Fault tolerant multisensor feedback control. This project will advance knowledge by deepening the theoretical understanding of the interplay between multisensory data and feedback control mechanisms. It will also expand the tool sets of control engineering with innovative multisensory control designs. We see major benefits for Australia arising from this project both by enhancing its scientific reputation and by promoting technological advances in its industries and services. The project has pot ....Fault tolerant multisensor feedback control. This project will advance knowledge by deepening the theoretical understanding of the interplay between multisensory data and feedback control mechanisms. It will also expand the tool sets of control engineering with innovative multisensory control designs. We see major benefits for Australia arising from this project both by enhancing its scientific reputation and by promoting technological advances in its industries and services. The project has potential to contribute to the National Research Priority area: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries, since it has direct impact on the relevant areas of biotechnology, information, communication technology, nanotechnology and sensor technology.Read moreRead less
Investigating the Effects of Network-Induced Delays on Networked Control Systems. Networked control is the current trend for industrial automation. The results of this project will be the first in the world to contribute directly to a deeper understanding of both negative and positive effects of network-induced delays on networked control systems. It will firmly place Australia at the forefront of this research by developing cutting edge technology for reliability and efficiency of industrial ne ....Investigating the Effects of Network-Induced Delays on Networked Control Systems. Networked control is the current trend for industrial automation. The results of this project will be the first in the world to contribute directly to a deeper understanding of both negative and positive effects of network-induced delays on networked control systems. It will firmly place Australia at the forefront of this research by developing cutting edge technology for reliability and efficiency of industrial networked-based control systems. This novel frontier technology will result in cost-saving and improved productivity for Australian industries, e.g. manufacturing industries, power stations, processing industries, automotive industries, vehicular networks and locomotives.Read moreRead less
Variable Structure Control Systems in Networked Environments. This project will be the first in the world to lay the foundation for a new theory for understanding and designing new variable structure control systems in the networked environments, which is in great need due to increasing use of shared communication networks in modern industrial systems. It will firmly place Australia at the forefront of this research by developing a cutting edge technology for improving reliability and efficiency ....Variable Structure Control Systems in Networked Environments. This project will be the first in the world to lay the foundation for a new theory for understanding and designing new variable structure control systems in the networked environments, which is in great need due to increasing use of shared communication networks in modern industrial systems. It will firmly place Australia at the forefront of this research by developing a cutting edge technology for improving reliability and efficiency of industrial variable structure control systems in the networked environments, hence resulting in cost-saving and improved productivity for industry. It will provide training for new leading researchers specialised in this new theory and technology.Read moreRead less
Designing an Intelligent Process Operation Management System. The complexity and sophistication of current generation of industrial processes, and the growing need for autonomous agents that control physical systems, motivate the need for the development of an intelligent process operation management system. In this project, the innovative integration of theories from different scientific fields (computer systems, process engineering, systems and control engineering) provides an excellent platfo ....Designing an Intelligent Process Operation Management System. The complexity and sophistication of current generation of industrial processes, and the growing need for autonomous agents that control physical systems, motivate the need for the development of an intelligent process operation management system. In this project, the innovative integration of theories from different scientific fields (computer systems, process engineering, systems and control engineering) provides an excellent platform for development of a smart data management tool, to oversee the major operational tasks within the plant and help the operators and engineers to make more informed decisions. Direct application of the techniques developed in this study to a pilot case study, could be used as a benchmark to show the potential benefits that can be gained through smart information use and data management.Read moreRead less
Design of Quantized Feedback for Robust Control Systems. Most modern machineries and industrial processes are manipulated using advanced control technologies. With the recent advances in information technology, more and more control systems operate over communications networks. However, the technologies used in these control systems are seriously lagging behind because they make little assumptions about problems in digital communications. These problems include sampling errors, quantization erro ....Design of Quantized Feedback for Robust Control Systems. Most modern machineries and industrial processes are manipulated using advanced control technologies. With the recent advances in information technology, more and more control systems operate over communications networks. However, the technologies used in these control systems are seriously lagging behind because they make little assumptions about problems in digital communications. These problems include sampling errors, quantization errors, transmission errors and transmission delays. The proposed research will develop a new control theory to address this issue. Our work will help Australia maintain a leading role in the area of control and give the Australian industry advantages in applying modern technologies in control and automation.Read moreRead less
