This lecture is concerned with the analysis and design of cyber-physical systems, i.e. systems typically controlled via closed-loop computer-based algorithms and tightly integrated with the behavior of their users. We start with presenting the design of an e-bike system: the system, deployed on a real-world testbed, leverages tools from data analytics and control to manage the interactions between the cyclist and the bike motor. The ultimate goal is to influence the cyclist behavior, minimizing the intake of environmental pollution. After having discussed the main design challenges for the e-bike, we illustrate how similar solutions can be used to design smarter connected and automated vehicles: both the design of pedestrian-aware energy management systems for hybrid vehicles and of platoon systems are discussed. Finally, after presenting experimental evidences for the effectiveness of our algorithms, we present some of the underlying theory. In particular, we focus on optimal decision making under uncertainty, privacy and resilience in multi-agent systems. The lecture is concluded with a final application, where control-theoretical tools and reinforcement learning are used to design a learning agent that is able to beat the Atari game Pong with little training.
Giovanni Russo is a Lecturer in Cyber-Physical Systems at University College Dublin (UCD). Dr. Russo received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Naples Federico II in 2010. The focus of the work was on the stability of nonlinear dynamical systems with applications to networked control and systems biology. In 2010, Dr. Russo joined Ansaldo STS as a System Engineer and, from 2012 to 2015, he was the Lead System Engineer and Integrator of the Honolulu Rail Transit Project (HRTP) – the first mass transit driverless railway system of the United States. From 2015 to 2018, after having completed the HRTP system-level design, Dr. Russo has been with IBM Research Ireland as a Research Staff Member in Optimization, Control and Decision Science. In September 2018, Dr. Russo joined UCD and current research interests include Cyber-Physical Systems, nonlinear dynamics, stochastic systems and networked control systems. Dr. Russo is currently a member of the Board of Editors of IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: regular papers and of the IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems. Dr. Russo is also a funded investigator of the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres I-Form (Advanced Manufacturing Irish Research Centre) and LERO (Irish Software Research Centre).