Our lab, led by Dr. Bassam Alrifaee, specializes in intelligent control of autonomous systems, with a particular focus on multi-agent systems. Our research spans distributed predictive control, service-oriented software architectures, localization systems, and applications to connected and automated vehicles (CAVs). We strive to contribute not only to the safety and performance of these systems but also to their environmental impact. Funded by public organizations and industrial partners, we engage in various projects in this dynamic research area. Embracing diversity, equity, and Inclusion, we recognize that multiple, different perspectives and backgrounds are important for advancing our research goals. Additionally, our commitment extends to education, and we actively value and contribute to teaching. Through this multifaceted approach, we aim to foster a holistic environment that integrates cutting-edge research, diversity, and educational excellence.
Projects
Cyber-Physical Mobility Lab
Our Cyber-Physical Mobility Lab (CPM Lab) is an open-source, remotely accessible platform for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) focusing on multi-agent decision-making. It provides a deterministic computation model that allows for reproducible experiments. Using its digital twin, the CPM Lab can seamlessly extend its 20 small-scale vehicles (µCars) with virtual µCars. We created a research and teaching stack around the CPM Lab: undergraduate students study programming in the CPM Academy, graduate students study coordination and control of CAVs, and researchers compete in the CPM Olympics. The CPM Lab is one of the pioneering testbeds for CAVs and has been rebuilt at other universities, establishing its influence in academic settings.
Service-Oriented Model-based Control (SOMC) (funded by the German Research Foundation)
The Chair of Computer Science 11 - Embedded Software (i11) collaborates with the Institute of Automatic Control (IRT, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) on the new project Service-Oriented Model-based Control (SOMC) funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). By tightly coupling software engineering and control theory, a service-oriented architecture (SOA) should improve the flexibility and maintainability of control systems. This architecture enables the control system to adapt to situations not foreseen at design time by exchanging control components dynamically at runtime. The i11 explores an SOA fit for the requirements of real-time, embedded control systems while enabling the necessary flexibility. The IRT develops the required models and investigates stability conditions for switching between control components. The proposal was submitted by Dr.-Ing. Bassam Alrifaee (head of the Cyber-Physical Mobility Group at i11) and Dr.-Ing. Lorenz Dörschel (IRT). The research associates Julius Beerwerth, M. Sc. (i11) and Markus Zimmer, M. Sc. (IRT) are working on the project.
Overview of the defined interface and service types, e.g., the filter service type has a requirement of measured values type τ_y and model type τ_model while offering a guarantee of system state type τ_x.
