Sensor technologies
Future requirements will be driven by the advent of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) and Networked Enabled Capability (NEC), as well as the need for combating terrorism and for greater affordability. Advanced sensors will be required for navigation and pilotage to enable UAVs to operate in the same airspace as manned aircraft. Global information networks will allow sensors to be networked, which when coupled with novel data fusion algorithms, will provide a capability that is greater than the sum of the parts. Sensors to enhance safety and security will be needed to combat terrorism, with emphasis on preventing an attack being initiated. Affordability will push the need for common technology across platforms, perhaps sourced from adjacent markets, with advances required in underlying technologies such as high performance analogue-to-digital converters and semiconductor materials, as well as developing low cost, environment friendly manufacturing techniques.
Research projects will be aligned to these future requirements and will be grouped together under the following technology themes:
- Sensors to enhance pilotage and navigation
- Sensors to enhance safety and security
- Sensor fusion and networking
- Supporting / underpinning sensor technologies
Sensing, Imaging and Signal Processing
The research arena of the SISP group is a broad one, encompassing instrumentation, transducer and sensor design, signal preconditioning, signal and information processing and interpretation, including extensive use of data inversion and reconstruction techniques. The group deals with a range of modalities, including (but not limited to) magnetic, electrical, acoustic, photonic and biomedical, mechanical and signals; it is also familiar with the additional challenges that arise from distributed and / or array sensors. The application areas are similarly wide, with research conducted in the fields of medical and industrial imaging (tomography), real-time image and audio signal enhancement, transportation, nondestructive testing and materials characterisation. The skills-base within the group is of necessity varied, and includes personnel trained in sensor design and fabrication, analogue and digital systems design, artificial intelligence and software coding. SISP members have strong collaborative activities with other academic groups, such as chemical and mechanical engineers, medical clinicians, computer scientists and mathematicians, both within the University of Manchester and on national and international scales. The group enjoys intensive and extensive interaction with a wide range of industrial companies and research institutions across many sectors, and has a strong track record of commercialisation of its research.
SISP pursues collaborative and cross-disciplinary research that exploits the complementary expertise in sensing, imaging and signal processing that is brought together in the group. SISP is unusual in that such skills are traditionally corralled into separate entities that do not necessarily cultivate such collaboration. In short, our research focuses on electronic systems for sensing, conditioning and processing signals, applied to scientific, industrial and medical applications, often requiring advanced techniques for analogue signal conditioning and digital signal processing. Typical target applications include:
- Recovery of video images acquired under adverse conditions
- Neural techniques for information processing
- Characterisation of electron and photon beams in high-energy accelerators
- X-ray diffraction data of dynamic structural changes in biological systems
- Cross-sectional material distributions from tomography
- Inductive scanning for imaging and condition assessment of steel reinforced concrete
- Autonomous sensors for fatigue monitoring and structural integrity
- Audio-bandwidth signal enhancement and feature extraction
- Biomedical signal processing for ECG, EMG, MMG and cardiovascular function
Sensing, Imaging and Signal Processing Research at the University of Manchester
The SISP group is involved in three main themes of research. They are:
Industrial Process Tomography (IPT)
IPT was established in 1989 and enjoys multi-disciplinary collaboration with the Schools of Chemical Engineering & Analytical Science, Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering. This relatively new technology is progressing from early foundations in low-frequency electrical tomography to include microwave and optoelectronic techniques. The group is the world leader in electrical tomography instrumentation and this has spawned commercial instruments from Industrial Tomography Systems Ltd and Process Tomography Ltd. A £3M Foresight Challenge grant and a £2.2M ESPRC Platform grant were awarded in 1996 and 2001 respectively.
Vision and Information Processing
The team’s research interests include scientific imaging devices and systems instrumentation, image and video processing, and artificial neural networks and pattern recognition. In parallel work, it uses data-reduction techniques to analyse multiple spike trains from real biological neural systems. It also uses information-theoretic and modern statistical techniques along with psychophysical experimentation to model the transduction of sensory signals and to analyse biological vision systems, particularly for colour and shape processing.
Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
Over the last ten years, the team's research projects have involved the development of instrumentation and software for non-destructive testing of materials using a variety of sensing modalities, including inductive scan imaging and ultrasonic systems. We are also involved with the development of systems and software for the analysis of cardiovascular and autonomic function, and the design and development of real-time digital signal processing hardware for audio bandwidth applications.
