Towards Distributed Phased Array Radar for High Resolution Weather Monitoring. Several recent reports on climate change by leading international and national bodies forecast that the rate of weather hazards such as storms and wind-shear, and of weather-associated phenomena such as bush fires will increase over the next 40 years. The current technology for monitoring weather events, and effects like wind-shift, which has a serious impact on dangers associated with bush fires, has significant wea ....Towards Distributed Phased Array Radar for High Resolution Weather Monitoring. Several recent reports on climate change by leading international and national bodies forecast that the rate of weather hazards such as storms and wind-shear, and of weather-associated phenomena such as bush fires will increase over the next 40 years. The current technology for monitoring weather events, and effects like wind-shift, which has a serious impact on dangers associated with bush fires, has significant weaknesses. We will deliver considerable improvements in monitoring capability by developing the technology for using a network of small phased array radars. We aim to place monitoring resources where end-user needs are greatest.Read moreRead less
Developing a Smart Monitoring System for Leakage Currents from Insulators on Wooden Poles. Numerous wooden poles are used for electricity power transmission in urban and rural areas of Australia. Insulators suspended on poles are subject to contamination and moisture that cause partial discharge currents to flow through the wooden poles, resulting in pole fires leading to loss of power to customers and possible bush fires. This project aims at studying the characteristics of leakage currents fr ....Developing a Smart Monitoring System for Leakage Currents from Insulators on Wooden Poles. Numerous wooden poles are used for electricity power transmission in urban and rural areas of Australia. Insulators suspended on poles are subject to contamination and moisture that cause partial discharge currents to flow through the wooden poles, resulting in pole fires leading to loss of power to customers and possible bush fires. This project aims at studying the characteristics of leakage currents from insulators on wooden poles in Australian conditions and developing a smart monitoring system to detect and prevent pole fires caused by leakage currents. The outcomes will reduce the risk of pole fires, hence improving public safety, reliability of power supply and sustainability of the Australian power industry.Read moreRead less
Cognitive Radars for Automobiles. Automobile radar systems are an important technology for improving road safety by providing advanced driver warnings in vehicles. Though such devices currently exist in practice there is no guarantee that they will operate successfully when deployed on a mass scale in every vehicle given the limited allocated frequency spectrum. The spectral interference due to radar access becomes a major issue when several radars operate in a confined bandwidth simultaneously, ....Cognitive Radars for Automobiles. Automobile radar systems are an important technology for improving road safety by providing advanced driver warnings in vehicles. Though such devices currently exist in practice there is no guarantee that they will operate successfully when deployed on a mass scale in every vehicle given the limited allocated frequency spectrum. The spectral interference due to radar access becomes a major issue when several radars operate in a confined bandwidth simultaneously, potentially leading to a complete system failure during mass deployment. This project will conduct fundamental research intended to enable dynamic spectrum accessing in automobile radars and redesign the radar systems in the form of sequence and waveform designs to suit requirements.Read moreRead less
Continuous wave excitation for low power Magnetic Resonance Imaging. This project aims to augment the capabilities of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems, using continuous wave (CW) transmission and signal reception, to image objects using very low excitation power. Any given MRI sequence tries to solve an inverse problem, involving estimation of some subset of hidden states and parameters of the system, given the observed data. Using transient and steady-state CW magnetisation dynamics to ....Continuous wave excitation for low power Magnetic Resonance Imaging. This project aims to augment the capabilities of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems, using continuous wave (CW) transmission and signal reception, to image objects using very low excitation power. Any given MRI sequence tries to solve an inverse problem, involving estimation of some subset of hidden states and parameters of the system, given the observed data. Using transient and steady-state CW magnetisation dynamics to solve inverse problems is expected to advance technology toward lower power, lower cost solutions for MRI scanners in healthcare and industrial applications, including materials science and mineral processing.Read moreRead less
Blind Signal Separation from Unidentifiable Systems. This project will contribute to the designated national research priority goal on frontier Information and Communications Technology. The outcomes of the project will advance the theory of signal processing and enable performance improvement of a wide range of hi-tech applications. This project will enhance Australia's research reputation and competitiveness, promote the understanding and applications of advanced signal processing techniques i ....Blind Signal Separation from Unidentifiable Systems. This project will contribute to the designated national research priority goal on frontier Information and Communications Technology. The outcomes of the project will advance the theory of signal processing and enable performance improvement of a wide range of hi-tech applications. This project will enhance Australia's research reputation and competitiveness, promote the understanding and applications of advanced signal processing techniques in local industries, and provide excellent training opportunity for PhD and Honours students.Read moreRead less
