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GRASP Lab Seminar 2004-2005
October 22, 11:00 AM, Levine Hall 315.
Tariq Samad
Honeywell Labs
High-Confidence Control: Statistical Verification for Autonomous Vehicles.
Abstract: Although the scale of automation in vehicles, factories, and other complex engineering systems continues to increase, true autonomy remains a vision. I suggest that the challenge we face in developing practical autonomous systems requires not only high-performance algorithm development (the predominant focus of research effort today) but also the development of "high-confidence" technology. In particular, traditional approaches for verification and validation, with their emphasis on deterministic, worst-case guarantees, are intractable for complex control algorithms and their software implementations. We have been exploring a novel verification approach, based on insights from statistical learning theory, with promising results. Both computational and performance aspects of complex controllers have been addressed. Our approach is model-based and provides statistical, not deterministic, guarantees. Applications have been conducted on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms, including a new ducted-fan vehicle and an autonomous helicopter, in collaboration with Georgia Tech and Draper Labs. The research described is supported by the DARPA Software Enabled Control program and is joint work with V. Ha, P. Binns, M. Elgersma, and S. Ganguli.
Biography: Tariq Samad is a Corporate Fellow with Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions. He has been with various R&D organizations in Honeywell for 18 years, over which duration he has been involved in a number of projects that have explored applications of intelligent systems to domains such as autonomous aircraft, building and facility management, power system security, and process monitoring and control. He is the author or editor of about 100 publications including the recent edited volume Software-Enabled Control: Information Technology for Dynamical Systems (G. Balas, co-editor) and he holds 11 patents. Dr. Samad is the former editor-in-chief of IEEE Control Systems Magazine and is the Program Chair for the 2004 IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control in Taipei. He is the recipient of an IEEE Third Millennium Medal, a Distinguished Member Award from the IEEE Control Systems Society, and an Excellence Award from the Society for Technical Communications. He received his B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
