John Fitzgerald

Cyber-Physical Systems

Personal page

Research Interests

  • Algorithms

  • Embedded Systems

  • Fault-Tolerant Systems

  • Formal Methods

  • Robotics

  • Sustainability

  • Trust

  • Urban Informatics

  • Urban Systems

  • Modelling, Simulation, Verification

I work on tools for designing cyber-physical systems in which software interacts with the physical environment by sensing its current state and setting physical devices. Examples include a car's cruise control, autonomous robots, manufacturing plant, etc. We have developed tools that allow engineers to build models of both the software and the physics, and then run these models on their separate simulators, combining the results to get a visualisation of the new product or system before it has been built. In one of my projects you will learn and use novel tools to develop and evaluate at least one model of a CPS. You will work as a member of the Cyber-Physical Lab, based on the ground floor of the Urban Sciences Building. Good co-models will be published as part of the lab's outputs as technical reports and scientific papers. You'll have an opportunity to discuss your work with our industry collaborators such as Siemens.

Examples of recent and potential future projects include: developing a "digital twin" of a manufacturing plant; optimal search strategies for drone-assisted search and rescue; design of a control software for a partially autonomous planetary rover; simulating the fuel management system of an aircraft; machine-assisted optimisation of the design of an experimental line-following robot; modelling and simulating an automated in-car system such as a cruise control, engine management or even automated windows!

Similar projects are supervised by Dr Ken Pierce.

Technologies & Programming Languages

I am comfortable supervising projects that make use of the following technologies and programming languages.

  • SySML, VDM, 20-sim

Contact

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