Remote sensing to improve structural efficiency of high-speed catamarans. This project aims to develop a monitoring system to remotely measure ship motions, loads and ride control activity under commercial operations. Data will be analysed using advanced statistical methods to inform evidence-based design to improve both structural efficiency and passenger comfort. The research will impact on design rules used worldwide, reducing weight and increasing payload and transport efficiency for this cl ....Remote sensing to improve structural efficiency of high-speed catamarans. This project aims to develop a monitoring system to remotely measure ship motions, loads and ride control activity under commercial operations. Data will be analysed using advanced statistical methods to inform evidence-based design to improve both structural efficiency and passenger comfort. The research will impact on design rules used worldwide, reducing weight and increasing payload and transport efficiency for this class of vessel. A "Smart” semi-autonomous interface will be developed to provide on-board seakeeping guidance to the ship captain. This technology will have significant benefits such as increased ship safety, vessel longevity and improving passenger comfort for all types of vessels worldwide including high-speed catamarans.Read moreRead less
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
Supervised autonomy for AUVs using limited bandwidth communication channels. This project aims to improve the feedback link between robotic platforms and an operator, to increase the effectiveness of underwater survey operations. During surveys, some level of adaptation is required to allow underwater robots to respond to the data they are collecting. It is often difficult to reliably program an autonomous system to identify salient data, particularly when the mission involves searching for part ....Supervised autonomy for AUVs using limited bandwidth communication channels. This project aims to improve the feedback link between robotic platforms and an operator, to increase the effectiveness of underwater survey operations. During surveys, some level of adaptation is required to allow underwater robots to respond to the data they are collecting. It is often difficult to reliably program an autonomous system to identify salient data, particularly when the mission involves searching for particular features whose sensor signatures may be difficult to determine a priori. In contrast, humans are generally good at quickly identifying important data or determining when a mission is not achieving its goals. The project aims to develop novel acoustic communication schemes that will allow communication between the human operator and the underwater robot, exploiting developments in machine learning, network and communication theory.Read moreRead less
Innovative Magnetorheological Powertrains for Electric Heavy Duty Vehicles. An electric vehicle powertrain mainly consists of an electric motor-driven system, a mechanical transmission and other components. This project aims to explore innovative powertrains with a regenerative braking function to maximise driving range, reduce power consumption, and enhance the dynamic performance of electrified vehicles. The proposed powertrains are expected to achieve seamless gear changing for driving and be ....Innovative Magnetorheological Powertrains for Electric Heavy Duty Vehicles. An electric vehicle powertrain mainly consists of an electric motor-driven system, a mechanical transmission and other components. This project aims to explore innovative powertrains with a regenerative braking function to maximise driving range, reduce power consumption, and enhance the dynamic performance of electrified vehicles. The proposed powertrains are expected to achieve seamless gear changing for driving and better braking performance by applying magnetorheological technology for a high-quality control of power-shifting, and therefore significantly improve vehicle dynamic and economic performance. A new era of high-efficiency electric powertrains could potentially be launched through the development of these novel technologies.Read moreRead less
Supervised autonomy for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) using limited bandwidth communication channels. The project aims to improve the feedback link between an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and an operator by developing novel acoustic communication schemes that exploit developments in machine learning, network, and communication theory and represents a step towards truly autonomous and intelligent surveying using AUV systems.
Intelligent Robotics for Pharmaceutical Formulation Development. This project aims to transform the labour and time-intensive process of drug formulation development by optimising the process workflow, through collaboration between biochemists and the proposed intelligent and scalable robotic system. This project expects to enable the robot to leverage the expert knowledge of the biochemists while automating rote tasks. The expected outcome of this project is an intelligent robot that can collab ....Intelligent Robotics for Pharmaceutical Formulation Development. This project aims to transform the labour and time-intensive process of drug formulation development by optimising the process workflow, through collaboration between biochemists and the proposed intelligent and scalable robotic system. This project expects to enable the robot to leverage the expert knowledge of the biochemists while automating rote tasks. The expected outcome of this project is an intelligent robot that can collaborate with human coworkers to accelerate drug formulation. This should provide significant benefits by lowering drug costs and the development time of new drugs. Read moreRead less
Analysis and modeling of driving patterns for limited-range electric vehicles. The electrification of the personal transport sector seems to be only a matter of time. It is important to study and model the effects of this sector now, in order to recommend decision makers on issues like standardization and infrastructure planning. Understanding and being able to predict EV driving and charging patterns will allow us to provide planning assistance for:
· Effects of day-time dependent energy pri ....Analysis and modeling of driving patterns for limited-range electric vehicles. The electrification of the personal transport sector seems to be only a matter of time. It is important to study and model the effects of this sector now, in order to recommend decision makers on issues like standardization and infrastructure planning. Understanding and being able to predict EV driving and charging patterns will allow us to provide planning assistance for:
· Effects of day-time dependent energy pricing structure on EV charging behavior
· Optimal energy pricing to encourage off-peak charging
· Optimal number and location of EV charging stations
· Expected uptake of PHEV/EVs depending on petrol, electricity and conversion cost
· Expected additional energy demand for EVs and PHEVs with day-time energy usage pattern
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Muscle-based Signals for Responsive Physically-Assistive Robotics. This project aims to develop a physically assistive robot for industrial use that interprets signals from the human user’s muscles during a physical activity and responds with appropriate assistance. This is significant because the robot must accommodate the complexity of movement required in industrial settings and adapt to variabilities in muscle activation signals among users that also change in time. The expected research out ....Muscle-based Signals for Responsive Physically-Assistive Robotics. This project aims to develop a physically assistive robot for industrial use that interprets signals from the human user’s muscles during a physical activity and responds with appropriate assistance. This is significant because the robot must accommodate the complexity of movement required in industrial settings and adapt to variabilities in muscle activation signals among users that also change in time. The expected research outcome is an intuitive, assistive robot worn by the human workforce that enhances their productivity and longevity, improves working conditions, lowers production costs, and increases workforce resilience. The robot’s capabilities will be demonstrated in this project through the challenging activity of sheep shearing.Read moreRead less
From diesel to electric: a new era in personnel transport for underground coal mines. There are many factors which give rise to poor air quality in underground coal mines with the diesel engines used to transport miners being one of the major contributors. This project will develop an alternative electric power system for these vehicles which will not only be zero emission but meet the challenging environment found in these mines.