Taste of Research Scholarships

Project Title:	Application of Monte Carlo estimation techniques for estimation/inference problems in engineering

Name of Supervisor:	Guivant jose

Email of Supervisor:	j.guivant@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Intelligent & Autonomous Systems

School Research Area:	Air and ground vehicles

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	In many applications in engineering we need to control machines and complex systems. In order to perform control we need to know the internal state of the controlled system. As we are usually no able to measure all the states and because there is uncertainty in the measurements of the systems’ outputs we need to perform estimation. From the diversity of methods, some of the most powerful are based on Monte Carlo techniques, i.e. Particle Filters. Very non-linear systems polluted with the more extravagant noises are feasible to be treated with particle filters. We are not talking just about systems such as mechanical, electronic or robots, we are even talking about biological, chemical, financial and many other “non-engineering” areas. All of them involve solving of complex estimation problems. Skills: Student that feel confident working with math (e.g. for modeling systems), software programming (Matlab or C/C++) . Note: The student is allowed to flavor the project to be more theoretical or practical oriented in according to his/her interests.

Research Environment:	The student will work under supervision and collaboration of researchers that are expert in the area of sensing and data fusion.

Novelty and Contribution:	Application of Monte Carlo techniques for data fusion is a top area of research and applications.

Expected Outcomes:	The most important outcome is the valuable knowledge and skills the student will get after this taste of Research project. This knowledge can be applied on a diversity of areas of research and application.

Reference Material Links:	To be discussed with the supervisor. Those will be specific books and research papers.

Project Title:	Intelligent Coordination of Multiple Autonomous Vehicles

Name of Supervisor:	Dr Ngai Ming Kwok

Email of Supervisor:	nmkwok@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Intelligent & Autonomous Systems

School Research Area:	Air and ground vehicles

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications

Abstract:	In a variety of tasks performed by autonomous vehicles such as in transportation and automated agriculture, coordinated operations of multi-vehicles are foreshadowed to outperform the deployment of a single vehicle in terms of increased capacity and flexibility. This project aims at the development of a swarm intelligence based algorithm to derive drive commands, speed and turning, for the vehicles such that they are steered into and maintained in desirable formations according to an assigned task. The algorithm should feature implementation simplicity and relaxing the need for analytical system models. To this end, the coordination of vehicles is posed as an optimization problem minimizing the translational and angular errors between the current vehicle positions and their corresponding targets. Inter-vehicle collisions should be avoided, in this work, by employing a behavioural-based reactive scheme together with a dynamical rescheduling procedure. Simulations for coordinated multi-vehicle motions, in benchmark formation patterns, should be included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Research Environment:	The autonomous systems research group in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering maintains several autonomous vehicle test platforms they are readily deployable in this research project. Academic group members are active researchers in the area of autonomous systems. Current and on-going projects cover the development of automated agriculture robots, unmanned air vehicles, sensing and perception fusion. A number of postgraduate research students are also working in the group providing an enriched environment for the student undertaking this project.

Novelty and Contribution:	The novelty of this project rests on tackling the vehicle coordination problem from a nature inspired perspective, namely, swarm intelligence. Deterministic or predefined control strategies might not be a suitable candidate due to the large system dimension in association with the number of vehicles employed in the coordinated task. Individual vehicles are embedded with self-contained intelligence and are expected to react autonomously to dynamic environments. Thus, the success of this project is anticipated to contribute to the area of distributed control and computation.

Expected Outcomes:	The student is expected to carry out studies in swarm intelligence, vehicle motion model, and coordination schemes. In addition, it is anticipated that the student undertaking the project could develop a coordination algorithm which is implementable on the test platforms.

Reference Material Links:	M. Parent, “Advanced urban transport: automation is on the way,” IEEE Intelligent Systems, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 9-11, 2007. F. Wang, M. Yang and R. Yang, “The intelligent vehicle coordination of the cybernetic transport system,” Intl. Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, Vol. 6, No.1, pp. 53-58, 2009.

Project Title:	Interfacing of the Control Computer for the Wall Climbing Robot

Name of Supervisor:	A/Prof. Jay Katupitiya

Email of Supervisor:	J.Katupitiya@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Dr. Ray Eaton

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	R.Eaton@unsw.edu.au

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Intelligent & Autonomous Systems

School Research Area:	Air and ground vehicles

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications

Abstract:	Within this academic year the building of MK-II wall climbing robot will be completed. This robot is a articulated small machine with 7 joints and two feet. It has on board vacuum generators to create a vacuum to enable it to hold on to a wall. The next phase is to interface the Gumstix(tm) based control computer to the joint control hardware of the wall climbing robot. The version of Gumstix used is based on a Verdex mother board and has a robostix daughter boards and Wi-Fi boards. Having interfaced the Gumstix based system, it must be programmed to actuate the joints based on commands received from a remote computer system.

Research Environment:	This is a hand on project where a hardware platform is available. The majority of the work relates to programming a small computer system that comes pre-loaded with Linux to implement parallel servo control of 7 on-board motors. In addition the control systems to be implemented must be designed and programmed.

Novelty and Contribution:	A literature search indicated that there are no bi-ped wall climbing machines of this sophistication is operational out there. The mechanical design is carried out provide sufficient payload capacity to carry all sensors and actuators on board without the need of an umbilical chord. The sophistication of the mechanical design is such that it has the full capability to transfer from one surface to another regardless of orientation difference.

Expected Outcomes:	The ToR scholar will gain a sound understanding of the implementation of control systems in autonomous machines. A thorough understanding of programming to achieve wireless communication based data transfer between an autonomous system and a command centre may also be achieved. It is expected that the student will bring the joints of the wall climbing robot under stable computer control.