Advanced Signal Processing for Radiation Spectroscopy. Southern Innovation develops and markets world-leading pulse processing technologies for the rapid, accurate detection and measurement of radiation. The underlying real-time signal processing challenge relates to isolating often overlapping pulses, determining when each pulse arrived and the energy of each pulse. Recent advances in the computational power of digital signal processing boards makes it timely to develop innovative pulse process ....Advanced Signal Processing for Radiation Spectroscopy. Southern Innovation develops and markets world-leading pulse processing technologies for the rapid, accurate detection and measurement of radiation. The underlying real-time signal processing challenge relates to isolating often overlapping pulses, determining when each pulse arrived and the energy of each pulse. Recent advances in the computational power of digital signal processing boards makes it timely to develop innovative pulse processing algorithms based on optimal filtering of stochastic processes. It is expected that these algorithms will have widespread impact, both commercially for minerals exploration, materials analysis, medical imaging and security screening, and scientifically for improving the performance of synchrotrons and other equipment.Read moreRead less
Prediction of epilepsy seizure onset using nonlinear analysis of EEG recordings. This project will develop the theory and algorithms for reliable and robust prediction of the onset of epileptic seizures and the characterisation of epileptic seizures based on EEG data. Our interdisciplinary team consists of neuroscientists and systems engineers supported with clinicians and software developers. The team will develop the theory and design, implement and evaluate decision support software that is a ....Prediction of epilepsy seizure onset using nonlinear analysis of EEG recordings. This project will develop the theory and algorithms for reliable and robust prediction of the onset of epileptic seizures and the characterisation of epileptic seizures based on EEG data. Our interdisciplinary team consists of neuroscientists and systems engineers supported with clinicians and software developers. The team will develop the theory and design, implement and evaluate decision support software that is able to interpret eeg data and present epilepsy relevant information to clinicians and patients. Our methods are based on statistical signal processing, nonlinear dynamics (bifurcation and time-series methods) and systems engineering (system identification, adaptive methods).Read moreRead less
Nonlinear Signal Processing: Optimisation and Tracking on Manifolds. Most hi-tech electronic devices must process signals. A mobile phone, for example, must encode, transmit, decode and receive voice signals. This project will use specialised mathematical theories applied in novel ways to advance the theoretical foundations of signal processing and develop better signal processing algorithms for practical applications. Companies with access to better signal processing algorithms have an edge ov ....Nonlinear Signal Processing: Optimisation and Tracking on Manifolds. Most hi-tech electronic devices must process signals. A mobile phone, for example, must encode, transmit, decode and receive voice signals. This project will use specialised mathematical theories applied in novel ways to advance the theoretical foundations of signal processing and develop better signal processing algorithms for practical applications. Companies with access to better signal processing algorithms have an edge over their competitors, and consumers benefit too from better and more advanced products.Read moreRead less
Detection and Quantification of General Fetal Movements from Accelerometer Measurements using Nonstationary Signal Processing Techniques. There are approximately 1,750 fetal deaths per year in Australian with about one-third occurring late in gestation and without an apparent cause. The development of an automated system capable of long-term monitoring of fetal health will result in accurate diagnoses and prediction of future outcome. This will, in turn, allow early intervention by the clinicia ....Detection and Quantification of General Fetal Movements from Accelerometer Measurements using Nonstationary Signal Processing Techniques. There are approximately 1,750 fetal deaths per year in Australian with about one-third occurring late in gestation and without an apparent cause. The development of an automated system capable of long-term monitoring of fetal health will result in accurate diagnoses and prediction of future outcome. This will, in turn, allow early intervention by the clinician to reduce fetal deaths and enhance the chances of good outcomes with resultant savings in social and financial costs to the community. The development of such equipment would spawn future research into intervention treatments and contribute to Australia's position as a world leader in computerised health monitoring systems.Read moreRead less
Optimisation of signal processing and electrical stimulation algorithms for the abatement of epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is the second-most common neurological disorder behind stroke and ischemic attacks, affecting 1-2 per cent of the nation's population. Pharmaceutical therapies are ineffective in approximately one third of cases, the result being a large unmet need for novel treatments. The devices to be produced through this project will improve the quality of life of many patients in the fu ....Optimisation of signal processing and electrical stimulation algorithms for the abatement of epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is the second-most common neurological disorder behind stroke and ischemic attacks, affecting 1-2 per cent of the nation's population. Pharmaceutical therapies are ineffective in approximately one third of cases, the result being a large unmet need for novel treatments. The devices to be produced through this project will improve the quality of life of many patients in the future and alleviate their dependence on traditional medications. The devices will also reduce the patients' requirements for medical practitioners, hospital and ambulance services, and will therefore also reduce the financial burden that neurological and epilepsy patients place on the community.Read moreRead less