Swarm Robotic Systems with Minimal Information Processing

This thesis is concerned with the design and analysis of behaviors in swarm robotic systems using minimal information acquisition and processing. The motivation for this work is to contribute in paving the way for the implementation of swarm robotic systems at physically small scales, which will open up new application domains for their operation. At these scales, the space and energy available for the integration of sensors and computational hardware within the individual robots is at a premium. As a result, trade-offs in performance can be justified if a task can be achieved in a more parsimonious way. A framework is developed whereby meaningful collective behaviors in swarms of robots can be shown to emerge without the robots, in principle, possessing any run-time memory or performing any arithmetic computations. This is achieved by the robots having only discrete-valued sensors, and purely reactive controllers. Black-box search methods are used to automatically synthesize these controllers for desired collective behaviors. This framework is successfully applied to two canonical tasks in swarm robotics: self-organized aggregation of robots, and self-organized clustering of objects by robots. In the case of aggregation, the robots are equipped with one binary sensor, which informs them whether or not there is another robot in their line of sight. This makes the structure of the robots’ controller simple enough that its entire space can be systematically searched to locate the optimal controller (within a finite resolution). In the case of object clustering, the robots’ sensor is extended to have three states, distinguishing between robots, objects, and the background. This still requires no run-time memory or arithmetic computations on the part of the robots. It is statistically shown that the extension of the sensor to have three states leads to a better performance as compared to the cases where the sensor is binary, and cannot distinguish between robots and objects, or robots and the background

State of the art of cyber-physical systems security: An automatic control perspective

Cyber-physical systems are integrations of computation, networking, and physical processes. Due to the tight cyber-physical coupling and to the potentially disrupting consequences of failures, security here is one of the primary concerns. Our systematic mapping study sheds light on how security is actually addressed when dealing with cyber-physical systems from an automatic control perspective. The provided map of 138 selected studies is defined empirically and is based on, for instance, application fields, various system components, related algorithms and models, attacks characteristics and defense strategies. It presents a powerful comparison framework for existing and future research on this hot topic, important for both industry and academia

Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Live Coding

Open Access peer reviewed papers on live coding published at the 1st International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC) in Leeds

Using MapReduce Streaming for Distributed Life Simulation on the Cloud

Distributed software simulations are indispensable in the study of large-scale life models but often require the use of technically complex lower-level distributed computing frameworks, such as MPI. We propose to overcome the complexity challenge by applying the emerging MapReduce (MR) model to distributed life simulations and by running such simulations on the cloud. Technically, we design optimized MR streaming algorithms for discrete and continuous versions of Conway’s life according to a general MR streaming pattern. We chose life because it is simple enough as a testbed for MR’s applicability to a-life simulations and general enough to make our results applicable to various lattice-based a-life models. We implement and empirically evaluate our algorithms’ performance on Amazon’s Elastic MR cloud. Our experiments demonstrate that a single MR optimization technique called strip partitioning can reduce the execution time of continuous life simulations by 64%. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to propose and evaluate MR streaming algorithms for lattice-based simulations. Our algorithms can serve as prototypes in the development of novel MR simulation algorithms for large-scale lattice-based a-life models.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/scs_books/1014/thumbnail.jp

Proceedings of the 5th MIT/ONR Workshop on C[3] Systems, held at Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, August 23 to 27, 1982

"December 1982."Includes bibliographies and index.Office of Naval Research Contract no. ONR/N00014-77-C-0532 NR041-519edited by Michael Athans ... [et al.]

