Funding

Self-funded

Project code

SEM10300526

Start dates

October, February and April

Application deadline

Applications accepted all year round

Applications are invited for a self-funded, 3 year full-time or 6 year part-time PhD project.

The PhD will be based in the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and will be supervised by Dr Sotirios Spanogianopoulos and Dr Ali Soltani.

 

The work on this project will:

  • Simulation of liquid-drone dynamics integrating some CFD software (e.g. Fluent or COMSOL) and MATLAB/Simulink.    
  • Developing mathematical models for liquid-drone systems, appropriate for control design purposes.
  • Designing practical control systems, including controllers and estimators, for tracking desired trajectories of drones, particularly aggressive trajectories.
  • Implementation of designed control systems in closed-loop with the developed simulation application.
  • Reporting results via publishing in journals or presenting in conferences.
 

Nowadays, drones are widely used to reduce risks to human life, improve efficiency, push the boundaries of art, and serve many other purposes through the autonomous or remote performance of tasks such as firefighting operations, search and rescue missions, agricultural work, filming, and more. For some of these applications, such as firefighting, the drone must carry a liquid payload where liquid dynamics should be considered in control system design. Otherwise, either the control system may not guarantee stability, particularly in aggressive maneuvers which are likely in applications such as firefighting, or its performance could be unsatisfactory due to liquid sloshing effects.

There are some studies that have addressed this issue by various methods and for different quadrotor-liquid load configurations. In some of these studies simple models for liquid sloshing have been used to design a nonlinear controller although most of them sufficed to linear control laws. These controllers do not guarantee the stability in aggressive manoeuvres or at least show poor performance. There is also some research that proposed comprehensive models for quadrotor-liquid system dynamics although the presented controllers are only capable of rejecting the effects of sloshing on the quadrotor rather than suppressing it.

In this research, we’ll try to develop control laws that can guarantee the stability in aggressive manoeuvres as well as acceptable performance via suppressing the sloshing. 

 

 

Fees and funding

Visit the research subject area page for fees and funding information for this project.

Funding availability: Self-funded PhD students only. 

PhD full-time and part-time courses are eligible for the UK Government Doctoral Loan (UK and EU students only).

 

Bench fees

Some PhD projects may include additional fees – known as bench fees – for equipment and other consumables, and these will be added to your standard tuition fee. Speak to the supervisory team during your interview about any additional fees you may have to pay. Please note, bench fees are not eligible for discounts and are non-refundable. 

Entry requirements

You'll need a good first degree from an internationally recognized university (minimum upper second class or equivalent, depending on your chosen course) or a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related area. In exceptional cases, we may consider equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications. English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with no component score below 6.0.

  • Fluent of COMSOL (or similar) and MATLAB/Simulink. 
  • Very good programming knowledge of Python/C++
  • Good knowledge of Robotic Operating System (ROS) will be an advantage.

How to apply

We’d encourage you to contact Dr Sotirios Spanogianopoulos (sotirios.spanogianopoulos@port.ac.uk)  to discuss your interest before you apply, quoting the project code.

When you are ready to apply, please follow the 'Apply now' link on the Electronic Engineering PhD subject area page and select the link for the relevant intake. Make sure you submit a personal statement, proof of your degrees and grades, details of two referees, proof of your English language proficiency and an up-to-date CV.  Our ‘How to Apply’ page offers further guidance on the PhD application process.

If you want to be considered for this self-funded PhD opportunity you must quote project code SEM10300526 when applying.