CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: Boolean Microgrid
Lead PI:
Sudip Mazumder
Abstract
The Boolean Microgrid (BM) emulates the Internet by supplying discrete power and discrete data over a network link that follows Boolean logic and is not continuous as in a conventional 60-Hz-ac or dc microgrid. BM is thus a highly integrated cyber-physical system (CPS) that features the convergence of control, communication and the physical plant. BM?s realization poses the following research challenges that we plan to address: a) what is the most efficient, economic, power-dense, and reliable way of integrating the distributed energy sources and loads to the BM, and the BM to the utility grid, using power-electronic interfaces for seamless and on-demand distributed power delivery? b) what is the control-communication mechanism that optimizes BM nodal and network control performances under conditions of varying power generation and load demand and communication-network throughput and reliability? Our unique approaches to address these research challenges will encompass novel mechanisms based on high-frequency-link power conversion, dynamic-pricing based optimal network capacity and resource utilization, event-triggered sampling and communication, and optimal switching-sequence control. BM has the potential to influence next-generation systems including smart grid, vehicular microgrid, electric ships, military microgrid, electric aircraft, telecommunication systems, and residential, commercial, and critical-infrastructure (e.g., hospital) power systems. On the educational front, the proposed project will provide graduate- and post-graduate-level education to four researchers. Further, multiple undergraduate (including minority) students and middle-school students will be provided research/educational opportunities. The results of the research will be integrated into undergraduate and graduate courses at the collaborating universities including a dedicated course on CPS.
Sudip Mazumder

Sudip K. Mazumder is the Director of Laboratory for Energy and Switching-Electronics Systems and a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UIC. He has over 22 years of professional experience and has held R&D and design positions in leading industrial organizations and has served as Technical Consultant for several industries. Dr. Mazumder also serves as the President of NextWatt LLC, a small business organization that he setup in 2008. His current areas of interests are a) Interactive power-electronics/power networks, smart grid, and energy storage; b) Renewable and alternative energy based power electronics systems for distributed generation and microgrid; and c) Optically-triggered wide-bandgap power-electronics device and control technologies and SiC and GaN device based high-frequency, high-temperature, and high-voltage power electronics. Since joining UIC in 2001, Dr. Mazumder has been awarded about 40 sponsored projects by NSF, DOE, ONR, ARPA-E, CEC, EPA, AFRL, NASA, NAVSEA, and multiple leading industries in above-referenced areas. He has published over 150 refereed papers in prestigious journals and conferences and has published 1 book and 6 book chapters. About 50% of his journal papers are published in IEEE transactions with a current impact factor close to 5. Dr. Mazumder has presented 47 invited/plenary/keynote presentations and currently, he also holds 7 issued and 3 pending patents.

Dr. Mazumder received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Virginia Polytechnic and State University (VPI&SU - also known as Virginia Tech) in 2001. He received his M.S. degree from the Department of Electrical Power Engineering of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1993. He received his B.E. degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering of University of Delhi, India in 1989 with distinction.

Dr. Mazumder received in 2013, the prestigious University Scholar Award from the University of Illinois and in 2011, the Teaching Recognition Program (TRP) Award at UIC. In 2008 and 2006, he received the prestigious Faculty Research Award from UIC for outstanding research performance and excellent scholarly activities. He also received the ONR Young Investigator Award and NSF CAREER Awards in 2005 and 2003, respectively, and prestigious IEEE Prize Paper Awards in 2002, 2007, and 2013 respectively. He also received the best paper presentation in a session award certificate from IEEE Industrial Electronics Conference in 2004 and 2012. In 2005, he led a team of University of Illinois, Chicago student team to first place in USA and third place in the world as a part of the highly reputed IEEE sponsored International Future Energy Challenge competition.

Dr. Mazumder served as the first Editor-in-Chief for International Journal of Power Management Electronics (currently known as Advances in Power Electronics) between 2006 and 2009. Currently, he also serves as the Guest-Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Special Issue on High-Frequency-Link Power-Conversion Systems (2013-2014) and the lead Guest Editor for IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics Special Section on Control Strategies for Spatially Distributed Interactive Power Networks (2013-2014).

