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
Deep Learning Augmented Intelligent Grinding Mill Simulation and Design. Comminution is a key operation in mineral processing that utilises grinding mills to reduce the size of ore for further mineral enrichment processing. The aim of this project is to provide a step change improvement in the operational efficiency and service life of grinding mills through the development of advanced numerical models to simulate the grinding mill process. The outcome will be a hierarchical deep learning progra ....Deep Learning Augmented Intelligent Grinding Mill Simulation and Design. Comminution is a key operation in mineral processing that utilises grinding mills to reduce the size of ore for further mineral enrichment processing. The aim of this project is to provide a step change improvement in the operational efficiency and service life of grinding mills through the development of advanced numerical models to simulate the grinding mill process. The outcome will be a hierarchical deep learning program to select optimal model parameters from which computational algorithms will optimise grinding mill geometries. This research project will deliver substantial improvements to equipment used to process our most valuable exports and result in immediate industry impact.Read moreRead less
Advanced geotechnical sensing and early warning system for smart highway. This project aims to develop an advanced sensing system with interactive analytical road health monitoring for smart highways. The project expects to provide potential savings of millions of dollars and improved road quality through targeted, optimised, value-for-money highway maintenance, identified by deployment of cost-effective, energy-efficient miniaturised electromechanical sensors. The expected outcome of this proje ....Advanced geotechnical sensing and early warning system for smart highway. This project aims to develop an advanced sensing system with interactive analytical road health monitoring for smart highways. The project expects to provide potential savings of millions of dollars and improved road quality through targeted, optimised, value-for-money highway maintenance, identified by deployment of cost-effective, energy-efficient miniaturised electromechanical sensors. The expected outcome of this project is the development of a fit-for-purpose and evidence-based early warning system for smart highway construction and maintenance. This should provide significant benefit through foreseeing potential geotechnical risks before they happen and enabling early intervention to enhance road safety and mitigate economic losses.Read moreRead less
Multiscale engineering of durable absorber coatings for solar thermal power. This project aims to advance the long-term stability and efficiency of high-temperature absorber coatings for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants. Solar energy is a vast and largely untapped resource in Australia. The project will design superior light absorbers and scalable and low-cost approaches for their fabrication. Optimal absorber properties will be achieved by multi-scale engineering of the coating composition ....Multiscale engineering of durable absorber coatings for solar thermal power. This project aims to advance the long-term stability and efficiency of high-temperature absorber coatings for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants. Solar energy is a vast and largely untapped resource in Australia. The project will design superior light absorbers and scalable and low-cost approaches for their fabrication. Optimal absorber properties will be achieved by multi-scale engineering of the coating composition and micro-texturing via modelling of the light absorption and heat transport within these complex nanocomposite structures. The intended outcome of the project is a set of commercially competitive absorber coatings, with superior performance and durability, that support the development of CSP as a competitive technology for energy generation.Read moreRead less
Vibration-based health monitoring of aero-engine bearings . This project will develop new vibration-based techniques to greatly improve the detection and diagnosis of faults in aero engine bearings from in-flight measurements. To achieve this goal, advances will be made on source separation algorithms to extract the weak bearing signals, and signal processing techniques to extract features for diagnosing bearing fault severity and lubrication conditions, under a wide range of operating condition ....Vibration-based health monitoring of aero-engine bearings . This project will develop new vibration-based techniques to greatly improve the detection and diagnosis of faults in aero engine bearings from in-flight measurements. To achieve this goal, advances will be made on source separation algorithms to extract the weak bearing signals, and signal processing techniques to extract features for diagnosing bearing fault severity and lubrication conditions, under a wide range of operating conditions. A bearing degradation model will estimate the remaining useful life. Since rolling element bearings are among the most critical components in most machines, the results of this research will also provide massive benefits in other sectors such as mining, transportation, energy production and manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Innovative metamaterial magnetorheological technology for mining machines. Hard-rock mining machines have been identified as the next generation mining technology, which will finally replace the traditional drill and blast method to increase productivity and mitigate dangerous working conditions. This project aims to develop innovative metamaterial magnetorheological elastomer joints for a typical hard-rock mining machine to improve the mining efficiency by reducing the vibration. The findings a ....Innovative metamaterial magnetorheological technology for mining machines. Hard-rock mining machines have been identified as the next generation mining technology, which will finally replace the traditional drill and blast method to increase productivity and mitigate dangerous working conditions. This project aims to develop innovative metamaterial magnetorheological elastomer joints for a typical hard-rock mining machine to improve the mining efficiency by reducing the vibration. The findings and outcomes of this research will advance the knowledge and practice of hard-rock mining machines in Australia. The success of this project will significantly increase mining productivity and reduce human injuryRead moreRead less
Quantitative structural health assessment of large membrane-like structures. This project aims to develop a new approach, based on remote sensing and computational modelling, to assess and manage the structural health of large floating covers used for odour control and biogas harvesting to prevent unexpected failures. The project has potential benefits for high-value-added manufacturing and maintenance of these floating covers by Australian industry.
