Advanced coverage control techniques for mobile networked systems. This project aims to efficiently control individual mobile sensors and actuators to achieve network-wide coverage quality for monitoring and control of industrial and environmental processes. Coverage control of mobile networked systems is important in control engineering due to the growing use of mobile robots and mobile wireless networks for sensing coverage and monitoring. The project will develop techniques for coverage contr ....Advanced coverage control techniques for mobile networked systems. This project aims to efficiently control individual mobile sensors and actuators to achieve network-wide coverage quality for monitoring and control of industrial and environmental processes. Coverage control of mobile networked systems is important in control engineering due to the growing use of mobile robots and mobile wireless networks for sensing coverage and monitoring. The project will develop techniques for coverage control of mobile networks which are expected to solve industrial control problems in the defence, communications and robotics industries and manage the environment.Read moreRead less
Hardware Acceleration for Neural Systems. To really understand how brains work, we need to simulate neural networks of a size similar to that of the human brain (100 billion neurons, 100 trillion connections). Simulating such a network on standard computers in not possible because of its sheer size. Several groups are currently building very expensive and proprietary hardware to solve this, but the output from these projects will not be accessible to other researchers. In order to make real prog ....Hardware Acceleration for Neural Systems. To really understand how brains work, we need to simulate neural networks of a size similar to that of the human brain (100 billion neurons, 100 trillion connections). Simulating such a network on standard computers in not possible because of its sheer size. Several groups are currently building very expensive and proprietary hardware to solve this, but the output from these projects will not be accessible to other researchers. In order to make real progress in neuroscience, many more researchers need to be enabled to participate. To do this, the project will build a system from commercial hardware (FPGAs) that will cost only a few ten thousand dollars and it will make this design and software available for free. Read moreRead less
Extending the lifetime of switching power converters. This project aims to address the need for longer lifespan of power conversion systems which can withstand failure of its key components. This is achieved through developing more reliable power converter circuits whilst reducing the stress of the components. This project will generate new circuit design and control techniques for power and energy systems, especially in dealing with reliability issues. Expected outcome of this project includes ....Extending the lifetime of switching power converters. This project aims to address the need for longer lifespan of power conversion systems which can withstand failure of its key components. This is achieved through developing more reliable power converter circuits whilst reducing the stress of the components. This project will generate new circuit design and control techniques for power and energy systems, especially in dealing with reliability issues. Expected outcome of this project includes reduction of failure rate of power converters by at least 50%. This should provide benefits for many sectors including emerging technologies in particular renewable energy, electric vehicles and energy storage systems seeking reliable power supply and for the environment with reduced e-waste production.Read moreRead less
Low cost, efficient and more reliable power switching network. This project aims to propose new power electronics circuit integration concepts and control techniques to reduce power supply cost by at least 30 per cent while improving efficiency and reliability. Photovoltaic combined battery storage application will be implemented and tested in detail to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed concepts. The outcomes of the project will benefit many emerging technologies such as electric vehic ....Low cost, efficient and more reliable power switching network. This project aims to propose new power electronics circuit integration concepts and control techniques to reduce power supply cost by at least 30 per cent while improving efficiency and reliability. Photovoltaic combined battery storage application will be implemented and tested in detail to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed concepts. The outcomes of the project will benefit many emerging technologies such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and energy storage systems, wireless communications and portable devices.Read moreRead less
Control and state estimation in the next-generation interconnected systems. This project aims to develop a systematic and efficient approach to address fundamental challenges in control and secure state estimation in the next-generation interconnected systems. Control and state estimation in high-tech systems is an emerging area of control engineering. The importance of this area is quickly increasing due to the growing use of the next-generation interconnected systems, in which physical and hig ....Control and state estimation in the next-generation interconnected systems. This project aims to develop a systematic and efficient approach to address fundamental challenges in control and secure state estimation in the next-generation interconnected systems. Control and state estimation in high-tech systems is an emerging area of control engineering. The importance of this area is quickly increasing due to the growing use of the next-generation interconnected systems, in which physical and high-tech components are interacting in complex networks. The project is expected to have direct applications in the management of energy networks, and in industrial control and secure state estimation problems in the defence, communications, and automobile industries.Read moreRead less
Towards a block-cipher circuit resistant to multiple side channel attacks. This project aims to design, implement and verify the first ever fully comprehensive countermeasure against simultaneous attacks on devices performing a cryptographic task, such as a smart card or a mobile phone used for an electronic payment, through a variety of side channels. Side channel attacks aim to obtain unauthorized access to secret cryptographic keys used by such devices, by collecting and statistically process ....Towards a block-cipher circuit resistant to multiple side channel attacks. This project aims to design, implement and verify the first ever fully comprehensive countermeasure against simultaneous attacks on devices performing a cryptographic task, such as a smart card or a mobile phone used for an electronic payment, through a variety of side channels. Side channel attacks aim to obtain unauthorized access to secret cryptographic keys used by such devices, by collecting and statistically processing measurements of by-products of the physical operation of these devices, such as the consumed power or electromagnetic radiation. Rapid proliferation of personal devices used for electronic payments or containing sensitive data makes such a comprehensive countermeasure urgently needed.Read moreRead less
Individually addressable, active, multipoint electrodes for bio-potential recording and electrical impedance imaging. We will develop non-invasive devices based on biosignal and impedance monitoring. They will be highly portable and based on comfortable electrode patches that can be applied quickly in emergencies. The technology may be used to save lives and reduce disabilities by monitoring strokes and heart attacks and stimulate Australia's biomedical industry.
Designing Radiation-Tolerant Reconfigurable Systems for Space. The processing speed, cost and flexibility requirements of future satellite-based applications cannot be satisfied with conventional radiation-hardened processors or custom integrated circuits. This project aims to develop key technology to enable off-the-shelf hardware to be customised for this use without compromising reliability. The project aims to develop the design methods needed to implement a given set of satellite applicatio ....Designing Radiation-Tolerant Reconfigurable Systems for Space. The processing speed, cost and flexibility requirements of future satellite-based applications cannot be satisfied with conventional radiation-hardened processors or custom integrated circuits. This project aims to develop key technology to enable off-the-shelf hardware to be customised for this use without compromising reliability. The project aims to develop the design methods needed to implement a given set of satellite applications on a processing platform composed of application-specific soft processors and accelerator circuits hosted on conventional reconfigurable logic devices. Crucially, the solution architecture is expected to be sufficiently hardened against radiation-induced errors while meeting performance and circuit area constraints.Read moreRead less