Protecting Occupants in Vehicle Rollover Crashes. This project addresses a public health issue involving rollover crashes. It will help prevent 340 deaths, 6000 injuries and save $3.6 billion annually in Australia and many fold this number internationally. A dynamic rollover crashworthiness test protocol, that ensures efficient and economical vehicle rollover protection systems are designed and manufactured, will be provided to consumer and regulatory bodies to consider and implement. In additio ....Protecting Occupants in Vehicle Rollover Crashes. This project addresses a public health issue involving rollover crashes. It will help prevent 340 deaths, 6000 injuries and save $3.6 billion annually in Australia and many fold this number internationally. A dynamic rollover crashworthiness test protocol, that ensures efficient and economical vehicle rollover protection systems are designed and manufactured, will be provided to consumer and regulatory bodies to consider and implement. In addition, much needed Occupational Health & Safety information regarding vehicle rollover crashworthiness, which provide a safe work place environment for professional drivers and employees using vehicles, will be supplied to industry fleet managers, defence and emergency services.Read moreRead less
An autonomously controlled ankle exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation. This project addresses a critical problem in gait rehabilitation; predicting unstable locomotion and designing interventions to augment limb-joint function. The project will develop an autonomous ankle-foot assistive device to actively increase ground clearance when high-risk foot trajectory is detected. Using wearable sensor data, machine learning algorithms will predict high-risk gait and compute an actuator-induced ankle to ....An autonomously controlled ankle exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation. This project addresses a critical problem in gait rehabilitation; predicting unstable locomotion and designing interventions to augment limb-joint function. The project will develop an autonomous ankle-foot assistive device to actively increase ground clearance when high-risk foot trajectory is detected. Using wearable sensor data, machine learning algorithms will predict high-risk gait and compute an actuator-induced ankle torque to maintain safe foot-ground clearance. A wearable autonomous joint-actuation system will contribute significantly to rehabilitation across a range of gait-impaired populations. The project's scientific and technological innovations will provide the opportunity for future developments in assistive technologies. Read moreRead less
A digital twin framework for human mobility measurement in the home setting. Mobility is essential to maintain quality of life and healthy ageing, yet we do not have the capability to perform accurate long-term mobility assessments of a person in their home or community. This project will overcome this engineering challenge by developing a user-friendly ‘digital twin’ that combines wearable sensors, 3D mapping and artificial intelligence to predict and visualise real-time human joint motion and ....A digital twin framework for human mobility measurement in the home setting. Mobility is essential to maintain quality of life and healthy ageing, yet we do not have the capability to perform accurate long-term mobility assessments of a person in their home or community. This project will overcome this engineering challenge by developing a user-friendly ‘digital twin’ that combines wearable sensors, 3D mapping and artificial intelligence to predict and visualise real-time human joint motion and mobility in any location. This digital twin framework will benefit next-generation healthcare for older Australians, including telemedicine and remote rehabilitation for isolated communities, performance monitoring of elite athletes and military personnel, and the gaming and film/animation industries.Read moreRead less
Predictive Biomechanics for Modelling Gait Stability and Falls Prediction. Efficient, adaptive locomotion is critical to our independence, but it is adversely affected by neuromuscular disorders due to trauma, ageing and other impairments that increase the risk of balance loss and falling. This project investigates the extraordinary possibilities of advancing from the traditional laboratory-based, retrospective, gait research paradigm, to real-world gait monitoring using predictive biomechanics. ....Predictive Biomechanics for Modelling Gait Stability and Falls Prediction. Efficient, adaptive locomotion is critical to our independence, but it is adversely affected by neuromuscular disorders due to trauma, ageing and other impairments that increase the risk of balance loss and falling. This project investigates the extraordinary possibilities of advancing from the traditional laboratory-based, retrospective, gait research paradigm, to real-world gait monitoring using predictive biomechanics. By employing artificial intelligence, wearable sensors' data will predict balance loss and alert the user. The outcome will be fundamental knowledge for developing wearable systems to reduce the catastrophic impact of falls, with public health cost savings and improved quality of life for people with restricted mobility.Read moreRead less
Interaction between consolidation and lubrication of biological joints. This project aims to develop a computational model to be used in conjunction with experimental studies to understand complex lubrication systems in biological joints. Nature has equipped biological joints with a remarkable ability to achieve ultralow friction even at relatively high contact force, however the mechanisms used remain uncertain. This project intends to provide a deeper, fundamental understanding of the friction ....Interaction between consolidation and lubrication of biological joints. This project aims to develop a computational model to be used in conjunction with experimental studies to understand complex lubrication systems in biological joints. Nature has equipped biological joints with a remarkable ability to achieve ultralow friction even at relatively high contact force, however the mechanisms used remain uncertain. This project intends to provide a deeper, fundamental understanding of the friction and contact mechanisms occurring in biological joints. The project outcomes could lead to bioinspired innovation in future engineering design and advancements in materials science that have the potential to significantly benefit Australian society.Read moreRead less