A miniaturised laser manipulator for ultra-precise and pain-free dentistry. This project aims to develop a miniaturized high-precision laser robotic device that can fit comfortably in the mouth to perform pain-free, vibration-free dental operations by utilising silicon-carbide on silicon technology to create a millimetre-sized two-axis controllable, highly-reflective mirror robust to high-power ultra-short laser pulses. This project expects to generate new knowledge in micro-mirror control using ....A miniaturised laser manipulator for ultra-precise and pain-free dentistry. This project aims to develop a miniaturized high-precision laser robotic device that can fit comfortably in the mouth to perform pain-free, vibration-free dental operations by utilising silicon-carbide on silicon technology to create a millimetre-sized two-axis controllable, highly-reflective mirror robust to high-power ultra-short laser pulses. This project expects to generate new knowledge in micro-mirror control using optically excited piezo-resistive sensors, and cold femtosecond laser ablation of hard dental tissue. Expected outcomes include a working prototype for laser removal of tooth materials at speeds exceeding dental drills, providing benefits in miniaturized laser devices and ultimately removing pain from dental procedures. Read moreRead less
Task-centric Synthesis for Wearable Assistive Robots. Wearable Assistive Robots, designed to be worn on the human body, show tremendous potentials to provide what the wearer lacks in performing physically challenging tasks, such as seen in manufacturing, agricultural and healthcare industries. However, fundamental challenges still prevent the realisation of such benefits in the practical settings outside the laboratory. This project addresses these challenges by establishing (1) a systematic des ....Task-centric Synthesis for Wearable Assistive Robots. Wearable Assistive Robots, designed to be worn on the human body, show tremendous potentials to provide what the wearer lacks in performing physically challenging tasks, such as seen in manufacturing, agricultural and healthcare industries. However, fundamental challenges still prevent the realisation of such benefits in the practical settings outside the laboratory. This project addresses these challenges by establishing (1) a systematic design approach for wearable robots to achieve the intended task while optimising other relevant considerations, such as human factors and the practical bulk of the robot; and (2) a novel control and interaction strategy to accommodate the variations in realistic living and working environments.Read moreRead less
Transforming pastefill delivery system for next-generation mining industry. This project aims to develop a new type of mining pipeline design platform that can vastly improve pastefill (slurry) delivery systems. Using an Artificial Intelligence-based design platform, understanding complex and numerous variables in the fluid dynamics of abrasive pastefill flow will inform a new pipeline design. Consisting of a vertical casing, with our new composite pipeline chokes to replace costly friction loop ....Transforming pastefill delivery system for next-generation mining industry. This project aims to develop a new type of mining pipeline design platform that can vastly improve pastefill (slurry) delivery systems. Using an Artificial Intelligence-based design platform, understanding complex and numerous variables in the fluid dynamics of abrasive pastefill flow will inform a new pipeline design. Consisting of a vertical casing, with our new composite pipeline chokes to replace costly friction loops, improvements in flow efficiency and pipeline deterioration can significantly reduce maintenance costs. This novel and adaptable next-generation pipeline design and analysis platform can be employed by the manufacturing and mining sectors for pipeline failure analysis, managing production and developing new products.Read moreRead less