Mathematical Foundations of Distributed Radar. Conventional military threats to Australia are large or fast moving objects such as ships and aircraft and conventional radar systems are designed to handle such threats. Recent global political shifts have changed the threats to include objects that are small and slowly moving, such as people, small vehicles and boats. Advances in radar hardware make feasible small, low-powered, devices with inherently reduced performance in comparison to deployed ....Mathematical Foundations of Distributed Radar. Conventional military threats to Australia are large or fast moving objects such as ships and aircraft and conventional radar systems are designed to handle such threats. Recent global political shifts have changed the threats to include objects that are small and slowly moving, such as people, small vehicles and boats. Advances in radar hardware make feasible small, low-powered, devices with inherently reduced performance in comparison to deployed systems. Methods for information integration over a dispersed system of such small devices, design of suitable waveform suites and clever local signal processing algorithms will be developed to achieve the performance improvements the hardware offers, to handle the new threats.Read moreRead less
Active Vibration Control of a Cricket Bat using Piezoelectric-based Smart Materials Technology. Improvement of sporting equipment performance of late has largely ignored the game of cricket. Using the combined disciplines of advanced materials and control technologies, it is anticipated that the traditional cricket bat can be vastly improved while keeping to bat modification guidelines as specified in the rules of the game. This project involves the dynamic study of the bat using established e ....Active Vibration Control of a Cricket Bat using Piezoelectric-based Smart Materials Technology. Improvement of sporting equipment performance of late has largely ignored the game of cricket. Using the combined disciplines of advanced materials and control technologies, it is anticipated that the traditional cricket bat can be vastly improved while keeping to bat modification guidelines as specified in the rules of the game. This project involves the dynamic study of the bat using established experimental techniques. Once the various regions of high strain rates are determined, smart materials technologies will be used to reduce the transient vibrations transmitted to the batsman. The effect of this monitoring and control is to increase the comfort level and hence, effectiveness of the batsman.Read moreRead less
New Model Predictive Control Design Methods. Automatic computer control is fundamental to sustaining a wide range of manufacturing, mineral processing, chemical processing, and other industries vital to the Australian economy. Furthermore, the efficiency, profitability, and environmental impact of these operations is directly linked to the quality of this computer control. In many situations, even a few percent improvement in automatic control delivers dividends measured in many millions of doll ....New Model Predictive Control Design Methods. Automatic computer control is fundamental to sustaining a wide range of manufacturing, mineral processing, chemical processing, and other industries vital to the Australian economy. Furthermore, the efficiency, profitability, and environmental impact of these operations is directly linked to the quality of this computer control. In many situations, even a few percent improvement in automatic control delivers dividends measured in many millions of dollars. This project will develop design tools allowing for more sophisticated, high performance control to be more widely employed. This will deliver the potential for economic and environmental benefits and energy savings to be achieved across a range of industries.Read moreRead less
The Interplay of Feedback Control and Digital Communications. This project deals with two research topics in digital communications and control. The first is concerned with feedback communications for control systems, aiming to develop new design methods for network-based automation and control. The second studies new decoding and detection algorithms for digital communications. Applications of the proposed research work include network-based industrial control, wireless communication devices, a ....The Interplay of Feedback Control and Digital Communications. This project deals with two research topics in digital communications and control. The first is concerned with feedback communications for control systems, aiming to develop new design methods for network-based automation and control. The second studies new decoding and detection algorithms for digital communications. Applications of the proposed research work include network-based industrial control, wireless communication devices, and high density digital storage media. The cross-fertilisation of control systems and digital communications will help strengthen Australia's research expertise in the National Research Priority area "Information and Communications Technology" (ICT). Read moreRead less
Robust Control Design using Micro-Actuators. Recent advances in micro-actuators have enabled many new applications in complex systems. Examples include ultra-high density disk drives, low-cost vibration tables, and micro-robotic systems. However, control design for these systems is very challenging because the micro-actuators have severely limited dynamic ranges and strong couplings. The proposed project aims to study new control design approaches for these complex systems. The work will focus o ....Robust Control Design using Micro-Actuators. Recent advances in micro-actuators have enabled many new applications in complex systems. Examples include ultra-high density disk drives, low-cost vibration tables, and micro-robotic systems. However, control design for these systems is very challenging because the micro-actuators have severely limited dynamic ranges and strong couplings. The proposed project aims to study new control design approaches for these complex systems. The work will focus on both theoretical studies and experimental applications of such systems. The outcome of the project will help put Australia in a more advanced position in this niche area of leading age technology.Read moreRead less