Currently, Dr. Mazumder also serves as an Associate Editor for EEE Transactions on Power Electronics (since 2009), IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (since 2003), and IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronics Systems (since 2008). He is also an Editorial Board Member for Advances in Power Electronics. Previously, he has also served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems and IEEE Power Electronics Letter. He has also served as the Guest Co-Editor for the following Transaction Special Issues: IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Special Issue on Power Electronics in DC Distribution Systems (2011-2013) and Advances in Power Electronics Special Issue on Advances in Power Electronics for Renewable Energy (2010-2011).

In 2010, Dr. Mazumder served as the Chair, Student/Industry Coordination Activities for IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, which is the largest conference in power electronics today in North America. He served as the Co-Chair for of IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) Technical Committee on Sustainable Energy Systems (SES) and currently serving as the Technical Awards Committee Chair for SES. Currently, he is also serving as the Vice Chair of IEEE PELS Subcommittee on Distributed Generation and Renewable Energy. He is also serving as the Advisory Committee Member for 2012 IEEE India International Conference on Power Electronics and has also served in the same capacity for 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems. He is serving/has served as Technical Program Committee Member for numerous IEEE sponsored and other reputed conferences including IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, IEEE Industrial Electronics Conference, IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems.

Dr. Mazumder has been invited on by the inaugural 2012 Clean Energy Trust Show Case, an event that will connect entrepreneurs, investors and researchers who can work together to commercialize the latest clean technology, to deliver his vision on Smart Grid. Between 2010 and 2011, he also served as an Advisory Council Member for Vice Chancellor for Research's Urban Resilience and Global Environment at UIC. In 2009 and 2010, he also served as the Expert Representative on Smart Grid for UIC at the Midwestern Great Lakes Alliance for Sustainable Energy Research (GLASER) initiative. In 2008, he was invited by DOE to participate along with several leading industries and selected academic professionals regarding High MW Power Converter for next generation power grid. In 2008, he was invited by NSF to participate in a unique workshop (comprising leading industries and research experts) leading to decision on nation's specific R&D focus on energy and energy distribution over the next ten and fifty years. Dr. Mazumder has also been invited to serve as the Working Group Committee Member for IEEE P1676, which focuses on Control Architecture for High Power Electronics (> 1 MW) used in Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Systems. In 2009, Dr. Mazumder was also part of the team that wrote the National Science Foundation and National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Report on Research Directions for Future Cyber-Physical Energy Systems. Dr. Mazumder has delivered over 43 invited/keynote/plenary lectures, presentations, and tutorials to leading conferences, national laboratories, universities, and industries and has served as a panel reviewer and reviewer for NSF, DOE, ARPA-E, CRDF, and AAAS.

Performance Period: 10/01/2012 - 09/30/2016
Institution: University of Illinois at Chicago
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239118
CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: Boolean Microgrid
Lead PI:
Panganamala Kumar
Abstract
The Boolean Microgrid (BM) emulates the Internet by supplying discrete power and discrete data over a network link that follows Boolean logic and is not continuous as in a conventional 60-Hz-ac or dc microgrid. BM is thus a highly integrated cyber-physical system (CPS) that features the convergence of control, communication and the physical plant. BMs realization poses the following research challenges that we plan to address: a) what is the most efficient, economic, power-dense, and reliable way of integrating the distributed energy sources and loads to the BM, and the BM to the utility grid, using power-electronic interfaces for seamless and on-demand distributed power delivery? b) what is the control-communication mechanism that optimizes BM nodal and network control performances under conditions of varying power generation and load demand and communication-network throughput and reliability? Our unique approaches to address these research challenges will encompass novel mechanisms based on high-frequency-link power conversion, dynamic-pricing based optimal network capacity and resource utilization, event-triggered sampling and communication, and optimal switching-sequence control. BM has the potential to influence next-generation systems including smart grid, vehicular microgrid, electric ships, military microgrid, electric aircraft, telecommunication systems, and residential, commercial, and critical-infrastructure (e.g., hospital) power systems. On the educational front, the proposed project will provide graduate- and post-graduate-level education to four researchers. Further, multiple undergraduate (including minority) students and middle-school students will be provided research/educational opportunities. The results of the research will be integrated into undergraduate and graduate courses at the collaborating universities including a dedicated course on CPS.
