Provably Safe Automotive Cyber-Physical Systems with Humans-in-the-Loop

Abstract:

This project focuses on the formal design of semi-autonomous automotive Cyber Physical Systems (CPS). Rather than disconnecting the driver from the vehicle, the goal is to obtain a vehicle where the degree of autonomy is continuously changed in real-time as a function of certified uncertainty ranges in driver behavior and environment reconstruction. The highly integrated research plan will advance the science and engineering for CPS by developing methods for (1) reconstructing 3D scenes which incorporate high-level topological and low-level metric information, (2) extracting driver behavioral models from large datasets using geometry, reasoning and inferences, (3) designing provably-safe control schemes which trade-off real-time feasibility and conservatism by using the evidence collected during actual driving. Assisting humans in controlling complex and safety-critical systems is a global challenge. In order to improve the safety of human-operated CPS we need to provide guarantees in the reconstruction of the environment where the humans and the CPS operate, and to develop control systems which use predictive cognitive models of the human when interacting with the CPS. A successful and integrated research in both areas will impact not only the automotive sector but many other human-operated systems. These include tele-surgery, homeland security, assisted rehabilitations, power networks, environmental monitoring, and any transportation CPS. Graduate, undergraduate and underrepresented engineering students will benefit through classroom instruction, involvement in the research and a continuous interaction with industrial partners which are leaders in the field of assisted driving.