Our Funded Projects

Defence systems acquisition is fraught with all sorts of financial, technical, and political risks. Arguably the most resource-demanding stages in any acquisition program are the various stages of test and evaluation.

This research activity will introduce a new technique for satellite-based connectivity for people in a hazardous environment when ground-based communications network infrastructure is unavailable through denial or degradation, whether from natural causes or bad actors.

This project is founded upon The University of Adelaide’s (UoA) unique synergy between side-channel attacks and terahertz technology. It presents opportunities in dual use of security and non-contact circuit evaluation, highly attractive to our defence partner, DSTG, and UoA’s commercial partner, Keysight.

It is critical to understand better how wargames can be beneficial and in which situations they can result in inaccurate analysis and negative learning. This project proposes a design framework that draws inspiration from capability maturity models that have successfully been applied to domains such as software development, cyber security, and people management.

This project aims to develop a hydrophone array for identification of underwater acoustic vibrations, benefiting the Australian Defence Force.

SOCRETIS has the potential to enable Defence Information Warfare capability by bolstering national resilience to malign influence in the grey-zone. The primary aim is to assist people with navigating the information environment at hand (initially focussing on social media posts), enabling more evidence-based opinions and decisions.

This project will develop a new Virtual Reality (VR) tool for the rapid design assessment of environments with digital human mannequins (DHMs).

This project aims to develop a neurobiological marker that predicts individual cognitive capacity, an augmented reality (AR) wearable solution and an AR-integrated biofeedback system.

Maritime border control is a high-priority concern for the Australian Defence Force. Lux Aerobot will develop a solution consisting of a constellation system of self-organising, low-cost, high altitude balloons to provide near real-time ship detection.

This project will contribute to expanding intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities by developing bespoke optical components for deployable space telescopes.

Voxon Photonics' true volumetric 3D display has a graphics engine fast enough to deliver voxels (points of light), to allow the observers to see an object or a scene in volumetric 3D space without having to wear headsets or special glasses.

This project will advance the development of a forensic intelligence tool that targets dust particles on personal items and goods, establishing a new counter-intelligence capability that will support Australian defence and national security.

Space is becoming crowded and hostile, demanding satellite systems that can respond to adverse events. Most satellites cannot autonomously avoid space junk or hostile objects due to a lack of onboard propulsion. Nanofluidic thrusters offer a solution, based on nanoscale actuation of ionic liquids in chip-based (non-invasive) thrusters.

This project aims to improve human-machine interfaces on Australian naval vessels by developing a console solution to limit the negative impact on operators from light pollution.

Bringing together expertise from across South Australia in experimental quantum optics (DSTG), quantum information theory (UofA), novel quantum sources (UniSA) and classical time transfer techniques (CryoClock), this project will transfer timing information through a free-space optical link at the pico-second level, around 1000 times better than what is available currently through the global positioning system.

This project will provide new solutions for the control of growth of marine organisms on surfaces immersed in oceans.

Design an Australian Research & Experimental Submarine – ARES (5-10m long) with the ability to reconfigure external shape and Fwd/aft control planes configurations (cross or X-rudder) to simulate existing or future shapes.

A fully operating HUMS system will provide significant cost savings in terms of real time warning on potential failure, improve preparedness of vehicle platforms for operational needs, and reduced fleet management costs. It will also significantly increase operator safety.

This project builds on a body of research work by the Partners that established the theoretical feasibility of thermo-mechanical measurement to determine energy dissipated in shock absorbers.

This project seeks to develop Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI) for detection, monitoring and mitigation of stress under differing states of fatigue. Validate technologies that unobtrusively measure underlying physiological and psychological responses to stress.

Narrative visualisation, which focuses on describing the stories behind the data, offers a potential approach to help an analyst rapidly understand the outcomes. A pilot developed jointly between UniSA and DST has demonstrated how this approach could be used to visualise storylines within simulations involving many actors.

Develop novel and low-complexity optimal waveform diversity techniques for small target detection that can adapt to the environment and sea clutter characteristics to minimise the deleterious effects of sea clutter in scan-to-scan integration.

Passive ISAR utilises existing transmitters such as TV, radio or satellite, and addresses the challenge of combining multichannel transmissions to enhance passive ISAR imaging performance. These systems can be deployed covertly to offer improved situational awareness to Special Forces practically anywhere, paving the way for development and commercialisation of next generation situational awareness solutions of benefit across Army, RAAF and RAN.

Delivery of a space-based tactical EW sensor system to provide persistent, resilient and adaptable situational awareness.

The funding provided by DIP is to support activities for Phase one of the project which will deliver the proof of concept of various subsystems.

There are significant opportunities to increase the operational capability of Australia's Future Submarine through the application of Artificial Intelligence techniques to combat system functions. This project assessed these opportunities and outlined a roadmap for the implementation of an Artificial Intelligence capability for Australia’s Future Submarine to support the broader strategic goal of SEA1000 to deliver a regionally superior submarine.

This project developed cost-effective technologies for sensing and removal of perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from water.

This project aimed to better understand the seakeeping performance of USVs, and from this, to develop improved autonomous seakeeping capability that would enable a USV to operate under severe sea state conditions.

This capability will enhance the capacity of USVs to complete complex missions in complex environments and assist industry with developing advanced sensor payloads for USVs.

While Augmented Reality (AR) activities are increasingly important, there are certain key problems that limit the effectiveness of the technology. For example, 30-40% of the population are stereo blind, yet AR relies on stereo vision. There are open questions concerning how the conflict between AR demands and natural viewing impact spatial attention and cognitive performance, especially under fatigue.

The research for this project was supported by simulation and modelling to understand risks and identify ways of realising enhanced capabilities through development of a prototype adaptive AR interface.

As stigma is perpetuated through communication between individuals, language use has significant ramifications. This pilot project aimed to identify the characteristics and prevalence of stigmatising language and advise how it can be changed and minimised to achieve more sustainable outcomes in recruitment, retention, combat readiness and capability.