Professor Anthony Finn

Professor School of Engineering

Mawson Lakes Campus (W2-33)
tel +61 8 830 25703
fax +61 8 830 25344

mob 0404 856 989
email Anthony.Finn@unisa.edu.au

Alternative contact

Available for media comment
Research Degree Supervisor

About me

I joined the University of South Australia in 2010 as a Research Professor of Autonomous Systems at the Defence And Systems Institute (DASI) and was appointed Director in 2012. I graduated from Cambridge University in 1989 with a PhD in Engineering. Before moving to South Australia to join the Defence Science and Technology Organisation in 1991, I worked as a research consultant for a number of commercial and government organisations in Europe.

I have published two books and authored around 120 peer-reviewed book chapters, journal articles, research reports, and conference papers. My research has also informed governmental and international bodies and been cited as evidence in a number of criminal trials. I am on... Read more

School of Engineering

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Research

Research themes

Transforming industries

Research focus

Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Advanced Manufacturing and Energy
Applied Mathematics
Atmospheric Sciences

Highlights

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

Systems of Autonomous Systems

Unmanned Vehicle Systems

Intelligent Decision-Making Technology

Systems Engineering/Integration

Technology Transition

Research

Projects

Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.

Multi-spectral Fusion with Bio-amodal Perception for Robust Target Classification, Defence Science and Technology Group, 26/02/2019 - 30/06/2021
Bio-Acoustic Integrated Counter Remotely Piloted Aircraft Technology, Defence Science and Technology Group, 13/12/2017 - 30/06/2021
Neural Network based threat assessment and identification from Bio-inspired high dynamic range imagery, Exablaze Pty Ltd, 20/02/2019 - 31/12/2019
Use of unmanned air vehicles for early, real time detection of extreme weather events in vineyards USA1601., Australian Grape and Wine Authority, 01/08/2016 - 30/06/2019
Wind Shear Detection (Phase 2) - Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund, Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund, 01/01/2017 - 30/09/2017
3D Constrained, Manoeuvring and Multi-target Tracking, Department of Defence, 24/02/2016 - 31/08/2017
3D atmospheric acoustic tomography using unmanned aerial vehicles, ARC - Linkage Project, 28/05/2014 - 30/06/2017
An efficient algorithm for three-dimensional passive tracking, Defence Science & Technology Organisation - Business & Commercialisation Office, 01/07/2015 - 31/12/2015
Technology challenges and projections for trusted autonomous systems - extension, Defence Science & Technology Organisation, 01/07/2014 - 30/06/2015
Trusted autonomy, Defence Science & Technology Organisation, 29/10/2013 - 30/06/2015
Technology Challenges and Projections for Trusted Autonomous Systems, Defence Science & Technology Organisation, 07/05/2013 - 31/12/2014
Technology challenges and projections for trusted autonomous systems, Defence Science & Technology Organisation, 26/03/2013 - 30/06/2014
Acoustic sense & avoid for UAVs (Phase II), Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund, 01/04/2013 - 31/01/2014
Signal processing applications for explosive therapy detection and discrimination in route clearance scenarios - second variation, Defence Science & Technology Organisation - Business & Commercialisation Office, 01/01/2013 - 31/12/2013
Challenges and projections for future systems engineering, Defence Science & Technology Organisation, 10/10/2012 - 15/06/2013
LHM Research Services, Lockheed Martin Australia Electronic Systems Ptd Ltd, 01/09/2009 - 29/03/2013
Acoustic Sense and Avoid, Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund, 12/12/2011 - 30/11/2012
PIC Health Checks, Department of Defence, 06/09/2011 - 30/03/2012

Research

Outputs

Research since 2008 is shown below. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Highlights

Year	Output
2015	Badriasl, L, Sathyan, T, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2015, 'A novel closed-form estimator for 3D TMA using heterogeneous sensors', IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 63, no. 8, pp. 1895-1910. Open access 10 10 2