Reference Material Links:	Search library's Compendex e-reqource under the key words "crawling robots", "crawlers" and "Wall climbing robots" for information about the state of the art.

Project Title:	Joystick based control of the VTAV aircraft

Name of Supervisor:	A/Prof. Jay Katupitiya

Email of Supervisor:	J.Katupitiya@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Dr. Jose Guivant

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	J.Guivant@unsw.edu.au

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Intelligent & Autonomous Systems

School Research Area:	Air and ground vehicles

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications

Abstract:	The School of Mech. & Manf. Engineering has just completed the construction of a Vectored Thrust Aerial Vehicle (VTAV) powered by 3 ducted fans. One of these ducted fans is rigidly fixed to the frame while the other two are free to rotate about a horizontal axis. Given that it is a 3 rotor system, torque cancellation cannot be achieved. Hence the control problem is very complex, however, the configuration has far superior maneuverability. This project is about developing a control interface for the manual control of the aircraft. The aircraft has an on-board computer that can be commanded through Wi-Fi or serial modems. The ToR scholar is expected to program the USB based joystick system that is attached to a laptop computer which will act as the base station that will send commands to the VTAV. The operation of VTAV can be checked through remote operation while the VTAV is tethered.

Research Environment:	The system has a number of control inputs, namely; independent tilt control of two of the rotors, the rotors speeds of all three rotors. A careful study is needed to partition the control inputs to achieve roll, pitch, yaw and lift control. This will be followed by developing a control architecture for the interface's operation.

Novelty and Contribution:	Controlling a non-torque canceling aircraft poses a unique and challenging control problem. However, the tri-rotor geometry gives excellent directional properties for the aircraft.

Expected Outcomes:	Understanding the control of an aircraft. Exposure to the complexities of controlling an air vehicle in which the the rotor torques do not cancel each other.

Reference Material Links:	A description of the system by way of an undergraduate thesis and the results of dynamic modeling and its control in a simulation will be available towards the end of the year 2009.

Project Title:	Non-Deterministic Flight Simulation

Name of Supervisor:	John Page

Email of Supervisor:	j.page@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Zoran Vulovic

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	z.vulovic@unsw.edu.au

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Immersive Systems and Virtual Reality

School Research Area:	Air and ground vehicles

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:

Abstract:	The aim of this project is to support work currently being undertaken to develop a non-deterministic flight simulator. Flight simulators fall into two categories those that record and replay an aircraft's performance, mainly used for flight crew training, and those that use engineering principals and equations to generate flight performance. It is the later class of simulators that this work is involved with which depend on the selection of a number of parameters relating to the aircraft. These parameters are assumed to be deterministic and have a single value when in fact they are statistical by nature. This means that if the same input is provided then the simulator will perform in exactly the same manner while the flight performance of real aircraft varies across individual aircraft and fleets of aircraft of the same type. The performance of real aircraft depends on both their manufacture (nature) and life experience (nurture). The student undertaking this project will be expected to investigate some of these key parameters as statistical variables looking at how manufacturing, maintenance and service may affect them and what impact they may have on flight performance.

Research Environment:	The work will be carried out mainly in the School’s Simulation Laboratory. We have two aircraft simulators and one care simulator thought most of this work will be conducted on one of the two specially equipped flight simulator work stations. It is expected some limited amount of time will, however, be spent on the training aircraft simulator to further flight performance understanding. We have a number of undergraduates, post-graduates and practicum students along with five academic staff involved in research in the laboratory but the student will be expected to run the project under the supervisors’ guidance.

Novelty and Contribution:	imulation is a major and growing area of research in many disciplines from medicine to firefighting but is still in its infancy as it only became practical when fast relatively cheap computers became available. In engineering it has found applications in design, manufacture and theory substantiation and is becoming a vital tool. The idea of non-deterministic simulation has a relatively short history as it puts even greater demands on computing facilities. We along with our few collaborators in other universities and industry are the only group currently developing a non-deterministic simulator.

Expected Outcomes:	This is an on-going research effort that is expected to take some years to reach a workable non-deterministic flight simulator but the task can be broken into a number of small steps. Due to the on-going nature of this research it is not possible to exactly define what the student’s contribution will be as this will depend on our progress up to the time the project commences. We are convinced, however, that a critical parameter or set of parameters will be investigated and this will provide a useful contribution to the research.

Reference Material Links:	There is little specific research material in this area but there is a great deal of material on flight simulation and aircraft performance both in the literature and on the web. Any potential students would be well advised to familiarize themselves with at least some of this material. A reasonable understanding of flight performance is essential before commencing this project. It would also be useful to look up the web site for SimTec 09 the Australian conference that addresses simulation to gain an understanding of the breadth of this fast developing area of engineering research.

Project Title:	Research of techniques for video feature extraction for applications in autonomous systes

Name of Supervisor:	Guivant jose

Email of Supervisor:	j.guivant@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Intelligent & Autonomous Systems

School Research Area:	Air and ground vehicles

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications Mining Engineering Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	Vision is one of the main sources information (i.e. sensor) for animals to “operate” in the context of life. However, a video camera produce just images, i.e. raw data. There is a process (or a combination of processes) that performs “perception”. The interpretation of the images in order to infer and perform control and decision making is called perception. In many cases the first stage of the perception process involves feature extraction, i.e. detection and segmentation of parts of the image that contain information that can be useful for the higher level processes that perform perception. The objective of this Taste of Research project is the research and understanding of some known and feasible state of the art methods for feature extraction. The project involves the theoretical part and the implementation of some of the approaches

Research Environment:	The student will work under supervision and collaboration of researchers that are expert in the area of sensing and data fusion. Equipment for real-time and off-line experiments is available for real experiments.