Performance Period: 10/01/2012 - 09/30/2016
Institution: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239116
CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: Multiple-Level Predictive Control of Mobile Cyber Physical Systems with Correlated Context
Lead PI:
Shan Lin
Abstract
Cyber physical systems (CPSs) are merging into major mobile systems of our society, such as public transportation, supply chains, and taxi networks. Past researchers have accumulated significant knowledge for designing cyber physical systems, such as for military surveillance, infrastructure protection, scientific exploration, and smart environments, but primarily in relatively stationary settings, i.e., where spatial and mobility diversity is limited. Differently, mobile CPSs interact with phenomena of interest at different locations and environments, and where the context information (e.g., network availability and connectivity) about these physical locations might not be available. This unique feature calls for new solutions to seamlessly integrate mobile computing with the physical world, including dynamic access to multiple wireless technologies. The required solutions are addressed by (i) creating a network control architecture based on novel predictive hierarchical control and that accounts for characteristics of wireless communication, (ii) developing formal network control models based on in-situ network system identification and cross-layer optimization, and (iii) designing and implementing a reference implementation on a small scale wireless and vehicular test-bed based on law enforcement vehicles. The results can improve all mobile transportation systems such as future taxi control and dispatch systems. In this application advantages are: (i) reducing time for drivers to find customers; (ii) reducing time for passengers to wait; (iii) avoiding and preventing traffic congestion; (iv) reducing gas consumption and operating cost; (v) improving driver and vehicle safety, and (vi) enforcing municipal regulation. Class modules developed on mobile computing and CPS will be used at the four participating Universities and then be made available via the Web.
Performance Period: 10/01/2012 - 06/30/2015
Institution: Temple University
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239108
CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: SMARTER - Smart Manager for Adaptive and Real-Time Decisions in Building ClustERs
Lead PI:
Kemper Lewis
Abstract
Traditionally, buildings have been viewed as mere energy consumers; however, with the new power grid infrastructure and distributed energy resources, buildings can not only consume energy, but they can also output energy. As a result, this project removes traditional boundaries between buildings in the same cluster or between the cluster and power grids, transforming individual smart buildings into NetZero building clusters enabled by cyber-support tools. In this research, a synergistic decision framework is established for temporally, spatially distributed building clusters to work as an adaptive and robust system within a smart grid. The framework includes innovative algorithms and tools for building energy modeling, intelligent data fusion, decentralized decisions and adaptive decisions to address theoretical and practical challenges in next-generation building systems. The research develops cyber-physical engineering tools for demand side load management which has been identified as a major challenge by energy industries. It fundamentally transforms the current centralized and uni-directional power distribution business model to a decentralized and multi-directional power sharing and distribution business model, reducing overall energy consumption and allowing for optimal decisions in changing operation environments. Education and outreach efforts include developing novel educational modules disseminated at the K-12 levels and through the ASEE eGFI repository. Further educational impact occurs through integration with multiple undergraduate and graduate courses at each institution, and with community service groups. Impact is also expanded to the broader energy industry and the operation of healthcare delivery and urban transportation systems through our industry collaborations. http://swag.engineering.asu.edu/ Traditionally, buildings have been viewed as mere energy consumers; however, with the new power grid infrastructure and distributed energy resources, buildings can not only consume energy, but they can also output energy. As a result, this project removes traditional boundaries between buildings in the same cluster or between the cluster and power grids, transforming individual smart buildings into NetZero building clusters enabled by cyber-support tools. In this research, a synergistic decision framework is established for temporally, spatially distributed building clusters to work as an adaptive and robust system within a smart grid. The framework includes innovative algorithms and tools for building energy modeling, intelligent data fusion, decentralized decisions and adaptive decisions to address theoretical and practical challenges in next-generation building systems. The research develops cyber-physical engineering tools for demand side load management which has been identified as a major challenge by energy industries. It fundamentally transforms the current centralized and uni-directional power distribution business model to a decentralized and multi-directional power sharing and distribution business model, reducing overall energy consumption and allowing for optimal decisions in changing operation environments. Education and outreach efforts include developing