An undergraduate cyber-physical systems course

This paper describes the development of an upper-division course introducing undergraduates to the fundamentals of cyber-physical systems. A cyber-physical system (CPS), a term coined by Dr. Helen Gill at the U.S. National Science Foundation, is a tightly coupled integration and coordination of computing elements and physical resources. A multitude of wired and/or wireless communication/sensor networks connect these computing elements and physical resources. It is not sufficient to study each of the following in isolation since a CPS is not their union but their intersection: embedded computers, control theory, sensor and communication networks, physical resources, decision theory, data fusion, knowledge discovery, resilience, and dynamic configuration. Their joint dynamics must be studied together and this is what set this emerging discipline apart from these individually established fields. Since CPS is a relatively new area of research, the few available courses are targeted toward advanced graduate students. They are typically in the form of seminars where students read papers, perform term projects, and give presentations. These papers are drawn from the fields of embedded systems, real-time systems, networking, control theory, and engineering. While such course formats are appropriate for graduate students, they are not suitable for undergraduates. However, engineers and computer scientists who will build CPSs in the near future will most likely comprise of bachelor's degree holders. It is therefore imperative to train them in this field by introducing CPS fundamentals, hence the motivation for developing this course. This course will make it possible for undergraduates to understand and learn the materials without possessing background in embedded real-time systems, advanced mathematics, formal verification, and control theory. There are two key tasks: distilling and adapting materials from graduate courses for undergraduates, and developing lab projects whose components increase in complexity as students learn.