Novelty and Contribution:	Although vision is an area of intense research in robotic and other research communities, there is a diversity of challenges, still not solved, in the implementation of robust and efficient vision algorithms for machine vision applied to autonomous systems.

Expected Outcomes:	Initially the student is expected to get informed about some standard methods for feature extraction from video images. As a final outcome we expect the student will implement one of the standard approaches and possibly improve it. A remarkable outcome will be the student having learnt some powerful techniques in the area of data fusion.

Reference Material Links:	To be discussed with the supervisor. Those will be specific books and research papers.

Design and Analysis

Project Title:	Development of a frictional rig on the Instron 3300 Testing machine

Name of Supervisor:	A/Professor Philip Mathew

Email of Supervisor:	P.Mathew@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Advanced Manufacturing and Processing Technologies

School Research Area:	Design and Analysis

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:

Abstract:	The frictional effect of a test specimen on a base plate is being investigated in this work. To do this, a frictional rig has to be designed to be used with the Instron 3300 testing machine. The project will involve the design of a loading rig to go onto to the machine and on a force dynamometer to determine the normal and frictional load attained during loading of the specimen onto the base plate which in turn is loaded onto an XY table to create the motion.

Research Environment:	The School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering is well equipped to allow the student to develop the design on a CAD system and further generate the engineering drawings for manufacture.

Novelty and Contribution:	The novelty is in the development of a flexible rig for friction measurement.

Expected Outcomes:	A rig that is easily used with the Tensile testing machine.

Reference Material Links:

Project Title:	Optimal control of an oscillating hydrofoil based tidal current renewable energy power converter

Name of Supervisor:	Guivant Jose

Email of Supervisor:	j.guivant@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Gerold Kloos (external)

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	gkloos@biopowersystems.com

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Energy Systems, Renewable and Non-Renewable

School Research Area:	Design and Analysis

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	The aim of this project is to develop a control algorithm to maximize power conversion of a tidal current energy power converter, which is based on an oscillating hydrofoil. Oscillating hydrofoils typically employ a wing like profile. As the tidal stream flows over the profile it is angled at an angle of attack. This in turn creates a lift force, which is typically used to drive an arm to which some sort of power take-off is attached. The power take-off converts the mechanical motion of the arm into electricity. Several factors need to be taken into account when trying to maximize net power delivery of a hydrofoil based renewable energy converter. The main ones are actuation cost of the hydrofoil itself needs to be considered, as well as the fact that the device environment shows stochastic characteristics as the tidal stream exhibits local variations in current speed, which the device will encounter. Furthermore it is desirable to impose as little stresses as possible on the device to prolong the lifetime and service intervals of the device.

Research Environment:	This project is undertaken in conjunction with an industry partner. The majority of the work will be carried out in the laboratory of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. A Matlab/Simulink simulator of the hydrofoil-based device will be provided by the industry partner and can be used as a starting point. In order to enhance the project outcomes and receive real-world confirmation, the successful student will have the opportunity to receive regular feedback from the industry partner.

Novelty and Contribution:	This is a very new area of research.

Expected Outcomes:	The Student is free to explore any type of control algorithm, compare them and come up with a suggested best algorithm to maximize power conversion under the given constraints. As such, the control algorithms may be based on deterministic formulations, stochastic algorithms, neural networks or any other suitable form of algorithm. It is expected that the student investigates the factors affecting power conversion and power maximization, develops at least two different kinds of control algorithms, assesses the algorithms and compares the performance.

Reference Material Links:	Reference material regarding power maximization for oscillating hydrofoil is not available, as this is a very new area of research. Nevertheless, interested students should have read and understood the basic operational principle of oscillating hydrofoils. Material for this can be found on the Internet. Furthermore, it essential that the student has good knowledge in more than one area of control algorithms (e.g. stochastic algorithms, neural networks, …).

Life-cycle engineering

Project Title:	Energy and Eco-efficiency of Electric Discharge Machining Process

Name of Supervisor:	A/Prof. S. Kara

Email of Supervisor:	S.Kara@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Advanced Manufacturing and Processing Technologies

School Research Area:	Life-cycle engineering

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:

Abstract:	The main purpose of manufacturing process is to transform materials into useful products. In the course of these operations, energy resources are consumed and the usefulness of material resources is altered. Each of these effects can have significant consequences for the environment and for sustainability, particularly when the manufacturing processes are practiced in a very large scale. However, manufacturing processes are poorly documented in terms of their energy and eco-efficiency. Objective of this project is to develop reliable methods of predicting energy consumption and the associated environmental impact of manufacturing processes, in particular, Electric Discharge Machining Process.

Research Environment:	Manufacturing Processes and Life Cycle Engineering labs at the School of Mechanical & Manuafcturing Engineering have excellent facilities to support the proposed work.

Novelty and Contribution:	The latest global trend indicates that resource and energy scarcity will be the two main issues, which will be significantly affecting the manufacturing industry in Australia and around the world. Furthermore, the emission reduction schemes introduced by governments will have significant impact on manufacturing operations in Australia since the more than 80% of Australian energy production comes from coal powered electricity station. Therefore, there is a tremendous benefit for Australian manufacturing industry to look into energy consumption and associated carbon emission during the product development stage.

Expected Outcomes:	it is envisaged that there will be a software tool based on empirical energy consumption models for product and process designers to develop the most energy efficient process plan. The software tool can also be used for evaluating different process plan alternatives by allowing user to do “what-if” assessments.