novel educational modules disseminated at the K-12 levels and through the ASEE eGFI repository. Further educational impact occurs through integration with multiple undergraduate and graduate courses at each institution, and with community service groups. Impact is also expanded to the broader energy industry and the operation of healthcare delivery and urban transportation systems through our industry collaborations. http://swag.engineering.asu.edu/ Traditionally, buildings have been viewed as mere energy consumers; however, with the new power grid infrastructure and distributed energy resources, buildings can not only consume energy, but they can also output energy. As a result, this project removes traditional boundaries between buildings in the same cluster or between the cluster and power grids, transforming individual smart buildings into NetZero building clusters enabled by cyber-support tools. In this research, a synergistic decision framework is established for temporally, spatially distributed building clusters to work as an adaptive and robust system within a smart grid. The framework includes innovative algorithms and tools for building energy modeling, intelligent data fusion, decentralized decisions and adaptive decisions to address theoretical and practical challenges in next-generation building systems. The research develops cyber-physical engineering tools for demand side load management which has been identified as a major challenge by energy industries. It fundamentally transforms the current centralized and uni-directional power distribution business model to a decentralized and multi-directional power sharing and distribution business model, reducing overall energy consumption and allowing for optimal decisions in changing operation environments. Education and outreach efforts include developing novel educational modules disseminated at the K-12 levels and through the ASEE eGFI repository. Further educational impact occurs through integration with multiple undergraduate and graduate courses at each institution, and with community service groups. Impact is also expanded to the broader energy industry and the operation of healthcare delivery and urban transportation systems through our industry collaborations.
Performance Period: 10/01/2012 - 03/31/2016
Institution: SUNY at Buffalo
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239093
CPS: Frontier: Collaborative Research: Correct-by-Design Control Software Synthesis for Highly Dynamic Systems
Lead PI:
Paulo Tabuada
Abstract
This CPS Frontiers project addresses highly dynamic Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs), understood as systems where a computing delay of a few milliseconds or an incorrectly computed response to a disturbance can lead to catastrophic consequences. Such is the case of cars losing traction when cornering at high speed, unmanned air vehicles performing critical maneuvers such as landing, or disaster and rescue response bipedal robots rushing through the rubble to collect information or save human lives. The preceding examples currently share a common element: the design of their control software is made possible by extensive experience, laborious testing and fine tuning of parameters, and yet, the resulting closed-loop system has no formal guarantees of meeting specifications. The vision of the project is to provide a methodology that allows for complex and dynamic CPSs to meet real-world requirements in an efficient and robust way through the formal synthesis of control software. The research is developing a formal framework for correct-by-construction control software synthesis for highly dynamic CPSs with broad applications to automotive safety systems, prostheses, exoskeletons, aerospace systems, manufacturing, and legged robotics. The design methodology developed here will improve the competitiveness of segments of industry that require a tight integration between hardware and highly advanced control software such as: automotive (dynamic stability and control), aerospace (UAVs), medical (prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton design) and robotics (legged locomotion). To enhance the impact of these efforts, the PIs are developing interdisciplinary teaching materials to be made freely available and disseminating their work to a broad audience.
Paulo Tabuada

Paulo Tabuada was born in Lisbon, Portugal, one year after the Carnation Revolution. He received his "Licenciatura" degree in Aerospace Engineering from Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal in 1998 and his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2002 from the Institute for Systems and Robotics, a private research institute associated with Instituto Superior Tecnico. Between January 2002 and July 2003 he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. After spending three years at the University of Notre Dame, as an Assistant Professor, he joined the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he established and directs the Cyber-Physical Systems Laboratory. Paulo Tabuada's contributions to cyber-physical systems have been recognized by multiple awards including the NSF CAREER award in 2005, the Donald P. Eckman award in 2009 and the George S. Axelby award in 2011. In 2009 he co-chaired the International Conference Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control (HSCC'09) and in he was program co-chair for the 3rd IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems (NecSys'12). He currently serves as associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control and his latest book, on verification and control of hybrid systems, was published by Springer in 2009.

