Professor Howard Chizeck has been awarded a $500K grant from the National Science Foundation for his project titled, “CPS: Breakthrough: Secure Telerobotics.” Co-PI on the project is professor Tadayoshi Kohno of Computer Science and Engineering, and together, they will develop tools to prevent security threats in telerobotics by monitoring and detecting malicious activities and correcting for them.
This project brings together research in robotics, computer and network security, control theory and machine learning, in order to gain better understanding of complex teleoperated robotic systems and to engineer telerobotic systems that provide strict safety, security and privacy guarantees. The results are relevant and applicable to a wide range of applications, including telerobotic surgery, search and rescue missions, military operations, underwater infrastructure and repair, cleanup and repair in hazardous environments, mining, as well as manipulation/inspections of objects in low earth orbit.
An example of a malicious attack on a mobile teleoperated surgical system; an adversary constantly jams all commands coming from the surgeon (control commands). As a result, the manipulator is unable to determine its next position,
and the remote surgical procedure is interrupted. Image courtesy of EE graduate student, Tamara Bonaci.