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Recent research into buffet in the transonic flow regime has been focused on a limited number of proprietary airfoil geometries and has mainly considered parametric variations in Mach number and angle of attack. In contrast, relatively little is known about the sensitivity of buffet frequencies and amplitudes to geometric properties of airfoils. In the present contribution, an airfoil geometry construction method based on a small number of parameters is developed. The resulting airfoils and computational grids are high-order continuous everywhere except at the trailing edge corners. The effects of four key geometric parameters, defined by local extrema of coordinates on the airfoil at the design condition and denoted as 'crest' points, are studied using large-eddy simulation, considering both free-transitional and tripped boundary layers. For both states of the boundary layer, buffet amplitude and frequency are found to be highly sensitive to the axial and vertical position of the suction-side crest point, while the vertical crest position on the pressure side affects the mean lift. The present work confirms that buffet can appear for free-transitional (laminar buffet) and tripped conditions (turbulent buffet) with similar sensitivities. For test cases near onset conditions intermediate-frequency phenomena have been observed, which were linked to unsteadiness of separation bubbles. Frequencies scaling based on mean-flow properties of the separation bubble were shown to be in good agreement with previous findings on different airfoil geometries in Zauner et al. (Flow Turb. & Comb., Vol. 110, 2023, pp. 1023-1057). Airfoil geometries are provided as open source: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12204411, Comment: AIAA AVIATION FORUM AND ASCEND 2024, Session: Aerodynamic Design I

Swarm robotics is a study of simple robots that exhibit complex behaviour only by interacting locally with other robots and their environment. The control in swarm robotics is mainly distributed whereas centralised control is widely used in other fields of robotics. Centralised and decentralised control strategies both pose a unique set of benefits and drawbacks for the control of multi-robot systems. While decentralised systems are more scalable and resilient, they are less efficient compared to the centralised systems and they lead to excessive data transmissions to the human operators causing cognitive overload. We examine the trade-offs of each of these approaches in a human-swarm system to perform an environmental monitoring task and propose a flexible hybrid approach, which combines elements of hierarchical and decentralised systems. We find that a flexible hybrid system can outperform a centralised system (in our environmental monitoring task by 19.2%) while reducing the number of messages sent to a human operator (here by 23.1%). We conclude that establishing centralisation for a system is not always optimal for performance and that utilising aspects of centralised and decentralised systems can keep the swarm from hindering its performance., Comment: The International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS 2024)

Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown great potential in intelligent visualization systems, especially for domain-specific applications. Integrating LLMs into visualization systems presents challenges, and we categorize these challenges into three alignments: domain problems with LLMs, visualization with LLMs, and interaction with LLMs. To achieve these alignments, we propose a framework and outline a workflow to guide the application of fine-tuned LLMs to enhance visual interactions for domain-specific tasks. These alignment challenges are critical in education because of the need for an intelligent visualization system to support beginners' self-regulated learning. Therefore, we apply the framework to education and introduce Tailor-Mind, an interactive visualization system designed to facilitate self-regulated learning for artificial intelligence beginners. Drawing on insights from a preliminary study, we identify self-regulated learning tasks and fine-tuning objectives to guide visualization design and tuning data construction. Our focus on aligning visualization with fine-tuned LLM makes Tailor-Mind more like a personalized tutor. Tailor-Mind also supports interactive recommendations to help beginners better achieve their learning goals. Model performance evaluations and user studies confirm that Tailor-Mind improves the self-regulated learning experience, effectively validating the proposed framework.

To reduce the time-to-market of future aircraft, it is crucial to predict the flight envelope accurately before building prototypes for flight tests. The High-Lift Prediction Workshop (HLPW) series aims to assess the numerical prediction capability of current CFD technology considering NASA's high-lift version of the Common Research Model (CRM-HL). The present work contributes to these collaborative efforts, quantifying sensitivities for RANS-based steady, unsteady, and hybrid RANS/LES scale-resolving approaches. Uncertainties associated with the choice of turbulence model, initialization strategies, grid resolution, and iterative convergence at free-air conditions are covered. Near stall, a large spread of RANS results was observed for different turbulence models and initialization strategies, while iterative convergence appeared less crucial for the present simulations. Steady and unsteady RANS simulations were unable to predict the correct flow physics near CLmax, even for large grids. Delayed Detached Eddy Simulations (DDES), however, showed good accuracy compared with wind-tunnel experiments and predicted CLmax with an error of around 5%. Compared to steady RANS, the computational cost of DDES was a factor of ten higher. Lessons learned and potential best-practice strategies are shared to aid future studies. While warm-started RANS simulations using SA models are recommended at lower angles of attack, scale-resolving methods are required near stall.