Reference Material Links:

Thermofluids

Project Title:	Development of Fire Suppression Experimental System

Name of Supervisor:	Tracie Barber

Email of Supervisor:	t.barber@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Energy Systems, Renewable and Non-Renewable

School Research Area:	Thermofluids

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Civil & Environmental Engineering

Abstract:	The effectiveness of a fire sprinkler is determined by the characteristics of the droplets formed from the sprinkler. Understanding the formation and structure of droplets and their interaction with fire sources and hot gases is of great significance. In the absence of accurate understanding, conservative and costly decisions can be made, often limiting installation of these proven life-saving devices. This project is part of an ARC Linkage project, and you will be working with a PhD student, Rob, to develop a new experimental system. This will allow the droplet behaviour to be examined, using laser-based fluid dynamics measurement systems.

Research Environment:	You will be working in our Advanced Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, with Tracie (supervisor), Rob (PhD student) and Joe (Laboratory Officer).

Novelty and Contribution:	This is a vital part of the overall project and you will be working on the development of a completely new experiment.

Expected Outcomes:	We aim to have made the system and conducted some experiments using our LDA by the end of the summer.

Reference Material Links:

Project Title:	Experimental Study of Haemodialysis – Vascular Access Model

Name of Supervisor:	Tracie Barber

Email of Supervisor:	t.barber@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Health & Medical Technologies

School Research Area:	Thermofluids

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Biomedical Engineering

Abstract:	The average end stage renal disease patient will undergo haemodialysis (HD) treatment, in which the blood from the patient is cleaned of waste products via an external system, three or four times a week for 4 to 5 hours per session. Any minor imperfection in the extracorporeal system may become significant in the treatment of these patients due to the cumulative exposure time. Microbubbles in the system have been linked to lung injury and damage to the brain in chronic HD patients. In this project, we are trying to determine if it is likely that there will be microbubble formation at the vascular access point, by simulating a simplified AV fistula access point and catheter. You will be developing the experimental rig and taking some initial measurements, for comparison with CFD work we are also completing.

Research Environment:	You will be working in the Advanced Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, with Tracie, PhD students, and Joe (laboratory officer).

Novelty and Contribution:

Expected Outcomes:

Reference Material Links:

Project Title:	Flow visualization in a stenosed artery

Name of Supervisor:	Tracie Barber

Email of Supervisor:	t.barber@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Health & Medical Technologies

School Research Area:	Thermofluids

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Biomedical Engineering

Abstract:	Previous studies of stenosed arteries have shown evidence of potentially damaging “jetting” phenomena occurring during the diastolic stage of the flow cycle. We are currently developing computational models to study this effect, but experimental data is also needed. In order to conduct vascular fluid dynamics experiments in the Advanced Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, a pulsatile flow rig will be used. The experimental apparatus in this laboratory includes Lasers for flow visualization, Laser Doppler Anemometry and Particle Image Velocimetry systems and you will need to work out the best way to obtain images of the flow.

Research Environment:	You will be working in our Advanced Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, with Tracie (supervisor), PhD students, and Joe (Laboratory Officer).

Novelty and Contribution:

Expected Outcomes:

Reference Material Links:

Project Title:	Study of heat transfer enhancement in micro channels for design of novel micro heat exchangers

Name of Supervisor:	Victoria Timchenko

Email of Supervisor:	v.timchenko@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Fluid Dynamics and Thermal Engineering

School Research Area:	Thermofluids

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:

Abstract:	The miniaturisation and the rapidly increase in performance of electronic equipment leads to augmentation in the heat that needs to be dissipated from these devices. One of the strategies proposed to control the temperature of chips within acceptable limits is to cool them by liquids flowing through channels etched in the substrate of the chip. The fluid will in turn need to be cooled in devices which can fit into a computer case, so that the performance of small heat exchangers in which the flow of the working fluids is laminar need to be understood. The student will study numerically the effect on the fluid flow and heat transfer of introducing protrusions and dimples in a shallow rectangular micro channel.

Research Environment:	The student will be actively involved in a research project currently undertaken by an academic staff member and PhD student. The work will be done in Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory using a commercial finite-volume package, ANSYS CFX-11. The student will be also exposed to number of other research projects undertaken by PhD students and research staff in CFD laboratory.

Novelty and Contribution:	The information obtained so far is insufficient for determining whether dimpled or protruded surfaces enhance heat transfer in heat exchangers, particularly in small channels in which the flow is likely to be laminar. This Project will make contribution towards the both fundamental understanding of heat transfer enhancement using dimpled/protruded surfaces and the design of novel, low cost heat exchangers with the best energy performance.

Expected Outcomes:	Flow fields and temperature distributions will be obtained for different configurations of protrusions and dimples in a micro channel. This data will allow evaluation of the thermal performance and identify parameters for optimal design of the compact heat exchangers with best energy performance.

Reference Material Links:

Project Title:	Study of the fluid mechanics of micro/nano particle-pore interactions

Name of Supervisor:	Gary Rosengarten

Email of Supervisor:	g.rosengarten@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	g.rosengarten@unsw.edu.au

School:	School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Water and Wastewater Engineering

School Research Area:	Thermofluids

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Biomedical Engineering Chemical Sciences and Engineering Civil & Environmental Engineering Petroleum Engineering Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	All membranes, be them biological or synthetic, involve the interaction of small particles with pores. The selectivity of the membrane depends on hydrodynamics of the particle as it approaches and moves through the pore. In this project the student will carry out fully coupled computational fluid dynamics simulations of a single particle approaching a pore under a variety of conditions.

Research Environment:	The student will work in a team in the computational fluid mechanics laboratory. They will be associated also with the experimental group and simulations will be compared to experimental results at regular meetings.

Novelty and Contribution:	This research fits into the new area of biomimetics where we are trying to learn how nature sorts particles. Results will not only help in a fundamental understanding of particle pore interactions but also have applications in the design of more efficient membranes.

