Agritech

Making integrated sustainability assessments in industrial ecology, circular economy, consumption and production, and using virtual laboratory technology to perform economy-wide analysis and simulation to develop systems and strategies that deliver optimised, sustainable outcomes for society, the environment and the economy.

Using state-of-the-art asset management techniques to deliver water that is fit for purpose, safer and cheaper, to food growers and manufacturers.

Energy efficient, reliable and secure-networked embedded sensing systems (IoT), in which Artificial Intelligence is processed on the device/edge rather than in the cloud. This reduces network requirements and latency.

Using expertise in analysis and control to develop and implement novel solutions to manage demand, detect faults and regulate frequency in microgrids.

Using mathematical modelling to design and optimise food processing technologies, such as thermal pasteurisation, freezing, chilling and drying, ultrasound, plasma and radio frequency electrical fields.

Using numerical and experimental techniques to understand and optimise the powder-handling processes in modern food industries.

Monitoring complex processes and predicting anomalies in their operation by combining state-of-the-art data with flow-level numerical techniques.

Using virtual experiments to scale-up multiphase flows in innovative reaction and separation processes, from proof of concept through to industry-scale operation.

Algorithms to improve efficiency in agtech using high-detail image processing systems to estimate yield, detect stress levels in plants and manage land using commercial, off-the-shelf hardware and consumer devices. These tools give large-scale visibility that improve productivity while saving time and money.

Mechanical stimulations by vibration or sound may promote pollination in high-value crop varieties. The development of robotic pollinators tailored to the specific frequencies of Australian crops, can generate significant cost savings for the Australian indoor cropping industry.

Using an autonomous, multi-sensing drone to provide real-time and autonomous 3D mapping of construction and mining projects. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is capable of scanning construction sites with an active laser, and generating 3D point clouds on the fly.

Microfluidic spray drying is a versatile route to engineer high quality powders with better functionality and ease of handling. It allows precise control of functional particles, including thermal sensitive / bioactive particles and microencapsulates for controlled release, and is useful for testing new formulations in functional foods and nutraceutical applications.

Helping to create water resilient and efficient food production by optimising sustainable water consumption, reusing rain and waste water, treating agricultural runoff and waste, and water resource planning.

Providing expertise in control and power systems engineering to optimise the efficiency and environmental sustainability of food production in the automated and autonomous greenhouse space for urban agriculture, and its integration with renewable resources.

Assessment of microgrid concepts using a state-of-the-art real-time simulation suite, capable of modelling and simulating microgrid systems for food hubs. This helps identify unusual behaviours prior to commissioning and thereby reduces risk and uncertainty.

While the electricity grid at a food hub can accommodate distributed PV generation, at higher penetration levels there are expected to be impacts caused by voltage rise and variability. Addressing these will allow food-hub operators to plan appropriately and will contribute to the successful technical integration of distributed photovoltaic generation.

The use of DC microgrids is a potential growth area with a range of platforms related to food hubs and logistics, including processing and transportation. The University is developing tools, techniques and models to back up serious experimental work on hardware prototypes, and working on protection devices and systems.