Speaker

Aaron Willcock, PhD., Wayne State University

Abstract

Have you heard of Android aircraft engines? iOS car brakes? Windows 11 airbags? I hope not. Real-time systems are used in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) with safety-critical deadlines: engine fuel delivery, hydraulic braking, and airbag deployment. In this seminar, we explore: 1) motivations behind real-time systems and engine control research, 2) a Fully Polynomial Time Approximation Scheme for Adaptive Variable Rate tasks used in engine control, and 3) the pitfalls of modern, fuse-based power distribution and how real-time current monitoring enables fail-operational CPS. Our goal is to illustrate how efficient demand characterization procedures help engineer modern CPS.

Bio

Aaron is a Ph.D. candidate in Wayne State University's Department of Computer Science studying real-time systems. Together with collaborators, they research demand characterization algorithms for real-time, safety-critical cyber-physical systems. Specifically, their work identifies physical limitations in CPSs and exploits these limitations for faster demand characterization, more realistic workload estimation, or both. Their work is accepted globally in the International Conferences on Real-Time Networks and Systems (RTNS), Real-Time Computing Systems and Applications (RTCSA), Robotics and Automation (ICRA) and our field's flagship conference, the Real-Time Systems Symposium (RTSS).

Aaron has a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from Wayne State University. Prior to Wayne State's Ph.D. program, he worked as an embedded engineer and surface-mount technology programmer developing robotic control system modules in collaboration with National Instruments, the Electronic Component Industry Association, and FIRST Robotics. His hobbies include fixing cars and reading insurance case law.