Expected Outcomes:	The expected outcomes of this project are the implementation of a fully coupled particle fluid model with brownian motion into current commercial software and the analysis of results under a variety of conditions including particle size and pore shape. If all goes well we would like to be able to write the results into into a journal article.

Reference Material Links:	Contact Dr. Rosengarten: g.rosengarten@unsw.edu.au

Projects offered by other Engineering Schools that may be of interest are:

Project Title:	Open Global Constraints

Name of Supervisor:	Michael Maher

Email of Supervisor:	michael.maher@nicta.com.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Computer Science and Engineering

For CSE and EET Projects:	School Project

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Intelligent & Autonomous Systems

School Research Area:	Algorithms

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract:	Constraint programming employs "global constraints" to encapsulate sophisticated propagation algorithms, but each constraint involves a single fixed sequence of variables. Open constraints constrain a dynamic sequence of variables: they allow the addition of variables during execution. This supports the intertwining of problem construction and problem solving, which provides a way to manage the complexity of a constraint problem. While propagators for some open global constraints have been designed, there are many other global constraints that do not yet have an open propagator. In this project you will design, and perhaps implement, propagators for open global constraints. This mainly involves algorithm design and adaptation.

Research Environment:	You will be working closely with a senior researcher.

Novelty and Contribution:	These will be some of the first few open constraints designed and implemented. Implementations are to be linked to the new G12 optimization platform

Expected Outcomes:	Expected outcomes are a report detailing the design of propagators for one or more open constraints, and hopefully an implementation of one.

Reference Material Links:	For constraint programming, there is a rather outdated description here: http://kti.ms.mff.cuni.cz/~bartak/constraints/index.html Many propagators for (closed) global constraints are described in http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/vanhoeve/papers/chapter.pdf The design of propagators for some open global constraints is presented in http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~mmaher/pubs/cp/open_cpaior.pdf The G12 constraint programming platform is described in http://www.nicta.com.au/research/projects/constraint_programming_platform

Project Title:	Engineering biosynthetic cell-based systems for treatment of diabetes

Name of Supervisor:	Penny Martens

Email of Supervisor:	p.martens@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Laura Poole-Warren

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	l.poolewarren@unsw.edu.au

School:	Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Advanced Materials

School Research Area:	Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Chemical Sciences and Engineering Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	The treatment and repair of various human tissues is a complex and important issue that is currently being researched. The encapsulation of islet cells for the treatment of diabetes is the model system the research team is working on, however it is envisioned that the technology can be spread across a variety of tissues. The engineering of a biosynthetic system to treat these diseases has many different critical elements/issues that need to be solved. Key design inputs include the type of extracellular matrix required for cell survival, the oxygen, nutrient and insulin diffusivity of the biosynthetic matrices and the fabrication approaches. Each of these areas needs significant research activity to solve.

Research Environment:	This work is part of an international and multi-disciplinary team and is funded by an ARC Discovery Grant. The Student will work in the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering with the rest of the team that are working on this project. The team assembled in biomedical engineering has academics, post-docs and research students.

Novelty and Contribution:	This work has the unique aspect of combining biological and synthetic polymers into a co-polymer hydrogel system.

Expected Outcomes:	It is anticipated that the student will produce biosynthetic co-hydrogels, and that substantial characterisation of these hydrogels will occur. Depending on the quality of the results, it is anticipated that a research journal paper could also be generated.

Reference Material Links:	Nilasaroya A, Poole-Warren LA, Whitelock JM, Jo Martens P. (2008) Structural and functional characterisation of poly(vinyl alcohol) and heparin hydrogels. Biomaterials. 35:4658-64.

Project Title:	Fabrication and Characterisation of Silk/PVA copolymer gels

Name of Supervisor:	Penny Martens

Email of Supervisor:	p.martens@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Laura Poole-Warren

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	l.poolewarren@unsw.edu.au

School:	Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Advanced Materials

School Research Area:	Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Chemical Sciences and Engineering Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) based synthetic gels have many advantageous properties for use in soft-tissue engineering applications. In addition, much research has been undertaken in this lab to gain a basic understanding of the structure and function of PVA gels. However, they do have a limitation – cells don’t like to grow in them. Therefore, this research will involve the incorporation of a series of silk proteins into the base PVA gel. Silk has been shown to encourage cell attachment and proliferation, which would add the needed biological function to our hydrogels. There are many new and exciting aspects to this research, of which the student will have the ability to choose the exact area that interests them the most. This research can include chemical synthesis, hydrogel formulation, mechanical and physical characterisation of the gels, biochemical characterisation of the silks, and cell interaction studies.

Research Environment:	This work is part of an international and multi-disciplinary team and is funded by the Australian Indian Strategic Research Priorities grant. The student will work in the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering labs in conjunction with other undergraduate and post-graduate students.

Novelty and Contribution:	This work has the unique aspect of combining biological and synthetic polymers into a co-polymer hydrogel system. In addition, this work focuses on using a wild-type silkworm that is only found in India. Comparisons will be made between this unique silk and the more commonly used domesticated silk.

Expected Outcomes:	It is anticipated that the student will produce silk/PVA co-hydrogels, and that substantial characterisation of these hydrogels will occur. Depending on the quality of the results, it is anticipated that a research journal paper could also be generated.

