Sensor Integration for Low-Cost Robust Machine Automation. Machine automation (MA) radically improves efficiency of mining and construction operataions. When used for farming, it makes Australia more competitive with subsidised competitors in Europe and USA. In one case, a 50% reduction in tractor fleet resulted when night plowing was made possible using MA techniques. The systems developed in this project will make MA far more attractive to Australian agriculture, mining and construction indust ....Sensor Integration for Low-Cost Robust Machine Automation. Machine automation (MA) radically improves efficiency of mining and construction operataions. When used for farming, it makes Australia more competitive with subsidised competitors in Europe and USA. In one case, a 50% reduction in tractor fleet resulted when night plowing was made possible using MA techniques. The systems developed in this project will make MA far more attractive to Australian agriculture, mining and construction industries, by making it more robust and less susceptible to difficult conditions, such as under trees.Read moreRead less
Mobility and Location Information providing Social Equality for Blind and Vision Impaired persons. Providing reliable situational information to the blind and visually impaired (BVI) can deliver far greater independence. Confidence and autonomy will result from knowing where they are, what is in that location, how to go to the destination and the location related information. This will not only save a significant welfare costs but will also provide social equality to BVI. The underlying technolo ....Mobility and Location Information providing Social Equality for Blind and Vision Impaired persons. Providing reliable situational information to the blind and visually impaired (BVI) can deliver far greater independence. Confidence and autonomy will result from knowing where they are, what is in that location, how to go to the destination and the location related information. This will not only save a significant welfare costs but will also provide social equality to BVI. The underlying technology can also readily be extended to other socially useful and profitable applications.Read moreRead less
Locating Interference to GPS: Protecting the World's Aircraft Landing Systems. GRAS is an enormous initiative that is expected to generate billions of dollars in exports for Australia. The equipment developed in this project will protect the system from radio frequency interference. It thus protects these exports, and creates a new exportable product. By protecting this system, it makes air travel safer both in Australia and in the countries that buy this Australian technology.
Assisted GPS and Advanced Positioning For Emergency Services. Many volunteers have lost their lives fighting bushfires in Australia. Fires are becoming more numerous and more fierce. Some of those firemen could have been saved if better information was available: where they were, where the firefront was and how it was progressing. This project aims to save lives by solving part of this problem: locating and reporting the position of the remote firefighter by making GPS work reliably under trees. ....Assisted GPS and Advanced Positioning For Emergency Services. Many volunteers have lost their lives fighting bushfires in Australia. Fires are becoming more numerous and more fierce. Some of those firemen could have been saved if better information was available: where they were, where the firefront was and how it was progressing. This project aims to save lives by solving part of this problem: locating and reporting the position of the remote firefighter by making GPS work reliably under trees. This will also make search and rescue operations safer and more efficient. The technology can transfer readily into the location-based services market which is set to boom in the next decade. This project helps maintain momentum in Australia's world-class but small positioning industry.Read moreRead less
Network Design and Management for a Pseudolite and GPS Based Ubiquitous Positioning System. The Locata positioning technology uses a network of terrestrial based signal transmitters (pseudolites) and GPS satellites, to provide ubiquitous positioning (indoors and outdoors) in difficult environments. This research student project will focus on the intelligence associated with the pseudolite network such as: autonomous network installation, network integrity, and quality control. The implementati ....Network Design and Management for a Pseudolite and GPS Based Ubiquitous Positioning System. The Locata positioning technology uses a network of terrestrial based signal transmitters (pseudolites) and GPS satellites, to provide ubiquitous positioning (indoors and outdoors) in difficult environments. This research student project will focus on the intelligence associated with the pseudolite network such as: autonomous network installation, network integrity, and quality control. The implementation of innovative algorithms and methodologies developed in this research, will allow a robust, reliable and accurate positioning system for challenging indoor and outdoor environments, where current systems cannot work satisfactorily.Read moreRead less
A Positioning System for Mobile Phones. This project aims to produce a positioning system that integrates a mobile phone-based technique developed in Australia, known as Seekerzone, with GPS. The combination of Seekerzone and GPS delivers a system capable of reporting whether children or valuables are in a safe location. As security becomes an increasing priority, this system can operate indoors or outdoors, and provides many solutions. Seekerzone has already attracted international interest, an ....A Positioning System for Mobile Phones. This project aims to produce a positioning system that integrates a mobile phone-based technique developed in Australia, known as Seekerzone, with GPS. The combination of Seekerzone and GPS delivers a system capable of reporting whether children or valuables are in a safe location. As security becomes an increasing priority, this system can operate indoors or outdoors, and provides many solutions. Seekerzone has already attracted international interest, and coupled with GPS, its applications and export opportunities will multiply. The target product will provide effective and convenient security, while its developemnt will provide important research training in Australia's drastically under-resourced spatial industry.Read moreRead less
