Automated helicopter hover and recovery system for operations at sea. The small size and simplicity of the integrated system outlined in this project will significantly improve the effectiveness of maritime surveillance for homeland security whilst enabling substantially lower operational costs. The proposal aims to develop control and sensing techniques, enabling small rotary wing unmanned air-vehicles (UAVs) weighing less than 100 kgs to operate from small-size vessels. This will be achieved ....Automated helicopter hover and recovery system for operations at sea. The small size and simplicity of the integrated system outlined in this project will significantly improve the effectiveness of maritime surveillance for homeland security whilst enabling substantially lower operational costs. The proposal aims to develop control and sensing techniques, enabling small rotary wing unmanned air-vehicles (UAVs) weighing less than 100 kgs to operate from small-size vessels. This will be achieved by resolving the current lack of integration between ship motion and the unmanned vehicle guidance systems. The proposed research will make substantial contributions in areas of ship motion prediction and sensing and hover control of tethered and non-tethered small helicopters.
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
Locating Interference to GPS: Protecting the World's Aircraft Landing Systems. GRAS is an enormous initiative that is expected to generate billions of dollars in exports for Australia. The equipment developed in this project will protect the system from radio frequency interference. It thus protects these exports, and creates a new exportable product. By protecting this system, it makes air travel safer both in Australia and in the countries that buy this Australian technology.
Understanding extreme wind gusts and associated risks in NSW. Wind gusts are rare bursts of high wind, often associated with thunderstorm outflows. They can do significant structural damage, and their rarity and small scale make prediction and risk assessment difficult. This proposal seeks to better understand and predict wind gusts and their impacts to aid in planning. The project aims to use past observations, modelling, and basic theory to show what conditions lead to wind gusts and how like ....Understanding extreme wind gusts and associated risks in NSW. Wind gusts are rare bursts of high wind, often associated with thunderstorm outflows. They can do significant structural damage, and their rarity and small scale make prediction and risk assessment difficult. This proposal seeks to better understand and predict wind gusts and their impacts to aid in planning. The project aims to use past observations, modelling, and basic theory to show what conditions lead to wind gusts and how likely they are to exceed key thresholds. It targets important scientific and practical issues such as the joint occurrence of gusts and high rainfall, role of gusts in contributing to dust and other airborne pollutants, impacts of gusts on subsequent storm activity, and gusts in a warming climate.Read moreRead less
Will East Coast Lows change in frequency or intensity in the future? East Coast Lows, the largest storms on the south-east coast of Australia, produce both large benefits and losses for this highly populated region of the country. An urgent national priority exists to understand the driving mechanisms for these events and to quantify how the frequency and intensity of these systems will change due to climate change.
Process Chemistry for Distributed Manufacture of Nitric Acid. This project will benefit Australia by enabling a new approach to the manufacture of explosives for the country's mining industry which will provide the entire explosives supply chain with greater safety and security. Development of this technology will enhance Orica's competitive position as the largest manufacturer of mining explosives in the world and will produce wealth for the country through the continued success of this ASX Top ....Process Chemistry for Distributed Manufacture of Nitric Acid. This project will benefit Australia by enabling a new approach to the manufacture of explosives for the country's mining industry which will provide the entire explosives supply chain with greater safety and security. Development of this technology will enhance Orica's competitive position as the largest manufacturer of mining explosives in the world and will produce wealth for the country through the continued success of this ASX Top 50 company and the export of the technology.Read moreRead less
Optimising haemodynamics in complex stented arteries. This project aims to optimise the hemodynamics (blood flow) in coronary arteries with high curvatures and bifurcations. Experience has shown that the build-up of plaque — and the resulting occlusion of blood flow — tends to occur in these complex arterial regions. The most common therapeutic strategy is the insertion of a stent to prop open the artery. However, the nature of the geometry often leads to post-stenting complications such as rest ....Optimising haemodynamics in complex stented arteries. This project aims to optimise the hemodynamics (blood flow) in coronary arteries with high curvatures and bifurcations. Experience has shown that the build-up of plaque — and the resulting occlusion of blood flow — tends to occur in these complex arterial regions. The most common therapeutic strategy is the insertion of a stent to prop open the artery. However, the nature of the geometry often leads to post-stenting complications such as restenosis and thrombosis, ultimately resulting in negative outcomes. In this project, advanced research methods from fluid dynamics and optimisation and control will be used to potentially minimise these highly undesirable effects.Read moreRead less
Design tools for optimising data centre layout to minimise energy usage. Data centres are major consumers of energy worldwide, mainly through the need to cool the equipment. It has become imperative to develop the science for reducing this consumption. Rising computing demand, increasing power density, and increasing infrastructure and energy costs are major issue for data centres around the world. Our research will provide a powerful alternative to conventional thermal management techniques for ....Design tools for optimising data centre layout to minimise energy usage. Data centres are major consumers of energy worldwide, mainly through the need to cool the equipment. It has become imperative to develop the science for reducing this consumption. Rising computing demand, increasing power density, and increasing infrastructure and energy costs are major issue for data centres around the world. Our research will provide a powerful alternative to conventional thermal management techniques for cooling high-density heat loads in mixed-density environments. We will address the key issue of energy minimisation through a detailed flow analyses by the use of numerical simulations and optimisation algorithms.Read moreRead less
Condition Monitoring of Aircraft Propulsion for Automated Diagnostics. The integrity of the steering system is crucial for the safe operation of autonomous vehicles. This project aims at developing a new condition monitoring system able to diagnose steering faults earlier, provide a root-cause-analysis of malfunctions, and estimate associated failure risks in the future. The outcomes of this project will be a better understanding of steering faults and their effect on autonomous driving, timely ....Condition Monitoring of Aircraft Propulsion for Automated Diagnostics. The integrity of the steering system is crucial for the safe operation of autonomous vehicles. This project aims at developing a new condition monitoring system able to diagnose steering faults earlier, provide a root-cause-analysis of malfunctions, and estimate associated failure risks in the future. The outcomes of this project will be a better understanding of steering faults and their effect on autonomous driving, timely diagnostics and prognostics and innovative proactive control measures that mitigate their impact on autonomous driving quality and safety. The expected benefits for the automotive industry and end-users include increased safety and reliability of steering systems, and higher confidence in autonomous driving.Read moreRead less
An end-to-end ocean weather information system for the blue economy. This project aims to develop a state-of-the-art ocean weather information system for marine industries. The project will design an end-to-end solution that integrates ocean observations, operational forecasting, and data delivery. By addressing industry needs, this project will provide a rapid pathway from research to economic benefit.