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.

Multicore platforms have the potential of revolutionizing the capabilities of embedded cyber-physical systems. Unfortunately, when such systems have safety-critical components, multicore platforms are rarely used. The reason is a lack of predictability associated with hardware components such as caches, memory controllers, etc., that are shared among cores. With current technology, very conservative estimates concerning the usage of these shared resources must be made, to certify that overuse violations do not occur at runtime. The resulting over-provisioning can be significant, easily negating the processing power of any additional cores. The goal of this project is to resolve this multicore "predictability problem" by developing allocation mechanisms that enable shared hardware resources to be controlled in a predictable way. The research agenda in this project includes fundamental research on relevant real-time resource allocation problems, prototyping efforts involving real-time operating systems and middleware, and experimental evaluations of improvements enabled by the developed mechanisms in timing analysis tools (which are used to determine task execution-time budgets). Addressing the "predictability problem" associated with multicore platforms would be a breakthrough result for safety-critical, cyber-physical systems in domains such as avionics and automobiles. When using multicore platforms to host highly-critical workloads in these domains, the current state of the art is to obviate the predictability problem by turning off all but one core. Unless a more intelligent solution can be found, such domains will not benefit from savings in size, weight, and power (SWaP) and gains in functionality that multicore platforms afford. Broader impacts include joint research with industry colleagues on supporting real-time workloads in unmanned air vehicles, the development of publicly-available open-source software that can be used by other institutions for research and teaching purposes, and the development of a new course on cyber-physical systems.

This research aims at hybrid (discrete-continuous) computation for cyber-physical systems. The research augments the today-ubiquitous discrete (digital) model of computation with continuous (analog) computing, which is well-suited to the continuous natural variables involved in cyber-physical systems, and to the error-tolerant nature of computation in such systems. The result is a computing platform on a single silicon chip, with higher energy efficiency, higher speed, and better numerical convergence than is possible with purely discrete computation. The research has several thrusts: (1) Hardware: modern silicon chip technology is used to merge analog computing hardware on the same chip with digital hardware, the latter used for control and co-computation, (2) Architecture: methods are devised for making hybrid computing functionality accessible to the software, (3) Microarchitecture: Choices are made on the granularity, type and organization of analog and hybrid analog-digital functional units, and (4) Concrete application to a realistic cyber-physical system consisting of a team of robots. The research extends modern computer architecture techniques, and advances in mixed analog/digital chip technology mainly developed in the context of communications, to hybrid computing for cyber-physical systems. It brings higher levels of energy efficiency to error-tolerant workloads that future computers will have to handle. The techniques developed can be extended to other systems in which efficient computation is a must, such as weather forecasting and high-energy physics. The work integrates research with education and includes plans for broad dissemination of the results obtained.

This research aims at hybrid (discrete-continuous) computation for cyber-physical systems. The research augments the today-ubiquitous discrete (digital) model of computation with continuous (analog) computing, which is well-suited to the continuous natural variables involved in cyber-physical systems, and to the error-tolerant nature of computation in such systems. The result is a computing platform on a single silicon chip, with higher energy efficiency, higher speed, and better numerical convergence than is possible with purely discrete computation. The research has several thrusts: (1) Hardware: modern silicon chip technology is used to merge analog computing hardware on the same chip with digital hardware, the latter used for control and co-computation, (2) Architecture: methods are devised for making hybrid computing functionality accessible to the software, (3) Microarchitecture: Choices are made on the granularity, type and organization of analog and hybrid analog-digital functional units, and (4) Concrete application to a realistic cyber-physical system consisting of a team of robots. The research extends modern computer architecture techniques, and advances in mixed analog/digital chip technology mainly developed in the context of communications, to hybrid computing for cyber-physical systems. It brings higher levels of energy efficiency to error-tolerant workloads that future computers will have to handle. The techniques developed can be extended to other systems in which efficient computation is a must, such as weather forecasting and high-energy physics. The work integrates research with education and includes plans for broad dissemination of the results obtained.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.