Integration of GPS/Pseudolites/INS to Geo-Reference Airborne Surveying and Mapping Sensors. This project aims to develop and test an innovative geo-referencing system for airborne surveying and mapping sensors. The proposed new system will be based on the deep integration of measurements from Global Positioning System (GPS), Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), and Pseudo-satellites (Pseudolites). This new system design can significantly improve the accuracy and reliability of the existing syste ....Integration of GPS/Pseudolites/INS to Geo-Reference Airborne Surveying and Mapping Sensors. This project aims to develop and test an innovative geo-referencing system for airborne surveying and mapping sensors. The proposed new system will be based on the deep integration of measurements from Global Positioning System (GPS), Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), and Pseudo-satellites (Pseudolites). This new system design can significantly improve the accuracy and reliability of the existing systems. This research will include theoretical analysis, algorithm development, system implementation, and performance evaluation, towards an operational geo-referencing system addressing ever-increasing demand for rapid acquisition of high quality spatial data from airborne sensors.Read moreRead less
An Augmented-GPS Software Receiver for Indoor/Outdoor Positioning. This research student project will focus on the technical design of a personal positioning device, based on the measurement of a combination of GPS satellite and ground-transmitted signals. The design will incorporate Australian innovations in high-sensitivity GPS receivers, and 'pseudo-satellite' technologies. The integration of the GPS and 'pseudo-satellite' technologies will be carried out within a 'software receiver', which ....An Augmented-GPS Software Receiver for Indoor/Outdoor Positioning. This research student project will focus on the technical design of a personal positioning device, based on the measurement of a combination of GPS satellite and ground-transmitted signals. The design will incorporate Australian innovations in high-sensitivity GPS receivers, and 'pseudo-satellite' technologies. The integration of the GPS and 'pseudo-satellite' technologies will be carried out within a 'software receiver', which offers the opportunity of flexibility in the design of signal processing and navigation algorithms. The receiver design is intended to address the critical challenges for a low-cost, ubiquitous, high accuracy positioning device for a variety of indoor and outdoor consumer applications.Read moreRead less
Tracking formation-flying of nanosatellites using inter-satellite links. This project aims to realise real-time kinematic precise orbit and attitude determination of nano satellites. Formation flying, based on distributed miniaturised satellites such as Cubesats, is envisioned to revolutionise the way the space-science community conducts autonomous missions. The project will develop a purely kinematic concept exploiting the full capabilities of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) carrier- ....Tracking formation-flying of nanosatellites using inter-satellite links. This project aims to realise real-time kinematic precise orbit and attitude determination of nano satellites. Formation flying, based on distributed miniaturised satellites such as Cubesats, is envisioned to revolutionise the way the space-science community conducts autonomous missions. The project will develop a purely kinematic concept exploiting the full capabilities of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) carrier-phase measurements for instantaneous precise orbit and attitude determination of the Cubesats. The project will also pioneer the use of the satellite based augmentation systems (SBAS), supporting the future Australian SBAS program, and the development of integrated algorithms for space-based, Precise Point Positioning with fixed ambiguities supported by SBAS.Read moreRead less
Integrated GPS and interferometric SAR techniques for ground subsidence monitoring. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is commonly used for measuring ground subsidence due to underground mining and similar activities. However, GPS techniques cannot easily survey a dense enough grid of points to monitor subsidence across a wide area. This project aims to densify the GPS field measurements with the interferometric processing of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. The outcomes of this research ....Integrated GPS and interferometric SAR techniques for ground subsidence monitoring. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is commonly used for measuring ground subsidence due to underground mining and similar activities. However, GPS techniques cannot easily survey a dense enough grid of points to monitor subsidence across a wide area. This project aims to densify the GPS field measurements with the interferometric processing of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. The outcomes of this research include optimal integration models, operational software systems and quality-control measures. A test area south of Sydney, where subsidence caused by underground coal mining is having significant detrimental effect on surface infrastructure, will be monitored over a three-year period.Read moreRead less