Performance Period: 04/01/2013 - 03/31/2017
Institution: University of California at Los Angeles
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239085
Project URL
Project URL
CPS: Frontier: Collaborative Research: Correct-by-Design Control Software Synthesis for Highly Dynamic Systems
Lead PI:
Aaron Ames
Abstract
This CPS Frontiers project addresses highly dynamic Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs), understood as systems where a computing delay of a few milliseconds or an incorrectly computed response to a disturbance can lead to catastrophic consequences. Such is the case of cars losing traction when cornering at high speed, unmanned air vehicles performing critical maneuvers such as landing, or disaster and rescue response bipedal robots rushing through the rubble to collect information or save human lives. The preceding examples currently share a common element: the design of their control software is made possible by extensive experience, laborious testing and fine tuning of parameters, and yet, the resulting closed-loop system has no formal guarantees of meeting specifications. The vision of the project is to provide a methodology that allows for complex and dynamic CPSs to meet real-world requirements in an efficient and robust way through the formal synthesis of control software. The research is developing a formal framework for correct-by-construction control software synthesis for highly dynamic CPSs with broad applications to automotive safety systems, prostheses, exoskeletons, aerospace systems, manufacturing, and legged robotics. The design methodology developed here will improve the competitiveness of segments of industry that require a tight integration between hardware and highly advanced control software such as: automotive (dynamic stability and control), aerospace (UAVs), medical (prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton design) and robotics (legged locomotion). To enhance the impact of these efforts, the PIs are developing interdisciplinary teaching materials to be made freely available and disseminating their work to a broad audience. Continued on award #1562236: http://cps-vo.org/node/24060
Performance Period: 04/01/2013 - 10/31/2015
Institution: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239055
Project URL
Project URL
CPS: Frontiers: Collaborative Research: Foundations of Resilient CybEr-Physical Systems (FORCES)
Lead PI:
Saurabh Amin
Co-PI:
Hamsa Balakrishnan
Abstract
This CPS Frontiers project addresses highly dynamic Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs), understood as systems where a computing delay of a few milliseconds or an incorrectly computed response to a disturbance can lead to catastrophic consequences. Such is the case of cars losing traction when cornering at high speed, unmanned air vehicles performing critical maneuvers such as landing, or disaster and rescue response bipedal robots rushing through the rubble to collect information or save human lives. The preceding examples currently share a common element: the design of their control software is made possible by extensive experience, laborious testing and fine tuning of parameters, and yet, the resulting closed-loop system has no formal guarantees of meeting specifications. The vision of the project is to provide a methodology that allows for complex and dynamic CPSs to meet real-world requirements in an efficient and robust way through the formal synthesis of control software. The research is developing a formal framework for correct-by-construction control software synthesis for highly dynamic CPSs with broad applications to automotive safety systems, prostheses, exoskeletons, aerospace systems, manufacturing, and legged robotics. The design methodology developed here will improve the competitiveness of segments of industry that require a tight integration between hardware and highly advanced control software such as: automotive (dynamic stability and control), aerospace (UAVs), medical (prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton design) and robotics (legged locomotion). To enhance the impact of these efforts, the PIs are developing interdisciplinary teaching materials to be made freely available and disseminating their work to a broad audience.
Performance Period: 04/15/2013 - 03/31/2018
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239054
Project URL
Project URL
CPS: Frontier: Collaborative Research: Correct-by-Design Control Software Synthesis for Highly Dynamic Systems
Lead PI:
Jessy Grizzle
Abstract
This CPS Frontiers project addresses highly dynamic Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs), understood as systems where a computing delay of a few milliseconds or an incorrectly computed response to a disturbance can lead to catastrophic consequences. Such is the case of cars losing traction when cornering at high speed, unmanned air vehicles performing critical maneuvers such as landing, or disaster and rescue response bipedal robots rushing through the rubble to collect information or save human lives. The preceding examples currently share a common element: the design of their control software is made possible by extensive experience, laborious testing and fine tuning of parameters, and yet, the resulting closed-loop system has no formal guarantees of meeting specifications. The vision of the project is to provide a methodology that allows for complex and dynamic CPSs to meet real-world requirements in an efficient and robust way through the formal synthesis of control software. The research is developing a formal framework for correct-by-construction control software synthesis for highly dynamic CPSs with broad applications to automotive safety systems, prostheses, exoskeletons, aerospace systems, manufacturing, and legged robotics. The design methodology developed here will improve the competitiveness of segments of industry that require a tight integration between hardware and highly advanced control software such as: automotive (dynamic stability and control), aerospace (UAVs), medical (prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton design) and robotics (legged locomotion). To enhance the impact of these efforts, the PIs are developing interdisciplinary teaching materials to be made freely available and disseminating their work to a broad audience.
