Surface roughness and its effects on wall-bounded turbulence. Examples in engineering where turbulence is important are: wind tunnel model testing, numerical prediction of turbulent skin friction drag over an aircraft wing, turbulent forces and acoustic field around a submarine or a road vehicle, and the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere. Turbulence may also be beneficial, for example, in improving engine combustion and decreasing pollutant emissions. Hence this study will have national ....Surface roughness and its effects on wall-bounded turbulence. Examples in engineering where turbulence is important are: wind tunnel model testing, numerical prediction of turbulent skin friction drag over an aircraft wing, turbulent forces and acoustic field around a submarine or a road vehicle, and the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere. Turbulence may also be beneficial, for example, in improving engine combustion and decreasing pollutant emissions. Hence this study will have national benefits in many scientific fields, for example, in fuel savings (economy and energy ), stability of road vehicles (safety and health), noise generation and acoustic signatures of submarines (transforming defence technology and safeguarding Australia).Read moreRead less
Structure, Dynamics and Control of Wall-Bounded Turbulence. This research has immense impact in engineering and environmental science including aeronautical, mechanical, biomedical engineering, and meteorological science. The energy savings with reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from this research and economic benefits will impact directly on global climate change and a sustainable urban environment in Australia. This research will deliver technological advances in complex fl ....Structure, Dynamics and Control of Wall-Bounded Turbulence. This research has immense impact in engineering and environmental science including aeronautical, mechanical, biomedical engineering, and meteorological science. The energy savings with reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from this research and economic benefits will impact directly on global climate change and a sustainable urban environment in Australia. This research will deliver technological advances in complex fluid dynamics and instrumentation, in addition to new and exciting training opportunities for future generations of researchers and engineers. This project will secure Australian science and engineering as world leaders in the crucial area of Fluid Dynamics that influences our everyday lives.
Read moreRead less
Stochastic Sensor Scheduling in Statistical Signal Processing. In several statistical signal processing applications, due to computational or communication constraints, at each time instant one can use only a few out of several possible noisy (stochastic) sensors. The stochastic sensor scheduling problem deals with how to dynamically choose which group of sensors to pick at each time instant. This project involves research in sensor scheduling for widely used stochastic dynamical systems such as ....Stochastic Sensor Scheduling in Statistical Signal Processing. In several statistical signal processing applications, due to computational or communication constraints, at each time instant one can use only a few out of several possible noisy (stochastic) sensors. The stochastic sensor scheduling problem deals with how to dynamically choose which group of sensors to pick at each time instant. This project involves research in sensor scheduling for widely used stochastic dynamical systems such as Hidden Markov Models and Jump Markov Linear Systems. It focuses on the design and analysis of stochastic control algorithms such as dynamic programming and simulation based randomized methods. The research will lead to an integrated theory incorporating stochastic control, statistical signal processing and combinatorial optimization. We will also apply the resulting techniques to tracking maneuvering targets given noisy observations.Read moreRead less
Automated helicopter hover and recovery system for operations at sea. The small size and simplicity of the integrated system outlined in this project will significantly improve the effectiveness of maritime surveillance for homeland security whilst enabling substantially lower operational costs. The proposal aims to develop control and sensing techniques, enabling small rotary wing unmanned air-vehicles (UAVs) weighing less than 100 kgs to operate from small-size vessels. This will be achieved ....Automated helicopter hover and recovery system for operations at sea. The small size and simplicity of the integrated system outlined in this project will significantly improve the effectiveness of maritime surveillance for homeland security whilst enabling substantially lower operational costs. The proposal aims to develop control and sensing techniques, enabling small rotary wing unmanned air-vehicles (UAVs) weighing less than 100 kgs to operate from small-size vessels. This will be achieved by resolving the current lack of integration between ship motion and the unmanned vehicle guidance systems. The proposed research will make substantial contributions in areas of ship motion prediction and sensing and hover control of tethered and non-tethered small helicopters.
Read moreRead less
Optimal nose shaping for delayed boundary-layer separation and transition in axisymmetric flow. The aim of this project is to design a smooth nose for a body of revolution placed in axisymmetric flow of a viscous fluid at high Reynolds number, such that the boundary layer on the body remains unseparated. This can always be done with a sufficiently long nose, but our objective here is to minimise the necessary nose length. Outer potential flows will be provided via ring sources. The potential flo ....Optimal nose shaping for delayed boundary-layer separation and transition in axisymmetric flow. The aim of this project is to design a smooth nose for a body of revolution placed in axisymmetric flow of a viscous fluid at high Reynolds number, such that the boundary layer on the body remains unseparated. This can always be done with a sufficiently long nose, but our objective here is to minimise the necessary nose length. Outer potential flows will be provided via ring sources. The potential flows will be used to determine inner boundary layer solutions. Transition-to-turbulence will be considered by undertaking 2D and 3D stability computations.Read moreRead less
Optimising the balance between task automation and human manual control. This project aims to discover how best to design automation to maximise performance, while ensuring that operators maintain the task awareness required to manually control previously automated tasks. In environments such as defence and aviation, automating tasks can improve performance, but many accidents have occurred because human operators have not adequately regained manual control when automation has failed. This proje ....Optimising the balance between task automation and human manual control. This project aims to discover how best to design automation to maximise performance, while ensuring that operators maintain the task awareness required to manually control previously automated tasks. In environments such as defence and aviation, automating tasks can improve performance, but many accidents have occurred because human operators have not adequately regained manual control when automation has failed. This project proposes a series of studies using simulations of submarine track management and air traffic control in laboratory and field settings that draw upon psychology and human factors. The project is designed to provide the strategic research that is required to discover how best to adapt the automation currently used in industrial settings.Read moreRead less
Elucidating the inertial force mechanisms of turbulence. The turbulent flow of fluids (for example, air, water) near a solid surface is of enormous technological importance. The proposed research will advance engineering prediction and control capabilities by revealing how the unsteady eddying motions produce the apparent inertial force that distinguishes turbulent flows from their laminar counterparts.