Situational Assessment as a Marker of Cognitive Skill Decay. The aim of this study is to test how differences in exposure to complex tasks change the capacity for situational assessment. Amongst drivers, pilots and electricity controllers, the capacity to assess and respond effectively to changes in the operational environment are critical in sustaining performance and ensuring the safety and security of the public. Establishing the nature of this relationship will enable, for the first time, ob ....Situational Assessment as a Marker of Cognitive Skill Decay. The aim of this study is to test how differences in exposure to complex tasks change the capacity for situational assessment. Amongst drivers, pilots and electricity controllers, the capacity to assess and respond effectively to changes in the operational environment are critical in sustaining performance and ensuring the safety and security of the public. Establishing the nature of this relationship will enable, for the first time, objective measures of cognitive skill decay. In evaluating cognitive skill decay more accurately, we will provide a cost-effective, easily administered tool, enabling practitioners to identify and address areas of development and providing data to anticipate when cognitive skill decay is most likely to occur.Read moreRead less
Crashworthiness topology optimisation for light-weight battery compartments. This project uses computational modelling and optimisation methods to the design of battery compartments for electric vehicles. As the use of electric vehicles becomes more extensive, awareness of the consequences of catastrophic failure of high energy battery in a crash has increased. This project will develop novel design methodologies, using multi-disciplinary techniques for battery compartment structure. The methodo ....Crashworthiness topology optimisation for light-weight battery compartments. This project uses computational modelling and optimisation methods to the design of battery compartments for electric vehicles. As the use of electric vehicles becomes more extensive, awareness of the consequences of catastrophic failure of high energy battery in a crash has increased. This project will develop novel design methodologies, using multi-disciplinary techniques for battery compartment structure. The methodology will expand conventional crashworthiness design to the coupled mechanical-electrochemical-thermal problems. The proposed crashworthiness optimisation of battery compartment structure will enhance safety and reliability of electric vehicles, potentially benefiting consumers and manufacturers.Read moreRead less
Proactive detection of motor vehicle crash black spots based on their underlying behavioural, engineering, and spatially related causes. Road traffic crashes are responsible for about 1400 fatalities and 32,500 injuries on Australian roadways each year. A significant research opportunity exists to fundamentally rethink how the profession quantitatively identifies black spots on the transport network. The first project aim is to develop, test, and validate an evidence based methodology to proacti ....Proactive detection of motor vehicle crash black spots based on their underlying behavioural, engineering, and spatially related causes. Road traffic crashes are responsible for about 1400 fatalities and 32,500 injuries on Australian roadways each year. A significant research opportunity exists to fundamentally rethink how the profession quantitatively identifies black spots on the transport network. The first project aim is to develop, test, and validate an evidence based methodology to proactively detect motor vehicle crash black spots. The second aim is decompose (statistically) observed crashes at a site into their engineering, behavioural, and unobserved spatial components. The new methods combined will lead to fundamentally novel insights and knowledge regarding transport network safety management, in turn leading to reductions in the Australian road toll.Read moreRead less
Intention-aware cooperative driving behaviour model for Automated Vehicles. This project aims to investigate humans' cooperation with automated systems by conceptualising joint intention awareness. This project expects to generate knowledge about a new cooperative driving behaviour model for automated vehicles, utilising a transdisciplinary approach that mixes human-centric methods with deep learning techniques. Intended outcomes are new joint intention awareness theory, new interface for automa ....Intention-aware cooperative driving behaviour model for Automated Vehicles. This project aims to investigate humans' cooperation with automated systems by conceptualising joint intention awareness. This project expects to generate knowledge about a new cooperative driving behaviour model for automated vehicles, utilising a transdisciplinary approach that mixes human-centric methods with deep learning techniques. Intended outcomes are new joint intention awareness theory, new interface for automated vehicles, new methodology for cooperative behaviour research, and enhanced research capacity. The expected significant benefits are for automated systems to become more predictable, acceptable, readable and safer to use by everyday people.Read moreRead less
Trustworthy positioning for intelligent transport systems. This project aims to develop a holistic approach for reliable positioning for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This project will address the challenges of integrity monitoring in ITS when using satellite-based technology, its integration with other sensors, and when supported by the proposed Australia National Positioning Infrastructure. It will consider Australian geography, large area, and sparse population, and emphasise rural tra ....Trustworthy positioning for intelligent transport systems. This project aims to develop a holistic approach for reliable positioning for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This project will address the challenges of integrity monitoring in ITS when using satellite-based technology, its integration with other sensors, and when supported by the proposed Australia National Positioning Infrastructure. It will consider Australian geography, large area, and sparse population, and emphasise rural transport. Expected primary outputs include algorithms, a detailed analysis of required systems and recommendations that will help prepare Australia for the importation of self-driving vehicles.Read moreRead less