Reference Material Links:	Nilasaroya A, Poole-Warren LA, Whitelock JM, Jo Martens P. (2008) Structural and functional characterisation of poly(vinyl alcohol) and heparin hydrogels. Biomaterials. 35:4658-64. “Silk fibroin protein from mulberry and non-mulberry silkworms: cytotoxicity, biocompatibility and kinetics of L929 murine fibroblast adhesion.” C. Acharya, S. K. Ghosh, S. C. Kundu. J Mater Sci: Mater Med (2008) 19: 2827–2836 “Non-bioengineered silk gland fibroin protein: characterization and evaluation of matrices for potential tissue engineering applications.” B. B. Mandal, S. C. Kundu. Biotechnol Bioeng (2008) 100(6): 1237-50

Project Title:	Lab-on-a-chip system for analysis of stem cell division trees

Name of Supervisor:	Dr Robert Nordon

Email of Supervisor:	r.nordon@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Dr Gary Rosengarten

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	g.rosengarten@unsw.edu.au

School:	Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	MEMS, Micro & Nano Technologies

School Research Area:	Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Chemical Sciences and Engineering Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract:	Techniques for cell culture are labour-intensive and expensive limiting the number of cell cultures that can be maintained and analysed in parallel. We are developing lab-on-a-chip devices for miniaturisation and automation of cell culture and analysis. The microfluidic device will consist of hundreds of indepenent culture experiments that can be analysed in real time using an automated fluorscence microscope incubator. Software will be developed to control scanning of microchambers and tracking of individual cell trajectories and divisions.

Research Environment:	Our lab has one PhD, one Masters by research student, and 4 undergraduate thesis students working on various aspects of this project (Micro Manufacture, Electronics hardware, Image analysis and cell biology). We are also collaborating with Professor Richard Harvey, a leading stem cell scientist at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (Australian Stem Cell Centre). They wish to understand cardiac stem cell lineage development using live cell division tree analysis.

Novelty and Contribution:	This project offers the opportunity to make a unique contribution to stem cell research by development of a device for high throughput analysis of stem cell division trees

Expected Outcomes:	Working prototype device and publication

Reference Material Links:	Rafael Gomez-Sjoberg Anne A. Leyrat, Dana M. Pirone, Christopher S. Chen, and Stephen R. Quake Versatile, Fully Automated, Microfluidic Cell Culture System Anal. Chem. 2007, 79, 8557-8563

Project Title:	Software for Advanced Patent Analysis

Name of Supervisor:	Vladimir Tosic

Email of Supervisor:	vtosic@cse.unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Mark Staples

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Mark.Staples@nicta.com.au

School:	School of Computer Science and Engineering

For CSE and EET Projects:	NICTA Project

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Management

School Research Area:	Miscellaneous

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Biomedical Engineering Chemical Sciences and Engineering Civil & Environmental Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Mining Engineering Petroleum Engineering Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering Surveying & Spatial Information Systems Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	To protect its intellectual property, it is often necessary for a company to patent its inventions. Patents are legally enforceable rights for exclusive commercial exploitation of inventions. Before patenting, patent search and analysis can uncover important facts relevant for strategic decisions about company’s intellectual property and research and development activities in general. Various software tools support patent search and analysis, from relatively simple free tools and Web sites to more powerful commercial products (e.g., for determining and visualizing various dependencies). In this research project, students will help develop novel software for advanced patent analysis, based on a new patent analysis methodology. The methodology is currently supported by software that manages patent information in Excel and uses macros for processing and visualization of patent analyses. The first aspect of this project is to support querying and analysis of patent information stored in a relational database. The second aspect of the project is to implement additional advanced patent analysis procedures. The third aspect of this project involves search and analysis of a number of real patents, determining their characteristics, and storing and managing this information using the developed software tool, to evaluate the tool’s correctness and usefulness.

Research Environment:	The students will work closely with researchers at NICTA (http://www.nicta.com.au) in a friendly mixed-gender and multicultural environment comprised of senior researchers and postgraduate students.

Novelty and Contribution:	The main novelty is the support for a unique and new patent analysis methodology. Since some aspects of the new patent procedures have not been implemented previously in other systems, non-trivial research questions (e.g., how to categorize patents in terms of relevance for company’s business strategy) will have to be considered. These patent analysis procedures will enable better decision making about a company’s patent portfolio. Another contribution is the testing process, which will result in conclusions about real patents from one market area (e.g., implant systems, business-driven IT systems management, or another area of mutual interest).

Expected Outcomes:	- Architecture of a software system that stores patent information, processes this information (e.g., to determine various dependencies), and visualizes results. - Detailed design of modules of this software architecture. - Design of database for storing patent information. - Original patent analysis procedures, which query and process the stored patent information. - Implementation of the above-mentioned designs. - Design and implementation of a simple (possibly Web) interface into the system. - Population of the database with patent information for a number of real patents from the same scientific area. - Experiments evaluating correctness and usefulness of the implemented software.

Reference Material Links:	- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent - http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/what_index.shtml - http://www.google.com/patents - http://www.patentlawlinks.com/patsearc.htm - http://www.infovis.net/printMag.php?lang=2&num=167 - D. Hunt, L. Nguyen, M. Rodgers (Eds.) “Patent Searching: Tools & Techniques”, Wiley, 2007 - J.L. Davis, S.S. Harrison “Edison in the Boardroom: How Leading Companies Realize Value from Their Intellectual Assets”, Wiley, 2001 - Course COMP9311 “Database Systems” (http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs9311) - http://www.edumax.com/database-basics-chapter-2-the-er-model-and-database-design.html - http://www.w3schools.com/SQl/default.asp - Course COMP9321 “Web Applications Engineering” (http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs9321) - For further information, email Dr. Vladimir Tosic (‘vtosic’ at the CSE e-mail system) with Subject line “UNSW Summer Scholars”.

Project Title:	Computer simulation of cracked structures

Name of Supervisor:	Chongmin SONG

Email of Supervisor:	c.song@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Solids and Applied Dynamics

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Biomedical Engineering Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Mining Engineering Petroleum Engineering Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	Under service condition, cracks develop in many structures, especially those that have passed or are approaching their design life. The crack tips are often the weakest points of a structure. For safe and cost-effective management of cracked structures, the stability of cracks needs to be evaluated. This project will be built on recent work of the group on computational mechanics to study cracked structures. The focus will be on the development of criteria for crack propagation. Strong analysis and computing skills are required for this project.