Performance Period: 04/01/2013 - 03/31/2018
Institution: University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239037
Project URL
Project URL
CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: SensEye: An Architecture for Ubiquitous, Real-Time Visual Context Sensing and Inference
Lead PI:
Dutta Prabal
Abstract
Continuous real-time tracking of the eye and field-of-view of an individual is profoundly important to understanding how humans perceive and interact with the physical world. This work advances both the technology and engineering of cyber-physical systems by designing an innovative paradigm involving next-generation computational eyeglasses that interact with a user's mobile phone to provide the capability for real-time visual context sensing and inference. This research integrates novel research into low-power embedded systems, image representation, image processing and machine learning, and mobile sensing and inference, to advance the state-of-art in continuous sensing for CPS applications. The activity addresses several fundamental research challenges including: 1) design of novel, highly integrated, computational eyeglasses for tracking eye movements, the visual field of a user, and head movement patterns, all in real-time; 2) a unified compressive signal processing framework that optimizes sensing and estimation, while enabling re-targeting of the device to perform a broad range of tasks depending on the needs of an application; 3) design of a novel real-time visual context sensing system that extracts high-level contexts of interest from compressed data representations; and 4) a layer of intelligence that combines contexts extracted from the computational eyeglass together with contexts obtained from the mobile phone to improve energy-efficiency and sensing accuracy. This technology can revolutionize a range of disciplines including transportation, healthcare, behavioral science and market research. Continuous monitoring of the eye and field-of-view of an individual can enable detection of hazardous behaviors such as drowsiness while driving, mental health issues such as schizophrenia, addictive behavior and substance abuse, neurological disease progression, head injuries, and others. The research provides the foundations for such applications through the design of a prototype platform together with real-time sensor processing algorithms, and making these systems available through open source venues for broader use. Outreach for this project includes demonstrations of the device at science fairs for high-school students, and integration of the platform into undergraduate and graduate courses.
Performance Period: 10/01/2012 - 09/30/2016
Institution: University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239031
CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: A Cyber-Physical Infrastructure for the "Smart City"
Lead PI:
Robert Gao
Abstract
The project aims at making cities "smarter" by engineering processes such as traffic control, efficient parking services, and new urban activities such as recharging electric vehicles. To that end, the research will study the components needed to establish a Cyber-Physical Infrastructure for urban environments and address fundamental problems that involve data collection, resource allocation, real-time decision making, safety, and security. Accordingly, the research is organized along two main directions: (i) Sensing and data acquisition using a new mobile sensor network paradigm designed for urban environments; and (ii) Decision Support for the "Smart City" relying on formal verification and certification methods coupled with innovative dynamic optimization techniques used for decision making and resource allocation. The work will bring together and build upon methodological advances in optimization under uncertainty, computer simulation, discrete event and hybrid systems, control and games, system security, and formal verification and safety. Target applications include: a "Smart Parking" system where parking spaces are optimally assigned and reserved, and vehicular traffic regulation. The research has the potential of revolutionizing the way cities are viewed: from a passive living and working environment to a highly dynamic one with new ways to deal with transportation, energy, and safety. Teaming up with stakeholders in the Boston Back Bay neighborhood, the City of Boston, and private industry, the research team expects to establish new collaborative models between universities and urban groups for cutting-edge research embedded in the deployment of an exciting technological, economic, and sociological development.
Performance Period: 10/01/2012 - 12/31/2015
Institution: University of Connecticut
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1239030
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