Cyber-Physical Systems
Making the interconnected world work in a flexible and efficient, but safe and reliable manner to the benefit of society
Cyber-physical Systems that combine the physical world with the virtual world are starting to play an ever more important role in our daily lives. In this research group, we’re looking at the fundamental concepts and challenges to realize the vision of an interconnected world. In particular, we focus on industrial communication systems.
In contrast to human-to-human communication, communication between machines requires a fundamentally new approach. While humans are inherently able to cope with imperfections in communication, machines require predictability. This covers aspects of correctness, latency, and context sensitivity, but also new sensing paradigms.
In our group, we especially focus on (safety-)critical industrial applications (Industry 4.0), but also on enabling new simulation methodologies for complex networked systems. Solving the fundamental challenges in these areas therefore enables the Internet of Everything.
Hot Topics
In-network processing techniques for industrial control
- Co-design approaches
- Predictable system behavior
- Theoretical and practical limits
Low-latency ultra-reliable wireless systems
- Network design
- Reliability-enhancing strategies
- Theoretical and practical limits
Systems engineering and tool development
- Replacement of Expected Values (mean) with hard guarantees
- Guided design
Methodology and Tools
To convince stakeholders, new approaches need a solid theoretical base and validation through practical prototypes. Our design circle includes:
- Requirements analysis
- Analytical studies using abstract models
- Simulations and/or verification
- Real-world experiments
- Iteration and improvement
Available Theses
The Cyber-Physical Systems Group always has a range of thesis topics available for motivated and talented students. An excerpt of available theses can be seen from inside the RWTH University network.