Books

Year	Output
2010	Finn, A & Jain, L 2010, Innovations in Defence Support Systems - 1, Springer, Germany.
2010	Finn, A & Scheding, S 2010, Developments and challenges for autonomous unmanned vehicles: a compendium, Springer, Germany. 12 1

Chapters

Year	Output
2014	Finn, A 2014, 'Intelligent decision-making technology and computational ethics', in S Moran, D Cropley & J Kaufman (eds), The ethics of creativity, Palgrave Macmillan, UK, ch. 10, pp. 187-202.
2010	Finn, A 2010, 'On the transition of innovation and technology in defence', in A Finn & LC Jain (eds), Innovations in defence support systems - 1, Springer, Germany, ch. 1, pp. 1-15.
2010	Finn, RA, Pattison, J & Jain, L 2010, 'A memetic cooperative optimization schema and its application to the tool switching problem', in A Finn & LC Jain (eds), Innovations in Defence Support Systems - 1, Springer, Berlin, pp. 445-454. 2
2008	Finn, RA 2008, 'Legal Issues for Military Intelligent Decision-Making Technologies', in Mircea Negoita, Robert Howlett, Lakhmi Jain, Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, Tsinghua University Press & Springer-Verlag, Berlin, vol. 5177, pp. 1-13.

Journal Articles

Year	Output
2019	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S, van der Hoek, J & Finn, A 2019, 'Bayesian WIV estimators for 3-D bearings-only TMA with speed constraints', IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 67, no. 13, article no 8718357, pp. 3576-3591. 1 1
2019	Ostashev, VE, Wilson, DK, Finn, A & Barlas, E 2019, 'Theory for spectral broadening of narrowband signals in the atmosphere and experiment with an acoustic source onboard an unmanned aerial vehicle', Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 145, pp. 3703-3714.
2019	Skelton, PS, Finn, A & Brinkworth, RS 2019, 'Consistent estimation of rotational optical flow in real environments using a biologically-inspired vision algorithm on embedded hardware', Image and Vision Computing, vol. 92, article no. 103814, pp. 1-13.
2017	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2017, 'A novel batch Bayesian WIV estimator for three dimensional TMA using bearing and elevation measurements', IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 66, no. 4, article no. 8115224, pp. 1023-1036. Open access 2 2
2017	Finn, A & Rogers, K 2017, 'An acoustic tomography technique for concurrently observing the structure of the atmosphere and water bodies', Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 617-629. Open access 2 1 1
2017	Finn, A, Rogers, K, Rice, F, Meade, J, Holland, G & May, P 2017, 'A comparison of vertical atmospheric wind profiles obtained from monostatic sodar and unmanned aerial vehicle-based acoustic tomography', Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, vol. 34, no. 10, pp. 2311-2328. Open access 4 2
2017	Rogers, KJ & Finn, A 2017, 'Accurate group velocity estimation for unmanned aerial vehicle-based acoustic atmospheric tomography', Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 141, no. 2, pp. 1269-1281. Open access 3 2 1
2016	Finn, A & Rogers, K 2016, 'Acoustic atmospheric tomography using multiple unmanned aerial vehicles', IET Radar, Sonar and Navigation, vol. 10, no. 9, pp. 1541-1551. Open access 4 2
2016	Finn, A & Rogers, K 2016, 'Improving unmanned aerial vehicle-based acoustic atmospheric tomography by varying the engine firing rate of the aircraft', Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 803-816. Open access 10 6 1
2015	Badriasl, L, Sathyan, T, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2015, 'A novel closed-form estimator for 3D TMA using heterogeneous sensors', IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 63, no. 8, pp. 1895-1910. Open access 10 10 2
2015	Finn, A & Rogers, K 2015, 'The feasibility of unmanned aerial vehicle-based acoustic atmospheric tomography', Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 138, no. 2, pp. 874-889. Open access 10 7
2013	Rogers, K & Finn, A 2013, 'Three-dimensional UAV-based atmospheric tomography', Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 336-344. 19 15
2012	Finn, A, Jacoff, A, Del Rose, M, Kania, B, Overholt, J, Silva, U & Bornstein, J 2012, 'Evaluating autonomous ground-robots', Journal of Field Robotics, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 689-706. 5 4
2011	Finn, A & Grover, R 2011, 'Are we ready for autonomous systems?', Ingenia online, vol. 46, no. March, pp. 5.
2011	Finn, A 2011, 'The Future of autonomous systems', The Conversation, July.
2010	Franklin, SJ, Finn, A, Pattison, JE & Jain, LC 2010, 'Motion optimization scheme for cooperative mobile robots', Studies in Computational intelligence, vol. 304, pp. 139-173. 1
2008	Finn, RA 2008, 'Legal considerations for the weaponisation of Unmanned Ground Vehicles', International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 43-74.
2008	Moses Jayaraj Sathyaraj, BH, Jain, L, Finn, A & Drake, S 2008, 'Multiple UAVs path Planning Algorithms: A Comparative Study', Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 257-267. 53 39

