Novel techniques for statistical and mathematical analyses of sequence data. Algorithms will be developed for analysing and comparing the sequences of DNA letters and amino acids constantly being generated in massive quantities by biological research. The novel approach taken is based on the statistical frequency of occurrence of short words and is designed specifically for situations where current methods fail.
Guiding principles and guardrails for genetic association studies. This project aims to investigate deep connections between genetic structure (population genetic processes, linkage disequilibrium and population structure) and the ability to statistically detect genetic variants responsible for variation in traits. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of statistics, mathematics and biology through an innovative, multidisciplinary approach that synthesises and extends founda ....Guiding principles and guardrails for genetic association studies. This project aims to investigate deep connections between genetic structure (population genetic processes, linkage disequilibrium and population structure) and the ability to statistically detect genetic variants responsible for variation in traits. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of statistics, mathematics and biology through an innovative, multidisciplinary approach that synthesises and extends foundational disciplinary results. Expected outcomes of this project include principles and methodology that underpin future genetic association studies by supplying a framework for interpreting results. This should provide significant benefits by reducing false conclusions and their associated costs.Read moreRead less
Rogue waves in realistic situations. Rapid progress in rogue wave research internationally requires the further development of an accurate theory of extreme waves in deep water and in optical fibers. Such progress is a necessity for our ability to predict their appearance in the ocean or their use in optics. This project will enhance the modelling of extreme waves by taking into account higher order effects such as third order dispersion, self-steepening and time delayed response, as well as dis ....Rogue waves in realistic situations. Rapid progress in rogue wave research internationally requires the further development of an accurate theory of extreme waves in deep water and in optical fibers. Such progress is a necessity for our ability to predict their appearance in the ocean or their use in optics. This project will enhance the modelling of extreme waves by taking into account higher order effects such as third order dispersion, self-steepening and time delayed response, as well as dissipative and higher order nonlinear terms. These are essential for a precise description of both giant waves in the ocean and strong pulses in optics. Read moreRead less
Design of Real-time Optimisation Methods with Guaranteed Performance. The project aim is the development of a framework for the advancement of optimisation algorithms operating in real-time applications. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of systems theory and optimisation, and its application to time-varying problems. Expected outcomes of this project should lead to a new theoretical and practical framework that aims to ameliorate the shortcomings of the existing approac ....Design of Real-time Optimisation Methods with Guaranteed Performance. The project aim is the development of a framework for the advancement of optimisation algorithms operating in real-time applications. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of systems theory and optimisation, and its application to time-varying problems. Expected outcomes of this project should lead to a new theoretical and practical framework that aims to ameliorate the shortcomings of the existing approaches that struggle to rapidly respond to new information. This should provide significant benefits. Specifically, this project aims to facilitate a technological leap that generates smaller, faster, and more powerful embedded systems such as broadband services, mobile phones, medical imagining, radar and avionics.Read moreRead less
Optimisation of piezoelectric metamaterials: Towards robotic stress sensors. This project aims to design new piezoelectric material microstructures that can enhance the measurement of complex local stress states within robotic limbs. The project expects to generate new knowledge of the achievable properties of multi-poled piezoelectric materials and develop computational tools for the analysis and structural optimisation of such materials. The designed microstructures may revolutionise piezoelec ....Optimisation of piezoelectric metamaterials: Towards robotic stress sensors. This project aims to design new piezoelectric material microstructures that can enhance the measurement of complex local stress states within robotic limbs. The project expects to generate new knowledge of the achievable properties of multi-poled piezoelectric materials and develop computational tools for the analysis and structural optimisation of such materials. The designed microstructures may revolutionise piezoelectric sensor technology. Expected outcomes include manufactured proof-of-concept sensors that enable measurement of local stress fields. This should provide significant benefits, such as improved future robot capability and reliability, and research training for next-generation Australian computational mathematicians. Read moreRead less
Topological data analysis for enhanced modelling of the physical properties of complex micro-structured materials. The way water flows through sandstone depends on the connectivity of its pores, the balance of forces in a grain silo on the contacts between individual grains, and the impact resistance of metal foam in a car door on the arrangement of its cells. These structural properties are described mathematically by topology. Advanced three-dimensional X-ray imaging can now reveal the interna ....Topological data analysis for enhanced modelling of the physical properties of complex micro-structured materials. The way water flows through sandstone depends on the connectivity of its pores, the balance of forces in a grain silo on the contacts between individual grains, and the impact resistance of metal foam in a car door on the arrangement of its cells. These structural properties are described mathematically by topology. Advanced three-dimensional X-ray imaging can now reveal the internal detail of micro-structured materials. Recent developments in image analysis mean it is possible to compute accurate topological information from such images. This project aims to investigate how fundamental measures of shape influence the physical properties of complex materials and clarifies the mathematics that underpins these relationships.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
Cooperative control of networked systems with constraints. This project aims to address the challenge of networked systems in deploying teams of robotic agents. Control of the networked system is extremely difficult due to real world constraints imposed on each agent. This project will focus on motion constraints, equipment/capability constraints, and spatial constraints. In addition to theoretical advances, the wider scientific community will benefit directly, because the control algorithms dev ....Cooperative control of networked systems with constraints. This project aims to address the challenge of networked systems in deploying teams of robotic agents. Control of the networked system is extremely difficult due to real world constraints imposed on each agent. This project will focus on motion constraints, equipment/capability constraints, and spatial constraints. In addition to theoretical advances, the wider scientific community will benefit directly, because the control algorithms developed are expected to allow straightforward deployment of robotic teams. There are myriad applications for cooperative robotic agents, ranging from surveillance, to environmental monitoring using underwater and aerial drone formations – with an array of benefits and impacts including economic, commercial and societal. The results are intended to ensure and cement Australia’s front-line position in the current technological revolution known as “Industry 4.0”.Read moreRead less
Information consensus and coordination of multiagent systems. Revolutions in information and communication technologies create a complex 'network of everything'. This project will develop advanced control techniques for such networks, to make the nation's power systems safer, to fly formations of unmanned airborne vehicles, and to extract key information from networks of environmental monitoring sensors.
Sensing a complex world: Infinite dimensional observer theory for robots. This project aims to develop the foundational theory and design paradigms to support the new generation of sensor systems crucial to enabling widespread robotic automation in unstructured environments such as mining, agriculture and urban transport. Modern dense robotic sensor modalities such as CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensors, LIDAR and dense acoustic arrays are best modelled as a fine grid of measu ....Sensing a complex world: Infinite dimensional observer theory for robots. This project aims to develop the foundational theory and design paradigms to support the new generation of sensor systems crucial to enabling widespread robotic automation in unstructured environments such as mining, agriculture and urban transport. Modern dense robotic sensor modalities such as CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensors, LIDAR and dense acoustic arrays are best modelled as a fine grid of measurements from an infinite dimensional dynamical system. The project plans to develop infinite dimensional invariant observer theory to formulate implementable algorithms that run in real-time on embedded hardware, providing detailed information that enables robots to undertake tasks that are presently impossible with state-of-the-art sparse sensing paradigms.Read moreRead less