Research Environment:	The student will work with a group of active researchers on computer simulation of civil structures.

Novelty and Contribution:	It is observed experimentally that existing criteria for crack propagation depends on the size of the specimens (the so-called size effect), which hinders the application of computer simulation in the analysis of civil engineering structures. This research seeks to develop a unified criterion that does not suffer from the size effect.

Expected Outcomes:	The result will be a crack propagation criterion that can be employed to predict the stability of cracks in structure components of various dimensions.

Reference Material Links:	http://www.civeng.unsw.edu.au/staff/chongmin_song/

Project Title:	Osmotic dehydration of plant-based materials

Name of Supervisor:	Professor Weibiao Zhou

Email of Supervisor:	wb.zhou@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Advanced Manufacturing and Processing Technologies

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Sciences – Maths, Physics, Chemistry

Abstract:	Osmotic dehydration is an attractive drying technique due to its unique capability of well maintaining the cell structure of plant-based materials, in comparison to other drying techniques. It offers unique advantages in producing high quality dried products from fruits and vegetables. However, the issue of large solute uptake by the food during the process presents a major hurdle for its wide applications. To alleviate such a problem, a better understanding is necessary on how different solutes, or combination of them, impact on the mass transfer mechanisms of water and solutes. This project aims to investigate the relationship between the apparent diffusivity of water and solutes and the molecular weight and structure of solutes. Several types of salts and sugars and their combinations will be used in the experiment. Modelling will be attempted on the process data generated through the experiment.

Research Environment:	You will work with a final year student whose Hons thesis is on a related topic.

Novelty and Contribution:	The project is to provide fundamental knowledge to an important food processing technique, that could hold the key for increasing its efficiency and applications.

Expected Outcomes:	Qualitative data on apparent diffusivity of water and solutes for several types of salts, sugars and their combinations. Models for their relationship might also be generated.

Reference Material Links:	1. Khin, M.M., Zhou, W. and Perera, C. O. (2006). A study of the mass transfer in osmotic dehydration of coated potato cubes. Journal of Food Engineering, 77(1):84-95. 2. Khin, M.M., Zhou, W. and Perera, C.O. (2007). Impact of process conditions and coatings on the dehydration efficiency and cellular structure of apple tissue during osmotic dehydration, Journal of Food Engineering, 79(3):817-827. 3. Khin, M.M., Zhou, W., and Yeo, S.Y. (2007). Mass transfer in the osmotic dehydration of coated apple cubes by using maltodextrin as the coating material and their textural properties, Journal of Food Engineering, 81(3), 514-522.

Project Title:	Understanding fuel effects in SCCI engines

Name of Supervisor:	Evatt Hawkes

Email of Supervisor:	evatt.hawkes@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Shawn Kook

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Energy Systems, Renewable and Non-Renewable

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract:	Stratified Charge Compression Ignition (SCCI) engines could combine the low emissions of spark ignition engines and the high efficiencies of compression ignition engines. SCCI involves ignition by compression heating as in a diesel engine, but the fuel is injected earlier to achieve a more homogeneous mixture, avoiding emissions of NOx and soot. Possible SCCI operating regimes are limited by an inherent trade-off between increased pollutants at high stratification, and problems that occur at low stratification, namely knock at high loads and poor combustion efficiency at low loads. These trade-offs are different for each fuel and so far only conventional fuels have been properly investigated. There is considerable interest in investigating the potential of alcohol fuels and other oxygenated biofuels. You will develop and use a simplified computational model of HCCI to investigate the potential of stratification using alternative fuels. A strong background in thermo-fluids is desirable. You need to be able to program in Fortran or be willing to learn quickly. You should be interested in future PhD research.

Research Environment:	The work will be conducted principally with the supervisor, with guidance from the co-supervisor and in a team consisting of several phd students working on related topics.

Novelty and Contribution:	The novelty of the work rests principally in that it would be the first to the supervisor’s knowledge to investigate SCCI for selected fuels.

Expected Outcomes:	The study will determine for several fuels whether or not there is potential for fuel stratification to reduce the rate of pressure rise at high load and increase combustion efficiency at low load. The results may be published or may indicate directions for future research involving more detailed modelling and experiments - eg in a PhD program.

Reference Material Links:	http://www.pv.unsw.edu.au/Staff/evatthawkes.asp

Project Title:	FES Cycling - stimulus programming system

Name of Supervisor:	A/Prof Gregg Suaning

Email of Supervisor:	g.suaning@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	Prof. Nigel Lovell

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	n.lovell@unsw.edu.au

School:	Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Health & Medical Technologies

School Research Area:	Physiological Measurement, Modelling and Neurostimulation

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract:	Through electrical neurostimulation, paraplegics are able to - under their own power - ride a custom cycle over significant distances. The Implantable Bionics group in the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering has developed the hardware for this to happen, and now seek an easy-to-understand graphical user interface to program the system such that electrical stimulation for leg movements may be coordinated with the crank angle of the cycle.

Research Environment:	Within the laboratories of the Australian Vision Prosthesis Group (Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering)

Novelty and Contribution:	The student will be instrumental in designing and implementing a means through which the electrical stimulators can be programmed.

Expected Outcomes:	By the end of the project, the student will have learned the basics of electrical stimulation of leg muscles, and contributed in a significant way towards enabling paraplegic patients to conduct exercise and to enjoy cycling in the outdoors.

