Robust Control and System Identification of Highly Resonant Systems. The modelling and control of complex and highly resonant systems is of increasing engineering importance due to their occurence in a wide variety of emerging areas in aerospace, acoustics, robotics and ``smart'' structures. At the same time, effective tools tailored towards identifying the necessary models, and synthesising the necessary controllers for these systems are in their infancy. This arises from special difficulties ....Robust Control and System Identification of Highly Resonant Systems. The modelling and control of complex and highly resonant systems is of increasing engineering importance due to their occurence in a wide variety of emerging areas in aerospace, acoustics, robotics and ``smart'' structures. At the same time, effective tools tailored towards identifying the necessary models, and synthesising the necessary controllers for these systems are in their infancy. This arises from special difficulties encountered via the high dimensionality of the structures involved. This research project will employ new methods from the fields of robust control and multivariable system identification theory to lead to new and high performance solutions in this area.Read moreRead less
Temper Development Using Secondary Precipitation for Stress Corrosion Cracking Resistance in 7xxx Series Alumimium Alloys. The work has the potential for very substantial benefit to Australia. Novel stress corrosion cracking resistant tempers with improved strength have the potential for widespread application in the aircraft industry. Since the patent for the interrupted ageing process is held by CSIRO there is the potential for substantial economic benefit to Australia from the licensing of th ....Temper Development Using Secondary Precipitation for Stress Corrosion Cracking Resistance in 7xxx Series Alumimium Alloys. The work has the potential for very substantial benefit to Australia. Novel stress corrosion cracking resistant tempers with improved strength have the potential for widespread application in the aircraft industry. Since the patent for the interrupted ageing process is held by CSIRO there is the potential for substantial economic benefit to Australia from the licensing of the novel tempers world-wide. Additionally, it would be possible to develop the novel tempers in-situ on existing aircraft structures to improve their performance. This would be of particular benefit to the Royal Australian Airforce with its fleet of ageing aircraft.Read moreRead less
Advanced Control of Dual-Stage Hard Disk Drives. The project is of significant scientific merit, resulting in solutions to open problems in control of dual-stage hard disk drive systems. This will contribute to the maintenance of Australia's international research profile, help maintain its internal research vitality and also enhance the advanced engineering base of the country. An important benefit of this research is the direct application of developed ideas to the next generation data storage ....Advanced Control of Dual-Stage Hard Disk Drives. The project is of significant scientific merit, resulting in solutions to open problems in control of dual-stage hard disk drive systems. This will contribute to the maintenance of Australia's international research profile, help maintain its internal research vitality and also enhance the advanced engineering base of the country. An important benefit of this research is the direct application of developed ideas to the next generation data storage systems. The completion of this project will directly benefit Australia's developing high-tech industries.Read moreRead less
Robust Control of Electrostatic Microactuators. This proposal seeks to address a number of fundamental problems associated with electrostatic microactuators that form an integral part of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Performance of these microactuators is limited due to the presence of a specific form of nonlinearity in their dynamics. In this research advanced and innovative feedback controllers will be developed to improve operational performance of such microactuators. The global ME ....Robust Control of Electrostatic Microactuators. This proposal seeks to address a number of fundamental problems associated with electrostatic microactuators that form an integral part of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Performance of these microactuators is limited due to the presence of a specific form of nonlinearity in their dynamics. In this research advanced and innovative feedback controllers will be developed to improve operational performance of such microactuators. The global MEMS market is projected to increase from $10B in 2005 to $40B in 2015. This project will enhance Australia's standing in this important high-tech field.
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Life or death decisions: making fast, accurate choices in a complex world. This project aims to understand how hoverflies and honey bees, with tiny brains and sensory systems, excel at making fast and accurate decisions while on the fly in a complex world. The project will combine brain recordings with flight analyses and computational modelling to generate new knowledge on how animals may utilize movements to simplify information sampling. Expected outcomes are a novel, comprehensive understand ....Life or death decisions: making fast, accurate choices in a complex world. This project aims to understand how hoverflies and honey bees, with tiny brains and sensory systems, excel at making fast and accurate decisions while on the fly in a complex world. The project will combine brain recordings with flight analyses and computational modelling to generate new knowledge on how animals may utilize movements to simplify information sampling. Expected outcomes are a novel, comprehensive understanding of how animal movements could enhance decision speed and accuracy. This should provide substantial benefits for neuroscience, and for enhancing performance of autonomous robotic systems operating in challenging environments, such as disaster relief, mining and remote exploration. Read moreRead less
Novel time-frequency techniques for analysing and modeling non-stationary physical and engineering data. This project addresses an issue of fundamental importance in science and technology, where non-stationary data (which have time-varying statistics) are ubiquitous. Therefore, the development of time-frequency tools to model and analyse non-stationary data has great potential for impact in a wide range of areas reaching from seismic data analysis to biomedical signal processing to sonar and ra ....Novel time-frequency techniques for analysing and modeling non-stationary physical and engineering data. This project addresses an issue of fundamental importance in science and technology, where non-stationary data (which have time-varying statistics) are ubiquitous. Therefore, the development of time-frequency tools to model and analyse non-stationary data has great potential for impact in a wide range of areas reaching from seismic data analysis to biomedical signal processing to sonar and radar. Employing techniques to be developed in this proposal, we expect to be able to classify and detect features of non-stationary data that were unrecognisable using hitherto known methods.Read moreRead less