Since 2020, with generous support from the Air Force and Department of Defense, the department of computer science at the College of Science has been building its research capacity in the cyber domain with a focus on emerging technologies such as UAV, 5G, Virtual Reality and Neuro Computing.
To support these efforts, a newly renovated space in building 98 will be the home of the new interdisciplinary UAV Cyber Lab.
Principal Investigator Dean Alison Baski said, “This funding is a gamechanger. Our students have the opportunity to work with equipment that will position them as leaders in the fields of cybersecurity, UAVs, and emerging tech.”
5G COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY
Jaws dropped at a recent 5G conference when industry pros learned that CPP and Cal Poly SLO students have their own private education and research 5G networks, allowing them to conduct hands-on research and become industry innovators.
4G communications are hardware dependent, so apart from a few major players, there weren’t a lot of options for configuring a network. 5G on the other hand is open source and relies on several different software programs that perform different functions. The use of multiple programs introduces security issues, as some may be more vulnerable to hackers.
“Companies tend to focus on functionality and innovation, security isn’t always foremost in their research and development,” Professor and Co-PI Mohammad Husain said. Husain is a cyber security expert from the Department of Computer Science. He leads the PolySec Cyber Security Lab that focuses on emerging tech security such as UAV, 5G, Virtual Reality and Neuro Computing.
“In the not-too-distant future, you will have drones, self-driving cars, electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL) and robots, all of which will be using 5G communications due to its advanced features and extendibility. Right now, 5G is about 50% as secure as it can be,” Husain said. These devices need to communicate with central controllers, but also with each other. For example, a flying car (eVTOL) that can communicate with nearby cars can avoid collisions.
If hackers can eavesdrop on the communications of these systems, they can launch a “man in the middle” (MITM) attack, where they insert their own malicious commands in the middle of the 5G communications.
In addition to finding security vulnerabilities and providing fixes, Husain’s lab is continuing a project on ad-hoc 5G networks for emergency communications. Imagine a fire or earthquake that knocks out cell towers and land lines. Using newly acquired drones, Husain’s lab will create airborne 5G networks for first responder and emergency communications.
eVTOL SECURITY and FLIGHT TRAINING
Electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles are here and soon CPP will have one. The College of Engineering will be studying its navigation and aerodynamics. Husain’s computer science students, from the College of Science, will be studying its communication vulnerabilities so they can make it more secure.
Right now, computer science students have built a virtual reality eVTOL simulator for training would-be pilots. The students have incorporated a BIOPAC sensor ring that trainees will wear which measures heart rate, skin temperature, muscle tension, and blood pressure during flight simulations. His lab’s research question is, “Is everyone fit to fly an eVTOL?” Monitoring the neuro-physiological state of the pilot will help answer that question. Husain plans to expand the simulations once they have the actual vehicle and two other flight simulators to validate the study.
UAV/DRONE DETECTION AND MITIGATION
UAV/Drone detection and mitigation has been a component of this research since the beginning. Due to the increased reliance on drones for military use and their prevalence over our cities, the importance of this research cannot be overstated.
The initial funding allowed students to work with DroneFox, a system that can detect and mitigate threats from unauthorized drones.
“This is cutting edge technology, and the fact that students are able to study how the system works means that they understand it well enough to build their own version of it, which is exactly what they’ve done,” Husain said.
Drone operators control their drones by radio frequency (RF) signals. Using a type of AI called machine learning, students have developed an RF analyzer that captures RF signals to detect the drones.
The next step is mitigation which involves locking the controller signal out so it can no longer communicate with the drone, then students are able to land the drone or return to its home base. This ability is valuable in military applications and civilian ones as well, where rogue drones might be interfering with airport traffic, firefighters, or police.
CAREER READY
These research opportunities provide students with real-world experience using advanced technology so that they are career ready when they leave CPP. When Sriman Komaragiri graduated in 2023 (computer engineering) he was hired as a software engineer by Lockheed Martin. “I joined the Skunk Works division in Palmdale, where innovation and interdisciplinary problem-solving are essential. CPP’s focus on applied learning and collaboration played a major role in preparing me for my success in this environment,” Komaragiri said.
His employer granted him educational leave to return to CPP for his M.S. degree in computer science and he’s working on advanced drone research. Komaragiri shared, “Our goal is to enable rapid detection and response using the most effective AI model. I’m evaluating and comparing various machine learning and deep learning models to determine which is best suited to the task.”
Dianne Lopez (’23, M.S. computer science) was programmer of the GNU Radio software that the team uses to detect and classify drones. She is now a cyber and strategic risk consultant at Deloitte. Lopez said, “My experience at CPP helped me hone my technical skills, create great documentation, explain a project to different audiences, and work well with a team.” She said those experiences at CPP prepared her for her current role at Deloitte.