Fourth Annual Workshop on Space Operations Applications and Research (SOAR 90)

The proceedings of the SOAR workshop are presented. The technical areas included are as follows: Automation and Robotics; Environmental Interactions; Human Factors; Intelligent Systems; and Life Sciences. NASA and Air Force programmatic overviews and panel sessions were also held in each technical area

Modélisation conjointe de la sûreté et de la sécurité pour l’évaluation des risques dans les systèmes cyber-physiques

Cyber physical systems (CPS) denote systems that embed programmable components in order to control a physical process or infrastructure. CPS are henceforth widely used in different industries like energy, aeronautics, automotive, medical or chemical industry. Among the variety of existing CPS stand SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems that offer the necessary means to control and supervise critical infrastructures. Their failure or malfunction can engender adverse consequences on the system and its environment.SCADA systems used to be isolated and based on simple components and proprietary standards. They are nowadays increasingly integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) in order to facilitate supervision and control of the industrial process and to reduce exploitation costs. This trend induces more complexity in SCADA systems and exposes them to cyber-attacks that exploit vulnerabilities already existent in the ICT components. Such attacks can reach some critical components within the system and alter its functioning causing safety harms.We associate throughout this dissertation safety with accidental risks originating from the system and security with malicious risks with a focus on cyber-attacks. In this context of industrial systems supervised by new SCADA systems, safety and security requirements and risks converge and can have mutual interactions. A joint risk analysis covering both safety and security aspects would be necessary to identify these interactions and optimize the risk management.In this thesis, we give first a comprehensive survey of existing approaches considering both safety and security issues for industrial systems, and highlight their shortcomings according to the four following criteria that we believe essential for a good model-based approach: formal, automatic, qualitative and quantitative and robust (i.e. easily integrates changes on system into the model).Next, we propose a new model-based approach for a safety and security joint risk analysis: S-cube (SCADA Safety and Security modeling), that satisfies all the above criteria. The S-cube approach enables to formally model CPS and yields the associated qualitative and quantitative risk analysis. Thanks to graphical modeling, S-cube enables to input the system architecture and to easily consider different hypothesis about it. It enables next to automatically generate safety and security risk scenarios likely to happen on this architecture and that lead to a given undesirable event, with an estimation of their probabilities.The S-cube approach is based on a knowledge base that describes the typical components of industrial architectures encompassing information, process control and instrumentation levels. This knowledge base has been built upon a taxonomy of attacks and failure modes and a hierarchical top-down reasoning mechanism. It has been implemented using the Figaro modeling language and the associated tools. In order to build the model of a system, the user only has to describe graphically the physical and functional (in terms of software and data flows) architectures of the system. The association of the knowledge base and the system architecture produces a dynamic state based model: a Continuous Time Markov Chain. Because of the combinatorial explosion of the states, this CTMC cannot be exhaustively built, but it can be explored in two ways: by a search of sequences leading to an undesirable event, or by Monte Carlo simulation. This yields both qualitative and quantitative results.We finally illustrate the S-cube approach on a realistic case study: a pumped storage hydroelectric plant, in order to show its ability to yield a holistic analysis encompassing safety and security risks on such a system. We investigate the results obtained in order to identify potential safety and security interactions and give recommendations.Les Systèmes Cyber Physiques (CPS) intègrent des composants programmables afin de contrôler un processus physique. Ils sont désormais largement répandus dans différentes industries comme l’énergie, l’aéronautique, l’automobile ou l’industrie chimique. Parmi les différents CPS existants, les systèmes SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) permettent le contrôle et la supervision des installations industrielles critiques. Leur dysfonctionnement peut engendrer des impacts néfastes sur l’installation et son environnement.Les systèmes SCADA ont d’abord été isolés et basés sur des composants et standards propriétaires. Afin de faciliter la supervision du processus industriel et réduire les coûts, ils intègrent de plus en plus les technologies de communication et de l’information (TIC). Ceci les rend plus complexes et les expose à des cyber-attaques qui exploitent les vulnérabilités existantes des TIC. Ces attaques peuvent modifier le fonctionnement du système et nuire à sa sûreté.On associe dans la suite la sûreté aux risques de nature accidentelle provenant du système, et la sécurité aux risques d’origine malveillante et en particulier les cyber-attaques. Dans ce contexte où les infrastructures industrielles sont contrôlées par les nouveaux systèmes SCADA, les risques et les exigences liés à la sûreté et à la sécurité convergent et peuvent avoir des interactions mutuelles. Une analyse de risque qui couvre à la fois la sûreté et la sécurité est indispensable pour l’identification de ces interactions ce qui conditionne l’optimalité de la gestion de risque.Dans cette thèse, on donne d’abord un état de l’art complet des approches qui traitent la sûreté et la sécurité des systèmes industriels et on souligne leur carences par rapport aux quatre critères suivants qu’on juge nécessaires pour une bonne approche basée sur les modèles : formelle, automatique, qualitative et quantitative, et robuste (i.e. intègre facilement dans le modèle des variations d’hypothèses sur le système).On propose ensuite une nouvelle approche orientée modèle d’analyse conjointe de la sûreté et de la sécurité : S-cube (SCADA Safety and Security modeling), qui satisfait les critères ci-dessus. Elle permet une modélisation formelle des CPS et génère l’analyse de risque qualitative et quantitative associée. Grâce à une modélisation graphique de l’architecture du système, S-cube permet de prendre en compte différentes hypothèses et de générer automatiquement les scenarios de risque liés à la sûreté et à la sécurité qui amènent à un évènement indésirable donné, avec une estimation de leurs probabilités.L’approche S-cube est basée sur une base de connaissance (BDC) qui décrit les composants typiques des architectures industrielles incluant les systèmes d’information, le contrôle et la supervision, et l’instrumentation. Cette BDC a été conçue sur la base d’une taxonomie d’attaques et modes de défaillances et un mécanisme de raisonnement hiérarchique. Elle a été mise en œuvre à l’aide du langage de modélisation Figaro et ses outils associés. Afin de construire le modèle du système, l’utilisateur saisit graphiquement l’architecture physique et fonctionnelle (logiciels et flux de données) du système. L’association entre la BDC et ce modèle produit un modèle d’états dynamiques : une chaîne de Markov à temps continu. Pour limiter l’explosion combinatoire, cette chaîne n’est pas construite mais peut être explorée de deux façons : recherche de séquences amenant à un évènement indésirable ou simulation de Monte Carlo, ce qui génère des résultats qualitatifs et quantitatifs.On illustre enfin l’approche S-cube sur un cas d’étude réaliste : un système de stockage d’énergie par pompage, et on montre sa capacité à générer une analyse holistique couvrant les risques liés à la sûreté et à la sécurité. Les résultats sont ensuite analysés afin d’identifier les interactions potentielles entre sûreté et sécurité et de donner des recommandations