Reference Material Links:	see http://bionic.gsbme.unsw.edu.au

Project Title:	Wireless gyroscope position indicator for human joints

Name of Supervisor:	Prof Nigel Lovell

Email of Supervisor:	N.Lovell@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	A/Prof Gregg Suaning

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	G.Suaning@unsw.edu.au

School:	Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Health & Medical Technologies

School Research Area:	Physiological Measurement, Modelling and Neurostimulation

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract:	We have a need to sense the position and movement of various body joints for both rehabilitation and neurostimulation purposes. You will be interfacing a gyroscope to a small Bluetooth wireless module and communicating information from the body back to a laptop computer. The computer may also be used to send out commands on a separate Bluetooth channel to control a wireless neurostimulator. This is all good clean fun and we promise that no one will get hurt doing the project

Research Environment:	The work environment will be within the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering. Assistance will also be provided by engineers from the Biomedical Systems Laboratory situated in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications and the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute.

Novelty and Contribution:	The portable gyroscopic sensor is a new sensor just released. Interfacing this with a Bluetooth wireless and using this to communicate in real time limb and body position so that it can be used to control neurostimulation protocols is cutting edge research that only a handful of laboratories around the world are working on.

Expected Outcomes:	A functional device that communicates back to a laptop, body position information.

Reference Material Links:	Work from the group can be found at http://bionic.gsbme.unsw.edu.au and http://bsl.unsw.edu.au

Project Title:	Reliability, safety, and control of autonomous ground vehicles

Name of Supervisor:	Dr Ray Eaton

Email of Supervisor:	r.eaton@unsw.edu.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	A/Prof Jayantha Katupitiya

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:	j.katupitiya@unsw.edu.au

School:	School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications

For CSE and EET Projects:	School Project

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Intelligent & Autonomous Systems

School Research Area:	Signal Processing

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Computer Science & Engineering Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract:	In developing autonomous vehicles, it is not only important that the control design and implementation is successful, but also that the vehicle is reliable and that safety issues have been addressed for both the vehicle and the surroundings. The Autonomous Systems Group currently has several vehicles which will be used for autonomous operation, with primary application to precision autonomous farming. These include a small tractor and a small footprint weeding vehicle called GreenWeeder, both fully instrumented and autonomous, as well as other vehicles being instrumented for autonomous operation now. These vehicles are required to perform precisely and reliably in the field with an emphasis placed on safety. This project will work on two fronts: Firstly, the identification of hazards and potential faults will be required. This will be followed by the development of appropriate software/hardware to detect and tolerate the faults, and prevent and manage any hazards. Secondly, the implementation and testing of novel high-level trajectory tracking controllers will be required in order to keep this work at the forefront of autonomous vehicles research. This project is for a single student.

Research Environment:	The researcher will be working along side postgraduate research students, as well as academics in the autonomous systems group, gaining exposure to real vehicles and a realistic and typical research environment.

Novelty and Contribution:	This project will contribute to the ongoing and state of the art research into precise ground vehicle guidance. In particular, the research seeks to develop novel control algorithms for this purpose which take into account realistic operating conditions.

Expected Outcomes:	* The deployment of a system ensuring safe and reliable autonomous vehicle operation. * The testing of novel high-level controllers for precise trajectory tracking. * Gaining of knowledge and appreciation of the real-time control and operation of autonomous vehicles in a real environment, as well as the importance of safety and reliability. * Exposure to real-time operating systems and controller coding in C, as well as practices in fault detection and tolerance.

Reference Material Links:	For approrpiate links, please contact the project supervisor.

Project Title:	Soft Open Constraints in a Semi-Ring Framework

Name of Supervisor:	Michael Maher

Email of Supervisor:	Michael.Maher@nicta.com.au

Name of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

Email of Joint/Co-Supervisor:

School:	School of Computer Science and Engineering

For CSE and EET Projects:	NICTA Project

Faculty Research Area (Theme):	Intelligent & Autonomous Systems

School Research Area:	Theoretical Computer Science

Applicable to other Engineering schools/disciplines:	Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract:	The semi-ring constraint framework provides a way to define soft constraints - constraints that may be violated, but whose violation has a cost that must be factored in to the resulting solution. It has a solid theoretical foundation but considers only constraints of fixed arity. In practice, hard constraints of variable arity are used (for example, all_different(X1...Xn) constrains the values of X1,...,Xn to be distinct) and recently constraints that allow variables to be added during execution have been proposed. (These are called "global" and "open" constraints, respectively.) The aim of this project is to formulate global and open soft constraints within the semi-ring framework, preserving both the theoretical foundations of the semi-ring framework and the advantages of global and open constraints. The project will require the ability to perform abstract mathematical reasoning. Some familiarity with CSPs (Constraint Satisfaction Problems), such as in COMP3411 (Artificial Intelligence) or constraint programming as in COMP4418 (Knowledge Representation and Reasoning) is an advantage.

Research Environment:	You will be working closely with a senior researcher.

Novelty and Contribution:	Although the semi-ring framework is widely studied, no-one has investigated global and open constraints in this framework.

Expected Outcomes:	The expected outcome is a report and possibly a research paper describing the model of open global semi-ring constraints, including the statement and proof of its properties and algorithms for achieving local consistency within the model.

Reference Material Links:	The semi-ring framework is presented in the following papers: www.math.unipd.it/~frossi/jacm.pdf http://www.math.unipd.it/~frossi/sclp-toplas.ps.gz The formulation of soft open constraints in a different framework is given in http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~mmaher/pubs/cp/soggy.pdf

Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Research Areas

Related Projects

Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Projects

Air and ground vehicles

Design and Analysis

Life-cycle engineering

Thermofluids

Projects offered by other Engineering Schools that may be of interest are: