Dr Nicholas Townsend MEng, EngD

Lecturer

Dr Nicholas Townsend is a Lecturer within Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton.

Education and Awards

The University of Birmingham, Mechanical Engineering, MEng (Universitas 21 student exchange with the University of Melbourne, IMechE best Project certificate)
The University of Southampton, Engineering Doctorate, EngD (Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI))
Lloyd’s Register Foundation Research Fellow, The University of Southampton (The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) Calder Prize, The Royal Academy of Engineering ERA Foundation Entrepreneurs Award (Runner Up))

Research

Responsibilities

Publications

Teaching

Contact

Research interests

Nick’s research focuses on the dynamics and control of:

Maritime Robotic Systems
Renewable Energy Scavenging Systems
Gyroscopic Systems
High speed marine craft and ship stabilisation

Research Projects

Self-powered Autonomous Surface and Underwater Vehicles for Persistent Observation

Wave energy scavenging for autonomous marine system

Autonomy and liability for unmanned ships

Energy Harvesting Using Ship Motion

The motion and security of moored floating bodies, including their potential for energy extraction.

Renewable and hybrid energy systems for marine vehicles

Artificial intelligence for control of swarming energy scavengers

ASV FLEUR

AUV Willie

Research group

Fluid Structure Interactions

Various Outreach projects Including Sutton trust and Headtstart residential courses, Arkwright Scholarships Trust and engineering taster days and founded the

TEAtime lecture series

World Robotic Sailing Championships WRSC2018 and IRSC2018

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Articles

Bossens, D., Townsend, N., & Sobey, A. (2019). Learning to learn with active adaptive perception. Neural Networks, 115, 30-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2019.03.006
Townsend, N., Downes, J., Thornton, B., & Turnock, S. (2018). Scaling capabilities in maritime robotics. Shipping Network, (55), 16-17. DOI: https://www.ics.org.uk/media/499079/ics%20sn%20418%20low%20res%20dec%20final.pdf
Hollyhead, C. J., Townsend, N. C., & Blake, J. I. R. (2017). Experimental investigations into the current-induced motion of a lifeboat at a single point mooring. Ocean Engineering, 146, 192-201. DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2017.09.045
Kandasamy, R., Cui, F., Townsend, N., Chiang Foo, C., Guo, J., Shenoi, A., & Xiong, Y. (2016). A review of vibration control methods for marine offshore structures. Ocean Engineering, 127, 279-297. DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2016.10.001
Liang, X., Wan, L., Blake, J., Shenoi, A., & Townsend, N. (2016). Path following of an underactuated AUV based on fuzzy backstepping sliding mode control. International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, 13(3), 1-11. DOI: 10.5772/64065
Townsend, N. (2016). Self powered Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs): Results from a gyroscopic energy scavenging prototype. IET Renewable Power Generation, 1-12. DOI: 10.1049/iet-rpg.2015.0210
Townsend, N., & Shenoi, R. A. (Accepted/In press). Feasibility study of a new energy scavenging system for an autonomous underwater vehicle. Autonomous Robots, 1-13. DOI: 10.1007/s10514-015-9506-4
Townsend, N., & Shenoi, R. A. (2013). Control strategies for marine gyrostabilizers. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 1-13. DOI: 10.1109/JOE.2013.2254591
Townsend, N., & Shenoi, A. (2012). A gyroscopic wave energy recovery system for marine vessels. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 37(2), 271-280. DOI: 10.1109/JOE.2012.2185880

Conferences

Austin, A., Chieff, A., Depardieu, J., Gratton, M., Holdaway, T., Lee, W. T., ... Furth, M. (Accepted/In press). Novel concepts for offshore ocean farming. Paper presented at SNAME Maritime Convention 2019, Tacoma, United States.
Townsend, N., Blake, J., Alcantara, A., Niedermaier, J., Winn, R., Jones, N., ... Ganoulis, E. (Accepted/In press). Peruagus - a transatlantic autonomous surface vessel for the Microtransat Challenge. Paper presented at International Robotic Sailing Conference IRSC2018, Southampton, United Kingdom.
Cao, Y., Townsend, N., & Tan, M. (2017). Hybrid renewable energy system for ocean going platforms. Paper presented at OCEANS'17 MTS/IEEE, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Bowker, J., Townsend, N., Tan, M-Y., & Shenoi, A. (2016). Experimental analysis of submerged flapping foils; implications for autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs). In OCEANS 2016 MTS/IEEE Monterey IEEE. DOI: 10.1109/OCEANS.2016.7761324
Townsend, N. (2016). In situ results from a new energy scavenging system for an autonomous underwater vehicle. Paper presented at OCEANS'16, United States.
Bowker, J. A., Townsend, N., Tan, M., & Shenoi, A. (2015). Experimental study of a wave energy scavenging system onboard autonomous surface vessels (ASVs). Paper presented at OCEANS’15 MTS/IEEE Genova, Italy.

Module Code	Module Name	Role
SESS6072	Maritime Robotics	Module Lead
SESS3025	Marine Engineering	Module Lead
SESS3022	Shop Ship Manoeuvring and Control
SESS6065	Fundamentals of Ship Science

Dr Nicholas Townsend
Engineering, University of Southampton, Southampton Boldrewood Innovation Campus, Burgess Road, Southampton, SO16 7QF

Room Number: 176/3005

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