in areas such as defence, search-and-rescue, special emergency services, bush-fire and ecology management. This project will address how human decisions are made in such systems through the formulation and demonstration of innovative algorithms which model the operator decision making process. Generating solutions to this increasingly important area will provide Australia's industry and community services the necessary knowledge for deploying such systems and thus improving service effectiveness, as well as the implementation of autonomous systems into new areas and thus increasing economic growth.Read moreRead less
Cost-effective autonomous systems for large scale monitoring of marine protected areas. This project seeks to develop autonomous technologies that will enable Australia's expanding system of marine protected areas (MPAs) to more effectively preserve marine biodiversity and long term ecosystem function through scalable, cost-effective monitoring. Monitoring will enable MPA managers to assess whether preservation and sustainability goals are being met and to adapt zoning policies in response. Au ....Cost-effective autonomous systems for large scale monitoring of marine protected areas. This project seeks to develop autonomous technologies that will enable Australia's expanding system of marine protected areas (MPAs) to more effectively preserve marine biodiversity and long term ecosystem function through scalable, cost-effective monitoring. Monitoring will enable MPA managers to assess whether preservation and sustainability goals are being met and to adapt zoning policies in response. Australia will benefit from informed sustainable use policies that preserve the marine environment for future generations without unnecessarily restricting recreational and commercial access today.Read moreRead less
Robotic Inspection and Safe Removals of Suspicious/Abandoned Luggage. Abandoned luggage 'discovered' at airports and other sites by iOmniscient's video surveillance system maycontain explosive, dangerous chemicals or lethal biological agents. This project is about using sensor equipped robots to inspect this luggage by x-ray and other means (e.g.: ultrasound or electromagnetic sensors) and then, if appropriate, to remove it to a safe disposal area so as to minimise the risk to others sharing th ....Robotic Inspection and Safe Removals of Suspicious/Abandoned Luggage. Abandoned luggage 'discovered' at airports and other sites by iOmniscient's video surveillance system maycontain explosive, dangerous chemicals or lethal biological agents. This project is about using sensor equipped robots to inspect this luggage by x-ray and other means (e.g.: ultrasound or electromagnetic sensors) and then, if appropriate, to remove it to a safe disposal area so as to minimise the risk to others sharing this public space and those personnel responsible for security operations. iOmniscient Pty.Ltd., as the industrial partner, clearly has a commercial interest in the success of this project and thus is strongly motivated to support it.Read moreRead less
Robotic Vehicles for Fire Fighting and Emergency Services Support. The use of robots to support humans in bushfire fighting, search and rescue missions, civil disaster operations and terrorist apprehension (including hostage rescue) can save lives, minimise injury and improve security. This project aims at providing such capabilities and to deploy them in modes from direct teleoperation to fully autonomous operation as the situation dictates, in full partnership with the Victorian Country Fire A ....Robotic Vehicles for Fire Fighting and Emergency Services Support. The use of robots to support humans in bushfire fighting, search and rescue missions, civil disaster operations and terrorist apprehension (including hostage rescue) can save lives, minimise injury and improve security. This project aims at providing such capabilities and to deploy them in modes from direct teleoperation to fully autonomous operation as the situation dictates, in full partnership with the Victorian Country Fire Authority.Read moreRead less