Area Of Cyber-physical Systems Research Articles

A Model-Based Adaptive Control of Turning Maneuver for Catamaran Autonomous Surface Vessel

The effective computer control of airborne, waterborne, and ground autonomous vehicles has become one of the highest priorities in the area of cyber-physical systems, Industry 4.0 in particular, and the world economy in general. Despite extensive research on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the study of Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASVs) has been more than ten times less intense. As an attempt to fill a gap in that field, this article discusses the control mathematics of a realistic ASV nonlinear model of a real autonomous electric catamaran “Nymo”, which was designed at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). More technically, the article offers a novel adaptive control system that is based on knowledge of the main parameters of ASV and is specially designed for a Simulink/MATLAB environment. The article also enables adjusting variables like transition time and heading angle overshoot value. The control of the desired tracking is represented in such a maneuver as turning the catamaran at different angles. The designed control system has shown good quality in terms of accuracy in tracking the desired heading angles.

Networked opacity for finite state machine with bounded communication delays

Networked finite state machines consider the delay factor in real-time communication networks, and the security has become an important research topic in cyber-physical systems (CPSs). In this brief paper, we explore the networked opacity of finite state machine with bounded communication delays. Firstly, the networked opacity is proposed from the perspective of security state reachability, and by use of the Boolean matrix semi-tensor product (STP), we introduce the reachability matrix with respect to all feasible events to give the current dynamics with bounded communication delays. Subsequently, based on the algebraic equation, we continue to discuss the corresponding current estimate of possible reachable states, which can be calculated by a matrix approach. Then, a more simple and effective verification criterion of networked opacity is derived by some matrix manipulations. Finally, a typical example is provided to validate the impact of communication delay on the opacity of CPSs, and our results contribute to deeply understanding the information security in the area of CPSs.

Application of a model for detecting cyberattacks on cyber-physical systems of critical infrastructure nuclear facilities

In this part of the article, the application of the approach to the classification proposed in the first part is presented. As a result of the application of the proposed classification using the generalized model, it is supposed to determine the attack vector within the framework of the proposed model and draw conclusions on the main areas of cyber-physical systems that are vulnerable to attacks by malefactors.

Development of control systems kit for study of PID controller in the framework of cyber-physical systems

Control systems kit for studying the PID principles was developed using affordable microcontroller Arduino UNO and ARM Mini PC Raspberry Pi 3 Model B as well as GK802V5LE. PID algorithm in JavaScript/ECMAScript is provided. The concept of the Cyber-physical System is addressed and the possibility to extend the classical control system paradigm. A detailed description of the system structure is provided as well as the layout of the user interface, which enables us to monitor the key parameters of the PID control algorithm in real-time. Nodejs was used on the server-side as well as WebSockets for the communication between client and server. The proposed platform is suitable for rapid prototyping in the area of Cyber-physical Systems and the Internet of Things.

Semantic Data Management for a Virtual Factory Collaborative Environment

Recent developments in the area of cyber-physical systems (CPSs) and Internet of Things (IoT) are among the drivers for the emergence of the Industry 4.0 concept, setting new requirements for the architecture, technology, and design approaches of modern industrial systems. Industry 4.0 assumes a higher level of intelligence, and thus autonomy of the systems and subsystems, and a larger focus on the analysis of gathered data for further utilization. The Virtual Factory Open Operating System (vf-OS) project is intended to respond to some of these key challenges, in particular for the smart factory application domain. Complementarily, data and knowledge storage and processing are also in the scope of vf-OS. This article introduces the semantic management component of vf-OS, which aims to analyze the interrelations among stored entities, as well as to define the closeness among them to generate meaningful suggestions, which can be later used by other subsystems or operators in a user-friendly way. The semantic managing system makes use of non relational approaches, namely a graph database, which enables data to be represented as graphs for further semantic querying. The developed prototype and an illustrative application case are also presented.

CPS-Agent Oriented Construction and Implementation For Cyber Physical Systems

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) have attracted many researchers in areas as diverse as aerospace, manufacturing, transportation, and so on. However, modeling methodologies and tools for autonomous objects in CPS are still lacking. In this paper, the CPS-Agent is proposed to model objects with consideration of temporal-spatial traits and interaction with physical environment. It is formulated by a five-tuple. Furthermore, considering that no universal methodology of coordination strategy formulation could be used to guide researchers, we present a role-based strategy formulation to make work patterns of CPS-Agents more clear. In terms of network communication among CPS-Agents , a set of communicative primitives is tailored based on the FIPA-ACL specification. Afterward, to guide engineers in designing systems according to their application requirements in the area of CPS, we design templates and a novel visual support tool for generating C++ files automatically corresponding to customized CPS-Agents, coordination strategies, and coordination groups. Finally, the complete development process based on our methodologies and tool is illustrated by an instance of a car team.

Evaluating the impact of proactivity in the user experience of a context-aware restaurant recommender for Android smartphones

Proactivity has recently gained much attention in the area of cyber physical systems as sensing the users’ real world environment is needed to achieve it. Proactive recommenders are a good example because they push recommendations to the user when the current situation seems appropriate, without explicit user request. Evaluating whether users would accept proactive recommendations, how to properly notify them and how to present recommended items are important research questions. In this article, we present the scenario related to a context-aware restaurant recommender for Android smartphones. Two options to achieve proactivity have been designed: a widget- and a notification-based solution. In addition, our mobile user interface includes a visualization of recommended items and allows for user feedback. The approach was evaluated in a survey among users with good results regarding usefulness and effectiveness. The results also showed that test users preferred the widget-based solution in terms of user experience.