CoopEcoSafe: a new cooperative, green and safe driving system. Road transport plays a vital role in our economy but generates huge costs in road trauma and greenhouse gases. Eco-driving has been trialed as a cost-effective approach to reducing fuel consumption, but little research has examined its effects on safety. This research brings together disciplines of road safety, psychology and engineering to address the fundamental question: how can mobility be greener while being safer? It develops: ....CoopEcoSafe: a new cooperative, green and safe driving system. Road transport plays a vital role in our economy but generates huge costs in road trauma and greenhouse gases. Eco-driving has been trialed as a cost-effective approach to reducing fuel consumption, but little research has examined its effects on safety. This research brings together disciplines of road safety, psychology and engineering to address the fundamental question: how can mobility be greener while being safer? It develops: a new theoretical model that optimises environmental and safety outcomes; new persuasive in-vehicle Human Machine Interface supported by cooperative Intelligent Transport System; and, comprehensive benefits evaluation. This research will bring major improvements to both road safety and energy use. Read moreRead less
Understanding and improving sustained attention under vigilance conditions. This project aims to address a major global challenge caused by technological advances: human operators have to monitor computer-control (e.g., in autonomous vehicles, rail and airtraffic control) but sustaining attention is very difficult under these conditions. Developing innovative behavioural and neural methods, this internationally collaborative project bridges basic and applied science to understand lapses of atten ....Understanding and improving sustained attention under vigilance conditions. This project aims to address a major global challenge caused by technological advances: human operators have to monitor computer-control (e.g., in autonomous vehicles, rail and airtraffic control) but sustaining attention is very difficult under these conditions. Developing innovative behavioural and neural methods, this internationally collaborative project bridges basic and applied science to understand lapses of attention under monitoring conditions. It creates a novel intervention, based on brain activity patterns, to improve performance. Outcomes will increase our neural understanding of attention and lay a foundation for a novel system to detect lapses of attention in high-risk environments, preventing errors before they occur.Read moreRead less
Inferring driver behaviours, intent and risk in complex traffic scenarios. This project intends to develop methods to evaluate risk during driving. The next generation of vehicles will be fitted with sophisticated perception and egocentric information. This will be combined with inter-vehicle communication enabling cooperative safety, used in conjunction with intelligent infrastructure. This technology is expected to be mandated in the United States starting from 2017. This project plans to deve ....Inferring driver behaviours, intent and risk in complex traffic scenarios. This project intends to develop methods to evaluate risk during driving. The next generation of vehicles will be fitted with sophisticated perception and egocentric information. This will be combined with inter-vehicle communication enabling cooperative safety, used in conjunction with intelligent infrastructure. This technology is expected to be mandated in the United States starting from 2017. This project plans to develop unsupervised learning algorithms to infer high-level driver behaviours, intent and contextual information to automatically evaluate levels of risk under complex driving scenarios. It plans to validate the results using naturalistic driving datasets taken in large-scale deployments around the world. This innovation may improve automotive safety and facilitate the deployment of autonomous vehicles.Read moreRead less
User-centric solutions to optimise safety of children in cars. Globally, incorrect use of child restraints and inappropriate use of adult seat belts are widespread and longstanding problems. In Australia alone >2 million children are at increased risk of injury because of the lack of understanding about how to solve these problems. We have pioneered development of methods to allow novel user-centred approaches coupled with behavioural theory to effectively tackle these problems. In this project ....User-centric solutions to optimise safety of children in cars. Globally, incorrect use of child restraints and inappropriate use of adult seat belts are widespread and longstanding problems. In Australia alone >2 million children are at increased risk of injury because of the lack of understanding about how to solve these problems. We have pioneered development of methods to allow novel user-centred approaches coupled with behavioural theory to effectively tackle these problems. In this project we will build on and extend these innovative methods to to deliver new understanding about how (i) to communicate with parents to ensure behaviours and decisions about restraint optimise safety, and (ii) user-driven design can solve problems inhibiting optimal protection of in cars.Read moreRead less
Innovative X-by-Wire Control Systems for Improved Vehicle Manoeuvrability and Stability. Future automobiles will be equipped with safety-critical ‘x-by-wire’ systems, such as ‘steer-by-wire’, ‘brake-by-wire’, and ‘drive-by-wire’, to enable active safety control and improve reliability and performance. This project aims to develop a new coordinated control strategy based on an in-depth understanding of the fundamental dynamics and stability characteristics of vehicles. Corresponding x-by-wire sys ....Innovative X-by-Wire Control Systems for Improved Vehicle Manoeuvrability and Stability. Future automobiles will be equipped with safety-critical ‘x-by-wire’ systems, such as ‘steer-by-wire’, ‘brake-by-wire’, and ‘drive-by-wire’, to enable active safety control and improve reliability and performance. This project aims to develop a new coordinated control strategy based on an in-depth understanding of the fundamental dynamics and stability characteristics of vehicles. Corresponding x-by-wire systems will then be implemented, using a novel networked bilateral-control concept and new haptic devices for enhancing the overall performance and safety of vehicles. This project will lead to the innovative design of vehicle active safety systems for automobile manufacturing in Australia and the rest of the world.Read moreRead less