Senior Lecturer in Mechatronics at the University of Melbourne
What is the problem you are trying to address?
Australia’s large geographic scale and small population density has necessitated the wide-spread adoption of autonomous robotics. Research into the design and control of autonomous technologies impacts everything from self-driving cars to smart satellites. Multiple robots working together often replace a single robot when applications require extensive coverage of an area, simultaneous execution of varied tasks, and redundancy to single robot failure.
What is your research doing to solve this problem (often in this format?Airlie’s research explores controlling autonomous swarms with a focus on drone swarms and satellite swarms. Her research enhances swarm technology performance, reliability, and security.
She is currently working on the SpIRIT mission, which will launch the first satellite of the Australian Space Agency in 2023.
Public outreach or science communication outputs.:Airlie has incorporated interactive robotic and drone demonstrations in the Science Gallery Melbourne, Girl Power in Engineering-IT program, Engineering Discovery Days, and National Science Week visits.
Her research has been profiled by The Age, Domain, Herald Sun, Mamamia, Vogue, ABC radio, ABC News Breakfast and SBS World News.
Autonomous Systems, Robotics, Aerial Drones, Space Systems, Automatic Control