I was pleased to attend the School of Cybernetics Demo Day with their staff and students in the Master of Applied Cybernetics. Thanks to everyone from across the College who came along and to the students for showcasing their work.
We had demos on flood detection, explainable AI, automated child protection, Radar/ML interaction, forest modelling and interaction to edge AI with music. It was a great opportunity to meet the students, their supervisors and a wide range of visitors.Professor Aaron Quigley
Dean, ANU College of Systems and Society#
Grace’s project is a flood detect device, addressing an increasingly common occurrence of natural disasters both locally in Australia, and across the world. This device monitors soil saturation levels, giving early indications of flooding potential. Grace’s work encourages proactive thinking and practice whilst living alongside natural hazards.
The Norbert Express is a brief ride through time on a relic from the first Industrial Revolution. James’ project takes us all the way to the 5th Industrial Revolution with an interactive simulation exploring how AI implementation can disrupt professional workplaces, with many scenarios leading you to an unstable workforce. How do we get the balance right?
Nicola’s project Pear Pie builds on Ashby’s homeostat from 1948 whilst also embodying the curb-cut effect: where design affordances for disability are given priority, resulting in everyone benefitting from these design choices. Pear Pie supports executive functioning through an off-grid modular home system that uses a two-tier network and a tiered edge system that learns each user’s fluctuating capacity.
Mohamed’s project is an interactive installation that makes visible the silent and subterranean pulse of a forest. As you enter this installation, you become part of the system, and your movement triggers reactions from the natural network, revealing the forest’s vulnerabilities and resilience in real-time.
Boom Bap is an interactive cyber-physical system where the machine listens, adapts, and performs based on a human-in-the-loop setting a beat. Sam has created a system that detects tempo, regulates timing, and generates synced rap in real time – true co-creation between human and machine.
Yeu’s project is a split mechatronic rail system that highlights competing observer realities through two autonomous orbs. The autonomous orbs independently interpret motion data meaning that watching this system indeed changes what is seen.
Demo Day is a chance to see first-hand the projects completed by our Master students half-way through their program. See how ideas and theories from their classes have been transformed into cyber-physical systems, demonstrating these ideas for others to learn along with us.
We enjoyed sharing this moment with colleagues, friends, and family, demonstrating our most recent learnings and passions.