Turbulent transonic buffet is an aerodynamic instability causing periodic oscillations of lift/drag in aerospace applications. Involving complex coupling between inviscid and viscous effects, buffet is characterised by shock-wave oscillations and flow separation/reattachment. Previous studies have identified both 2D chordwise shock-oscillation and 3D buffet/stall-cell modes. While the 2D instability has been studied extensively, investigations of 3D buffet have been limited to only low-fidelity simulations or experiments. Due to computational costs, almost all high-fidelity studies to date have been limited to narrow span-widths around 5% of aerofoil chord length (aspect ratio, $AR = 0.05$), which is insufficiently wide to observe large-scale three-dimensionality. In this work, high-fidelity simulations are performed up to $AR=3$, on infinite unswept NASA-CRM wing profiles at $Re=5\times 10^{5}$. At $AR \geq 1$, intermittent 3D separation bubbles are observed at buffet conditions. While previous RANS/stability-based studies predict simultaneous onset of 2D- and 3D-buffet, a case with buffet that remains essentially-2D despite span-widths up to $AR=2$ is identified here. Strongest three-dimensionality was observed near the low-lift phases of the buffet cycle at maximum flow separation, reverting to essentially-2D behaviour during high-lift phases. Buffet was found to become three-dimensional when extensive mean flow separation was present. At $AR \geq 2$, multiple 3D separation bubbles form, in a wavelength range of $\lambda=\left[1c-1.5c\right]$. SPOD and cross-correlations were applied to analyse the spatio/temporal structure of 3D buffet-cells. In addition to the 2D chordwise shock-oscillation mode (Strouhal number $St \approx 0.07-0.1$), 3D modal structures were found in the shocked region of the flow at $St \approx 0.002-0.004$.

Self-sustained low-frequency flow unsteadiness over rigid aerofoils in the transonic regime is referred to as transonic buffet. Although the exact physical mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are unclear, it is generally assumed to be unique to the transonic regime. This assumption is shown to be incorrect here by performing large-eddy simulations of flow over a NACA0012 profile for a wide range of flow conditions. At zero incidence and sufficiently high freestream Mach numbers, M, transonic buffet occurs with shock waves present in the flow. However, self-sustained oscillations that occur at similar frequencies are observed at lower M for which shock waves are absent and the entire flow field remains subsonic at all times. At higher incidences, the oscillations are sustained at progressively lower M. Oscillations were observed for M as low as 0.3, where compressibility effects are small. A spectral proper orthogonal decomposition shows that the spatial structure of these oscillations (i.e., mode shapes) are essentially the same for all cases. These results indicate that buffet on aerofoils does not necessarily require the presence of shock waves. Furthermore, the trend seen with increasing incidence angles suggests that transonic buffet on aerofoils and low-frequency oscillations reported in the incompressible regime (Zaman et al., 1989, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 202, pp. 403--442) have similar origins. Thus, models which rely specifically on shock waves to explain transonic buffet are incorrect. These insights could be useful in understanding the origins of ``transonic" buffet and reformulating mitigation strategies by shifting the focus away from shock waves., Comment: 28 pages, 20 figures

Transonic buffet is an unsteady flow phenomenon that limits the safe flight envelope of modern aircraft. Scale-resolving simulations with span-periodic boundary conditions are capable of providing new insights into its flow physics. The present contribution shows the co-existence of multiple modes of flow unsteadiness over an unswept laminar-flow wing section, appearing in the following order of increasing frequency: (a) a low-frequency transonic buffet mode, (b) an intermediate-frequency separation bubble mode, and (c) high-frequency wake modes associated with vortex shedding. Simulations are run over a range of Reynolds and Mach numbers to connect the lower frequency modes from moderate to high Reynolds numbers and from pre-buffet to established buffet conditions. The intermediate frequency mode is found to be more sensitive to Reynolds-number effects compared to those of Mach number, which is the opposite trend to that observed for transonic buffet. Spectral proper orthogonal decomposition is used to extract the spatial structure of the modes. The buffet mode involves coherent oscillations of the suction-side shock structure, consistent with previous studies including global mode analysis. The laminar separation-bubble mode at intermediate frequency is fundamentally different, with a phase relationship between separation and reattachment that does not correspond to a simple `breathing' mode and is not at the same Strouhal number observed for shock-induced separation bubbles. Instead, a Strouhal number based on separation bubble length and reverse flow magnitude is found to be independent of Reynolds number within the range of cases studied.

Transonic buffet is commonly associated with self-sustained flow unsteadiness involving shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction over aerofoils and wings. The phenomenon has been classified as either laminar or turbulent based on the state of the boundary layer immediately upstream of the shock foot and distinct mechanisms for the two types have been suggested. The turbulent case is known to be associated with a global linear instability. Herein, large-eddy simulations are used for the first time to make direct comparisons of the two types by examining free- and forced-transition conditions. Corresponding simulations based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier--Stokes equations for the forced-transition case are also performed for comparison with the scale-resolving approach and for linking the findings with existing literature. Coherent flow features are scrutinised using both data-based spectral proper orthogonal decomposition of the time-marched results and operator-based global linear stability and resolvent analyses within the Reynolds-averaged Navier--Stokes framework. It is demonstrated that the essential dynamic features remain the same for the two buffet types (and for the two levels of the aerodynamic modelling hierarchy), suggesting that both types arise due to the same fundamental mechanism.

Simulation of forest environments has applications from entertainment and art creation to commercial and scientific modelling. Due to the unique features and lighting in forests, a forest-specific simulator is desirable, however many current forest simulators are proprietary or highly tailored to a particular application. Here we review several areas of procedural generation and rendering specific to forest generation, and utilise this to create a generalised, open-source tool for generating and rendering interactive, realistic forest scenes. The system uses specialised L-systems to generate trees which are distributed using an ecosystem simulation algorithm. The resulting scene is rendered using a deferred rendering pipeline, a Blinn-Phong lighting model with real-time leaf transparency and post-processing lighting effects. The result is a system that achieves a balance between high natural realism and visual appeal, suitable for tasks including training computer vision algorithms for autonomous robots and visual media generation., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to Computer Graphics Forum (CGF). The application and supporting configuration files can be found at https://github.com/callumnewlands/ForestGenerator

There are several approaches to define an eigenvector decomposition of the finite Fourier Transform, which is in some sense unique, and at best resembles the eigenstates of the quantum harmonic oscillator. A solution given by Balian and Itzykson in 1986 for prime dimensions d = 3 (mod 4) is revisited. It is shown, that by applying the Weyl-Heisenberg matrices to this eigenvector basis, a projective 2-design is generated., Comment: 14 pages

One of the main tasks for autonomous robot swarms is to collectively decide on the best available option. Achieving that requires a high quality communication between the agents that may not be always available in a real world environment. In this paper we introduce the communication-constrained collective decision-making problem where some areas of the environment limit the agents' ability to communicate, either by reducing success rate or blocking the communication channels. We propose a decentralised algorithm for mapping environmental features for robot swarms as well as improving collective decision making in communication-limited environments without prior knowledge of the communication landscape. Our results show that making a collective aware of the communication environment can improve the speed of convergence in the presence of communication limitations, at least 3 times faster, without sacrificing accuracy., Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, accepted to the 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2022)

Quantum teleportation is a very helpful information-theoretic protocol that allows to transfer an unknown arbitrary quantum state from one location to another without having to transmit the quantum system through the intermediate region. Quantum states, quantum channels, and indefinite causal structures are all examples of quantum causal structures that not only enable advanced quantum information processing functions, but can also model causal structures in nonclassical spacetimes. In this letter, we develop quantum teleportation of arbitrary quantum causal structures, as formalized by the process matrix framework. Instead of teleporting all the physical degrees of freedom that implement the causal structure, the central idea is to just teleport the inputs to and outputs from the operations of agents. The communication of outcomes of Bell state measurements, which is necessary for deterministic quantum teleportation, is not possible for all causal structures that one might wish to investigate. To avoid this problem, we propose partially and fully post-selected teleportation protocols. We prove that our partially post-selected teleportation protocol is compatible with all quantum causal structures, including those that involve indefinite causal order., Comment: 5+7 pages, 28 references, 7 figures

Transonic buffet refers to the self-sustained periodic motion of shock waves observed in transonic flows over wings and limits the flight envelope of aircraft. Based on the boundary layer characteristics at the shock foot, buffet has been classified as laminar or turbulent and the mechanisms underlying the two have been proposed to be different (Dandois et al., 2018, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 18, pp. 156-178). The effect of various flow parameters (freestream Mach and Reynolds numbers and sweep and incidence angles) on laminar transonic buffet on an infinite wing (Dassault Aviation's supercritical V2C aerofoil) is reported here by performing Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) for a wide range of parameters. A spectral proper orthogonal decomposition identified the presence of a low-frequency mode associated with buffet and high-frequency wake modes related to vortex shedding. A flow reconstruction based only on the former shows periodic boundary-layer separation and reattachment accompanying shock wave motion. A modal reconstruction based only on the wake mode suggests that the separation bubble breathing phenomenon reported by Dandois et al. is due to this mode. Together, these results indicate that the physical mechanisms governing laminar and turbulent buffet are the same. Buffet was also simulated at zero incidence. Shock waves appear on both aerofoil surfaces and oscillate out of phase with each other indicating the occurrence of a Type I buffet (Giannelis et al., 2018, Aerosp. Sci. Technol., vol. 18, pp. 89-101) on a supercritical aerofoil. These results suggest that the mechanisms underlying different buffet types are the same., Comment: 40 pages, 31 figures, submitted to Journal of Fluid Mechanics

We investigate the prediction of the turbulent flow around a canonical square cylinder at Re= 22000 solving the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations. The limitations of URANS modelling are overcome through the application of a data assimilation technique involving a feedback control term, allowing to drive the URANS predictions towards reference data. Using regularly-spaced temporally-resolved reference data that are extracted from DNS, we assess the abilities of the data assimilation methodology in improving the unsteady URANS predictions. While improving the low-frequency oscillations of the wake flow, we also demonstrate the ability to recover the high-frequency dynamics of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. The influence of spatial resolution of reference data is systematically investigated. The data resolution which is required to improve the prediction of flow structures of interest is related to their wavelength. Using a spacing of the order of one cylinder length between data points, we already observe synchronisation of the low-frequency vortex shedding that leads to a significant decrease in temporal and spectral errors as computed by spectral proper orthogonal decomposition. Furthermore,improved accuracy in terms of mean flow prediction of URANS is achieved. Using spacing of the order of the wavelength of the Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices, we even recover those shear layer structures which are absent in the baseline simulation.

Robot swarms to date are not prepared for autonomous navigation such as path planning and obstacle detection in forest floor, unable to achieve low-cost. The development of depth sensing and embedded computing hardware paves the way for swarm of terrestrial robots. The goal of this research is to improve this situation by developing low cost vision system for small ground robots to rapidly perceive terrain. We develop two depth estimation models and evaluate their performance on Raspberry Pi 4 and Jetson Nano in terms of accuracy, runtime and model size of depth estimation models, as well as memory consumption, power draw, temperature, and cost of above two embedded on-board computers. Our research demonstrated that auto-encoder network deployed on Raspberry Pi 4 runs at a power consumption of 3.4 W, memory consumption of about 200 MB, and mean runtime of 13 ms. This can be to meet our requirement for low-cost swarm of robots. Moreover, our analysis also indicated multi-scale deep network performs better for predicting depth map from blurred RGB images caused by camera motion. This paper mainly describes depth estimation models trained on our own dataset recorded in forest, and their performance on embedded on-board computers., Comment: the depth estimation models cannot perform well in a forest