Conferences

Year	Output
2019	Finn, A, Brinkworth, R, Griffiths, D & Peters, S 2019, 'Determining morphometric properties of radiata pine using long wave infrared sensing and biologically-inspired vision', 4th ISPRS Geospatial Week 2019, Copernicus GmbH, vol. 42, no. 2/W13, pp. 277-281. Open access
2019	Finn, A, Melville-Smith, A & Brinkworth, R 2019, 'Extraction of vineyard macrostructure from sub-optimal sequences of aerial imagery', 4th ISPRS Geospatial Week 2019, Copernicus GmbH, vol. pp. 103-110. Open access
2019	Finn, A, Rogers, K, Meade, J, Skinner, J & Zargarian, A 2019, 'Preliminary evaluation of atmospheric temperature and wind profiles obtained using unmanned aerial vehicle based acoustic tomography', 4th ISPRS Geospatial Week 2019, Copernicus GmbH, vol. 42, pp. 283-287. Open access
2019	Griffiths, D, Scoleri, T, Brinkworth, R & Finn, A 2019, 'Pixel-wise infrared tone remapping for rapid adaptation to high dynamic range variations', in DL Hickman & H Bursing (eds), Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems: Technology and Applications XVI 2019, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, vol 11159, article no. 111590V, pp. 1-11. Open access
2019	Melville-Smith, A, Finn, A & Brinkworth, RS 2019, 'Enhanced micro target detection through local motion feedback in biologically inspired algorithms', International Conference on Digital Image Computing: Techniques and Applications, DICTA 2019, IEEE, article no. 8945846, pp. 1-8.
2019	Uzair, M, Brinkworth, R & Finn, A 2019, 'Insect-inspired small moving target enhancement in infrared videos', International Conference on Digital Image Computing: Techniques and Applications, DICTA 2019, IEEE, article no. 8946002, pp. 1-8.
2018	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2018, 'A novel recursive Bayesian weighted instrumental variable estimator for 3D bearings-only TMA', 26th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO), IEEE, pp. 276-280. Open access
2017	Skelton, PS, Finn, A & Brinkworth, RS 2017, 'Real-time visual rotational velocity estimation using a biologically-inspired algorithm on embedded hardware', International Conference on Digital Image Computing - Techniques and Applications (DICTA), IEEE, pp. 149-156. 1 1
2016	Finn, A & Rogers, KJ 2016, 'An analysis of unmanned aerial vehicle-based acoustic atmospheric tomography', 2nd Australasian acoustical societies conference, ACOUSTICS 2016, Australasian Acoustical Society, vol.1, pp. 391-400. Open access 1