Underwater Vehicles

For the latest twenty to thirty years, a significant number of AUVs has been created for the solving of wide spectrum of scientific and applied tasks of ocean development and research. For the short time period the AUVs have shown the efficiency at performance of complex search and inspection works and opened a number of new important applications. Initially the information about AUVs had mainly review-advertising character but now more attention is paid to practical achievements, problems and systems technologies. AUVs are losing their prototype status and have become a fully operational, reliable and effective tool and modern multi-purpose AUVs represent the new class of underwater robotic objects with inherent tasks and practical applications, particular features of technology, systems structure and functional properties

Intelligent Circuits and Systems

ICICS-2020 is the third conference initiated by the School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Lovely Professional University that explored recent innovations of researchers working for the development of smart and green technologies in the fields of Energy, Electronics, Communications, Computers, and Control. ICICS provides innovators to identify new opportunities for the social and economic benefits of society.　 This conference bridges the gap between academics and R&D institutions, social visionaries, and experts from all strata of society to present their ongoing research activities and foster research relations between them. It provides opportunities for the exchange of new ideas, applications, and experiences in the field of smart technologies and finding global partners for future collaboration. The ICICS-2020 was conducted in two broad categories, Intelligent Circuits & Intelligent Systems and Emerging Technologies in Electrical Engineering