NASHVILLE, Tenn. – According to business gurus, the smart money is
on "smart" systems-those computer enhancements that pop up in
everything from musical greeting cards to "smart dust" defense
intelligence systems. However, much is lost in the translation when
computers move out of the box into the physical world to form "smart"
embedded systems.
Xenofon D. Koutsoukos is busily honing software to solve this
problem. The assistant professor of computer science at Vanderbilt
University has won the prestigious CAREER Award from the National
Science Foundation (NSF) for his research on embedded and hybrid
systems.
The award, given to selected junior faculty for their exceptionally
promising research, will enable Koutsoukos and his associates to
develop next-generation computational methods and tools for these
systems.
Computers were never made to deal with the complexities and
ambiguities of real life; they don’t "go with the flow" like we humans
do. And that too-literal rigidity can cause problems when
computers are responsible for potentially life-threatening situations,
like driving an automobile.
Koutsoukos is taking a new approach to solving the problems
encountered in making complex computer systems interact autonomously
and accurately in real-life situations. He’s using formal analysis and
verification methods drawn from computer science and probabilistic
methods from applied mathematics to model, analyze and design embedded
computer systems.
He believes that this approach will ultimately result in more
autonomous and robust systems that can manage the uncertainty of the
real world. Autonomy and robustness become increasingly challenging and
important as embedded systems take on more safety-critical jobs. It’s
one thing to have your desktop computer crash; however, in your
drive-by-wire car, a computer system crash can become a real one.
"Using formal methods, we can develop systems with higher degree of
autonomy and ensure that they will work correctly," Koutsoukos says.
"These methods are much more definitive than computer simulations and
expensive physical testing that are currently being used in designing
these systems."
The CAREER Award will fund five years of the research. During that
time, Koutsoukos and his associates will develop and adapt formal
methods and test them on a mobile sensor network consisting of tens of
computer nodes equipped with cameras, microphones and laser sensors to
autonomously monitor a floor of a building.
"Ultimately, the system will be able to meaningfully monitor the
area without human intervention and could send a robot to respond to
different situations," Koutsoukos says.
Koutsoukos is also senior research scientist in the Institute for
Software Integrated Systems (ISIS), a division of the Vanderbilt School
of Engineering. He came to Vanderbilt in 2002 from Xerox Palo Alto
Research Center (PARC), where he worked in the Embedded Collaborative
Computing Area.
NSF established the CAREER program in 1995 to help top-performing
scientists and engineers early in their careers to develop
simultaneously their contributions and commitment to research and
education.
Media contact: Vivian Cooper-Capps, (615) 322-2762
Vivian.f.cooper-capps@vanderbilt.edu