2016	Rogers, K & Finn, A 2016, 'Accurate sound speed estimation for unmanned aerial vehicle-based acoustic atmospheric tomography', 2nd Australasian acoustical societies conference, ACOUSTICS 2016, Australasian Acoustical Societies, vol. 1, pp. 419-428. Open access 1
2015	Franklin, S, Meade, J & Finn, A 2015, 'Time delay estimation of acoustic tones under low SNR conditions', Acoustics 2015, Australian Acoustical Society, New South Wales Division, pp. 1-7. Open access
2015	Rogers, KJ, Rice, F & Finn, A 2015, 'UAV-based atmospheric tomography using Large Eddy Simulation data', 2015 IEEE 10th International Conference on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing (ISSNIP 2015), IEEE, pp. 1-6. 2 1
2014	Finn, A, Rogers, K, Meade, J & Franklin, S 2014, 'Acoustic atmospheric tomography using multiple unmanned aerial vehicles', in A Comeron et al. (eds), Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere XIX; and Optics in Atmospheric Propagation and Adaptive Systems XVII, Proceedings of SPIE, vol. 9242, article no. 92420Q, pp. 1-7. 5 1
2014	Rogers, K & Finn, A 2014, '3D Acoustic Atmospheric Tomography', Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere XIX; and Optics in Atmospheric Propagation and Adaptive Systems XVII, SPIE, vol. 9242, article no. 92420R, pp. 1-9. Open access 8 1
2013	Badriasl, L, Kennedy, H & Finn, A 2013, 'Effects of coordinate system rotation on two novel closed-from localization estimators using azimuth/elevation', 16th International Conference on Information Fusion (FUSION 2013), IEEE Press, pp. 1797-1804. 10 6
2013	Rogers, KJ & Finn, A 2013, 'Frequency estimation for 3D atmospheric tomography using unmanned aerial vehicles', International Conference on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing (ISSNIP) 2013, IEEE, pp. 390-395. 13 3
2013	Rogers, KJ & Finn, RA 2013, '3D Atmospheric Tomography using UAVs', in T McMinn (ed.), Acoustics 2013 Victor Harbor: Science, Technology and Amenity, Australian Acoustical Society, South Australian Division, pp. 1-5. 3
2012	Del, RM, Finn, RA & Kania, B 2012, 'Measures for UGV to UGV collaboration', 2012 Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems Workshop, Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 53-58.
2011	Finn, A & Franklin, S 2011, 'Acoustic sense & avoid for UAV's', 7th International Conference on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing, IEEE, pp. 586-589. 26
2011	Finn, A & Franklin, S 2011, 'UAV-based atmospheric tomography', in DJ Lee & ID Hillock (eds), Acoustics 2011 Breaking New Ground, Australian Acoustical Society, pp. 1-5. Open access 9

