Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

In an age marked by significant strides in automation and artificial intelligence, the necessity for robust and resilient autonomous systems has become a paramount concern. These systems underpin a myriad of vital sectors, ranging from transportation and manufacturing to critical infrastructure like power grids and water supplies. As such, their seamless operation is a critical requirement for both societal well-being and national security. The proposed research is designed to fortify the resilience of such autonomous systems, enabling them to withstand a broad array of disruptions. This includes not only failures due to aging components but also increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks that threaten to compromise or disable essential services. The research leverages a unique amalgamation of Control Engineering and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to create self-monitoring, self-healing systems capable of identifying, diagnosing, and rectifying faults or attacks in real-time. The proposed research intends to fill knowledge gaps, thereby accelerating the transition toward fully autonomous yet resilient systems. This endeavor capitalizes on an analytical redundancy-based approach, which emphasizes analytical solutions over costly, less efficient and effective hardware alternatives. Why is this research seminal and who stands to benefit? At the heart of the matter is the pervasiveness of autonomous systems in today's world. As reliance on these systems grows, so too does the magnitude of potential impact from their failure. A disruption in an autonomous power grid, for example, has implications far beyond a mere loss of electricity; it could compromise healthcare services, emergency response, and even national security. Thus, the stakeholders range from individual consumers and industry players to government organizations and policy-makers. The applicant possesses a proven track record, substantiated by four decades of contributions to the field. This extensive background ensures an approach that is both theoretically sound and practically applicable. Given that the proposed research focuses on generic fundamentals, its applications extend across a multitude of engineering systems and by extension, various sectors within the Canadian industry. This offers a dual benefit: first, the generic nature allows for wide applicability and scalability; second, it presents numerous opportunities for commercialization. In summary, the anticipated outcomes are manifold. They include but are not limited to fortified resilience of autonomous systems, development of new algorithms for fault and attack diagnosis and system healing, and the creation of frameworks for the integration of control engineering and AI technologies. Collectively, these advancements contribute to ensuring that Canada remains at the forefront of innovation in autonomous systems, thereby safeguarding economic competitiveness and national security.