The Sygenta University Innovation Centre
Sensor science technologies have the capacity to create a paradigm shift in the future of the global agribusiness sector. To realise this potential the Syngenta UIC has been developed to identify and nurture business opportunities for medium to longer term applied research. The ultimate objective is to deliver systems for commercial use.
Sensing, Imaging and Signal Processing Facilities at the University of Manchester
- High speed DSP systems and software
- Extensive range of mathematical and software modelling systems for FEM analysis of many physical systems.
- Modern research laboratories fully equipped with the latest instrumentation, including high-speed digital oscilloscopes, analysers, signal generators an precision acquisition systems.
- Precision electromechanical scanning systems.
- Advanced tomographic instrumentation and systems: Electrical Capacitance Tomography
- Electrical Resistance Tomography
- Electro-Magnetic Tomography
- Microwave Tomography
- Optical Tomography
- Multimodality & Impedance (Dielectric) Spectroscopy Imaging Systems
- Ultrasonic NDT systems
- Autonomous sensors research
- Biomedical systems and instrumentation
- Vision, imaging and image processing systems
- High speed laser systems
- High-resolution graphics displays for vision research
- Hyperspectral camera
- Hyperspectral image database of natural scenes
- Telespectroradiometric and photometric instruments
- Maxwellian-view optical system for vision research
Postgraduate Study in Sensing, Imaging and Signal Processing
Sensors and Electronic Instrumentation MSc
In recent years, instrumentation has emerged as an independent subject, rather than an adjunct to other science and engineering disciplines. The driving force behind this is the ever-increasing need of scientific, industrial and medical communities for new and improved measurement techniques. It is further stimulated by the development of micro-processors, digital signal processing (DSP), fibre optics, novel sensors and transducers, and miniaturisation. There is a high demand for instrumentation specialists over a broad range of fields, from instrument and sensor production to aerospace, chemical and automotive engineering. This MSc course aims to provide high-quality training for a career in these expanding areas.
The course involves the science, technology, techniques and applications of instrumentation. It will also teach the transferable skills, which are required in the design, implementation and communication of scientific results which are highly valued in other areas of work. Experience from such training should also facilitate the making of a more informed choice of career progression, leading ultimately to more enjoyable, fulfilling and profitable employment. The programme offers: a compulsory core of taught modules, a choice from a selection of taught modules focussing on specific aspects of instrumentation, and a substantial individual research project. The Diploma programme offers a shorter review project in place of an MSc research project.
The Schools involved have strong international reputations based on active research personnel with access to state-ofthe-art equipment. They were highly graded in the 1992, 1996 and 2001 Research Assessment Exercises, at 5 and 5*. The Schools are well placed to provide students with experience in using modern equipment and computer technologies. They have also received excellent grades for their teaching provision from HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) teaching quality assessment teams. Research degrees (MPhil & PhD)
SISP is dedicated to research excellence at both national and international level. We encourage applications from outstanding students who wish to apply for PhD and MPhil degrees. We also offer scholarships, available on a competitive basis.
Academic Staff
| Name | Research Areas |
|---|---|
| Dr D W Armitage | Pattern recognition, neural networks, self-organising systems, data analysis and visualisation, bioinformatics (ASSO) |
| Professor R Dewhurst | Measurement Science and Instrumentation (I) |
| Dr P Dudek | |
| Professor P Gaydecki | Digital Signal Processing (ASSO) |
| Professor W Lionheart | |
| Professor H McCann | Industrial Tomography (ASSO) |
| Professor M Missous | |
| Dr JP Oakley | Instrumentation, electronic circuits, electrical capacitance tomography, multiphase measurement, security scanners, intelligent control (ASSO) |
| Dr KB Ozanyan | Instrumentation, electronic circuits, electrical capacitance tomography, multiphase measurement, security scanners, intelligent control (ASSO) |
| Professor A J Peyton | Electromagnetic Tomography Imaging (I) |
| Dr P Scully | (ASSO) |
| Dr R G Van Silfhout | Pattern recognition, neural networks, self-organising systems, data analysis and visualisation, bioinformatics (ASSO) |
| Professor A Song | |
| Professor W Yang | |
| Professor WQ Yang | Electronic Instrumentation (ASSO) |
| Dr H Yin | Sensor materials, devices and systems; Tomography; Spectroscopy; Optics. (ASSO) |
| Professor TA York | Electrical Systems Engineering (I) |
Contact
Professor Anthony Peyton
Email: sensors@manchester.ac.uk
