A Cyber-Physical Infrastructure for the 'Smart City'

Abstract:

The project aims to establish a Cyber-Physical Infrastructure for urban environments and address fundamental problems that involve data collection, resource allocation, real-time decision making, safety, and security. Its ultimate objective is to make cities "smart" by engineering processes such as traffic control, efficient parking services, and emerging urban activities such as recharging electric vehicles; these processes take advantage of new sensing and networking technologies combined with advances in control, communication, and optimization. To that end, the research is organized along two main directions: (i) Sensing and data acquisition using a new mobile sensor network paradigm designed for urban environments; and (ii) Decision Support for the "Smart City" relying on formal verification and certification methods coupled with innovative dynamic optimization techniques used for decision making and resource allocation. This work brings together and builds upon methodological advances in optimization under uncertainty, computer simulation, discrete event and hybrid systems, event-driven control, system security, and formal verification and safety. Target applications include a "Smart Parking" system where parking spaces are optimally assigned and reserved, and vehicular traffic regulation through adaptive traffic light control. This research has the potential of revolutionizing the way cities are viewed: from a passive living and working environment to a highly dynamic one with new ways to deal with transportation, energy, and safety. Teaming up with stakeholders in the City of Boston and private industry, the research team expects to establish new collaborative models between universities and urban groups for cutting-edge research in the deployment of Cyber-Physical Systems for "Smart Cities."