Issue 18. 16 November 2009.pdf - UWA Staff - The University of ...

Collision
avoidance
anything
but
child’s play
It might sound like many students’
idea of fun to drive a BMW X5
towards a balloon shaped like a
full-sized Hyundai Getz.
But this isn’t a prototype of a new
fairground side-show attraction. It is
serious science that could save
thousands of lives.
Director of the Centre for Intelligent
Information Processing Systems and of
the Renewable Energy Vehicle Project
(REV), Professor Thomas Braunl in the
School of Electrical, Electronic and
Computer Engineering, explained the
BMW was being fitted with an automatic
collision avoidance system.
“The X5 is being installed with a steerby-wire
and a brake-by-wire intelligence
system so that when you drive it towards
another car it will stop itself before hitting
the other car,” he said.
“The system will be far cheaper than the
radar-based systems created by major
automobile manufacturers. We use
image processing via a low-cost camera
and it’s a system that could be retrofitted
into older cars, reduced to a warning
system that only alerts the driver rather
than a fully automatic braking system.”
Professor Braunl said the avoidance
system could be perfected and ready for
evaluation by June next year.
“For training and evaluation of the
automatic emergency braking system
we need a realistic looking car as a
‘target’, but for safety reasons we
Rhodes Scholar wants to share his passion
Dustin Stuart in his physics lab
Inflatable Getz and project strongmen (from left) Thomas
Braunl, Frank Ophelders, Markus Kohler and Soo Siang Teoh
cannot use a real car. So an inflatable
car is ideal for this task,” he said.
“I did some research on the internet and
found a company specialising in creating
strange-shaped balloons for use in
advertising and promotions and sent
them the drawings of the car. The
inflatable Getz was made in China to
UWA specifications. It is made of PVC
material, similar to that used in inflatable
pools.”
Professor Braunl chose the Getz shape
as the training model because the REV
ECO car is a Getz converted to plug-in
electric drive. Further information is
available from: http://robotics.ee.uwa.
edu.au/automotive.html and http://
theREVproject.com/
Dustin Stuart has had the best experiences of his life teaching children and
teenagers about science.
Some people might cite the thrill of sky-diving, the taste of a truffle or hearing a
perfect violin concerto as their pinnacles, but for the 2009 Rhodes Scholar, it’s
sharing his passion for science that excites him.
After completing a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) in Physics and Chemistry,
Dustin is finishing up his Honours project in Physics and plans to study for his
DPhil in Laser Physics at Oxford University from next year.
“My project will involve laser cooling atoms to a fraction of a degree above absolute
zero, and using them as a quantum computer,” Dustin said.
With High Distinctions and a swag of academic prizes, the 21-year-old is heading
for a life in academia but along the way, he has learnt that education has the power
to be life-changing.
“That’s why I want to teach,” he said. “I believe education truly has the power to
change people’s lives for the better. And fundamental research in physics has that
potential too – to have a real effect on people’s lives.”
Teaching English in India as a volunteer, running a science holiday program for
primary school children and coaching teenagers competing in science Olympiads
have all fuelled his passion for teaching.
“I hope one day to start a science extension program to give kids the opportunity to
discover science in the same way that has been so life-changing for me,” he said.
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 16 November 2009 3