Reports

Year	Output
2019	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2019, Statistical inference techniques for three-dimensional passive tracking: Observability measure based on conditional posterior cramér-rao lower bounds and measure of nonlinearity for 3-D angle-only tracking problem: theory and results, University of South Australia, Australia.
2019	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2019, Statistical inference techniques for three-dimensional passive tracking: Observability measure based on conditional posterior cramér-rao lower bounds and measure of nonlinearity for 3D bearings-only tracking problem: theory and preliminary results, University of South Australia, Australia.
2019	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2019, Statistical inference techniques for three-dimensional passive tracking: Stationary target detectors for target motion analysis: theory and results, University of South Australia, Australia.
2018	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2018, Pseudolinear and Instrumental Variables Kalman Filter for 3D Bearings-only Tracking Problem: theory, unpublished, Australia.
2018	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2018, Statistical inference techniques for three-dimensional passive tracking: Stationary Target detectors for passive tracking problem: theory, University of South Australia, Australia.
2017	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2017, 3D constrained, manoeuvring and multi-target tracking using bearing and elevation measurements: milestone D: developing a stationary target detector and a manoeuvring target tracker from a non-manoeuvring observer, Australia.
2017	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2017, 3D constrained, manoeuvring and multi-target tracking using bearing and elevation measurements: milestone E: multi-target tracking in clutter using integrated probabilistic data association, Australia.
2017	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2017, 3D constrained, manoeuvring and multi-target tracking using bearing and elevation measurements: milestone F: multi-target tracking in clutter using linear multi-target integrated probabilistic data association-interacting multiple model, Australia.
2016	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2016, 3D constrained, manoeuvring and multi-targettracking using bearing and elevation measurements: milestone B: Bayesian weighted instrumental variable estimators with equality and inequality speed constraint for 3D bearings-only TMA problem, Australia.
2016	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2016, 3D constrained, manoeuvring and multi-targettracking using bearing and elevation measurements: milestone C: tracking a manoeuvring target using interacting multiple model for the 3D bearings-only TMA problem, Australia.
2016	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2016, Three-dimensional constrained, maneuvering and multi-target tracking using bearing and elevation measurements: milestone A: WIV under linear equality and inequality constraints, Australia.
2016	Finn, A, Rogers, K & Rice, F 2016, Detection of wind shear using aircraft-based acoustic atmospheric tomography, Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund, Australia.
2015	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2015, An efficient Algorithm for Three-dimensional Passive Tracking: Milestone B, Australia.
2015	Badriasl, L, Arulampalam, S & Finn, A 2015, An efficient algorithm for three-dimensional passive tracking: milestone A, Australia.
2014	Finn, A & Mekdeci, B 2014, Trusted autonomy, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2011	Finn, A 2011, Implications for autonomy and autonomous systems, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Organisation	Country
Advanced Technology Centre	CANADA
Aerosonde	AUSTRALIA
Bureau of Meteorology	AUSTRALIA
Communications, Electronics, Research & Development Center (CERDEC)	UNITED STATES
Defence Science and Technology Group	AUSTRALIA
Defence Science and Technology Organisation	AUSTRALIA
Goldwind Energy	DENMARK
National Centre for Atmospheric Research	UNITED STATES
National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)	UNITED STATES
Tank Automotive Research Development & Engineering Centre (TARDEC)	UNITED STATES
United States Army Corps of Engineers	UNITED STATES
University of Adelaide	AUSTRALIA
University of Melbourne	AUSTRALIA
University of South Australia	AUSTRALIA
University of Sydney	AUSTRALIA
US Army Research Laboratory	UNITED STATES

External engagement & recognition

Engagement/recognition	Year
Member Association of Unmanned Vehicles International	2017
Member Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers	2017
Member Institute of Mechanical Engineers	2017
Member Royal Institute of Navigation	2017
Medal for contribution Multi Autonomous Ground Robotic International Challenge	2011

Teaching & student supervision

Highlights

Systems Engineering

Autonomous Systems

Teaching & student supervision

Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title	Student status
3 dimensional acoustic tomography using unmanned aerial vehicles	Current
A comparison of inversion techniques for UAV-based acoustic atmospheric tomography	Current
Automated detection of objects in low contrast and high clutter environments	Current
Biologically inspired visual egomotion estimation for use in autonomous ground vehicles	Current
Establishing trust in autonomous systems a neurocognitive investigation into the role of human factors	Current
Government policy and industry development in the national interest - the Australian aerospace industry as a case study	Current
Integration of biologically inspired vision systems to enhance current capability of detection identification tracking problems	Current
Maintaining safety and technical integrity in complex systems	Current
Mobile acoustic atmospheric tomography	Current
Viability and real world performance envelope of passive acoustic sense detect and avoid for small UAVs	Current
Active wing control in a dragonfly-inspired micro air vehicle	Completed
Biologically inspired high dynamic range imaging for use in machine vision	Completed
Exploration of the properties of a method to construct a trade-space of system life cycle cost with reliability and maintainability requirements	Completed
Three-dimensional target motion analysis using passive measurements	Completed
Towards scene understanding using a cooperative of robots with limited sensing	Completed

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Professor Anthony Finn

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About me

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Research

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Outputs

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Books

Chapters

Journal Articles

Conferences

Reports

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External engagement & recognition

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