Microcantilevers for multifrequency atomic force microscopy. This project aims to design a microcantilever with high-performing sensors more sensitive and with better noise performance than the typical optical system used in commercial Atomic Force Microscopes (AFMs). The AFM, a nanotechnology instrument, uses a microcantilever (with an extremely shape probe) to interrogate a sample surface. It has made important discoveries in nanotechnology, life sciences, nanomachining, material science and d ....Microcantilevers for multifrequency atomic force microscopy. This project aims to design a microcantilever with high-performing sensors more sensitive and with better noise performance than the typical optical system used in commercial Atomic Force Microscopes (AFMs). The AFM, a nanotechnology instrument, uses a microcantilever (with an extremely shape probe) to interrogate a sample surface. It has made important discoveries in nanotechnology, life sciences, nanomachining, material science and data storage systems. Despite its success, the technique’s spatial resolution and quantitative measurements are limited. This project could lead to breakthrough technologies such as atomic force spectroscopy to study elastic modulus of nanostructures, and establish Australia's prominence in this emerging field.Read moreRead less
Reliable and efficient algorithms for modelling dynamical systems from data. Mathematical and computational models are increasingly important in diverse areas of science and engineering including aircraft and automotive design, robotics, medical sensing, and biology. However, finding an accurate model remains a difficult task. This project will develop new methods to reliably find highly accurate models from recorded data.
A New Approach to High-Performance Control of Nonlinear Systems. The coming generation of robots are highly mobile and will interact significantly with their environment, each other, and human collaborators. However, this leads to highly coupled nonlinear dynamical behaviour, and achieving accurate and reliable control of these systems is pushing current control theory to breaking point. This project aims to develop a new approach to control of nonlinear systems based on contraction theory and c ....A New Approach to High-Performance Control of Nonlinear Systems. The coming generation of robots are highly mobile and will interact significantly with their environment, each other, and human collaborators. However, this leads to highly coupled nonlinear dynamical behaviour, and achieving accurate and reliable control of these systems is pushing current control theory to breaking point. This project aims to develop a new approach to control of nonlinear systems based on contraction theory and convex optimisation, extending the power of optimisation-based control from linear to non-linear systems. The project is expected to lead to new theoretical developments, constructive algorithms and software, and experimental demonstrations on a range of platforms including bipedal walking robots and underwater robots.Read moreRead less
Extracting macroscopic variables and their dynamics in multiscale systems with metastable states. There are practical barriers to the simulation of complex systems such as molecular systems and the climate system because of the high-dimensionality of the models and the presence of multiscale dynamics. This project will lift these barriers by uncovering the most relevant variables and by creating innovative multiscale simulation algorithms.
A New Approach to Sampled-Data Control Design for Nonlinear Systems. This project aims to exploit new sampling and sampled-data modelling insights to bridge the continuous/sampled-data gap in the control of nonlinear systems. The goal is to investigate the impact of these insights on the control design problem and provide a new class of digital control laws for continuous time non-linear systems.
Robust control of power electronics and drives: a synthesis of traditional and model predictive control approaches. This project aims to generate high-performance strategies for the control of power converters. Through the combination of traditional and modern approaches, the project will develop methods which are more reliable and give better energy efficiency than current state of the art techniques.
Robust control of mobile networked systems. The conceptual advances with new design rules are to be developed in the area of robust control of mobile networked systems. A major benefit of the research to be carried out in this project will be its direct application to industrial control problems in the defence, communications and robotics industries and to the management of the environment.
Efficient and high-precision system identification in quantum cybernetics. This project aims to develop new theories and algorithms to enhance system identification capabilities in quantum cybernetics from the perspective of systems and control. The project is anticipated to advance key knowledge and provide effective methods to enable identification of microsystems for wide applications arising in this emerging technology revolution. The intended outcomes are fundamental theories, and efficient ....Efficient and high-precision system identification in quantum cybernetics. This project aims to develop new theories and algorithms to enhance system identification capabilities in quantum cybernetics from the perspective of systems and control. The project is anticipated to advance key knowledge and provide effective methods to enable identification of microsystems for wide applications arising in this emerging technology revolution. The intended outcomes are fundamental theories, and efficient estimation methods for identifying these systems. This project will make important contributions to accelerating practical applications of new technology, and deliver new knowledge and skills for Australia's future industries, which will benefit Australia's economic growth.Read moreRead less
Generalised Energy Based Robust and Nonlinear Control Systems. This project aims to develop new energy-based theories of robust stability analysis and controller design for both linear and nonlinear systems, building on passivity and negative imaginary system theories and their physical interpretations along with stochastic optimal control theory. These control theories would allow for a wide range of plant dynamics in the design of high-performance robust control systems, enabling advances in e ....Generalised Energy Based Robust and Nonlinear Control Systems. This project aims to develop new energy-based theories of robust stability analysis and controller design for both linear and nonlinear systems, building on passivity and negative imaginary system theories and their physical interpretations along with stochastic optimal control theory. These control theories would allow for a wide range of plant dynamics in the design of high-performance robust control systems, enabling advances in emerging technologies including nanopositioning, micro-electromechanical systems and opto-mechatronics. The project plans to combine these theoretical advances with numerical methods involving advanced optimisation tools and the experimental implementation of nanopositioning control systems in atomic force microscopy.Read moreRead less
Exploring new tools in nonlinear filtering and control. The conceptual advances with new design rules to be developed in the area of nonlinear filtering and control. Major benefits of this project will be its direct applications to state estimation and control problems in automobile, manufacturing, military hardware and medical device industries, and its increased capacity of contact research.