Research by Dr. Nasser Lashgarian Azad, a professor of systems design engineering, was featured by the National Research Council of Canada.
Azad teamed up with the Digital Technologies Research Centre and policymakers from Transport Canada to test how well AI-based decision-making systems in autonomous vehicles can withstand cyberattacks, without ever putting a real vehicle at risk.
"We have been able to evaluate how autonomous vehicles respond to threats like data manipulation and network intrusion, without ever putting a real vehicle at risk," said Azad. "We watch how the vehicle's decision-making system responds and learn where the weak points are."
Now in its final phase, the project team is focused on creating custom defence strategies to protect AI-based systems from cyberthreats. These strategies are tested in the virtual space, with results regularly shared with Transport Canada, which plays a central role in regulating autonomous vehicles in Canada.
Read the full story, Keeping autonomous vehicles safe from cyberthreats.
This research was supported by grants and contributions awarded through the Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program, administered by the NRC's National Program Office.
Members of the research team at the Autonomous Vehicle Lab, University of Waterloo: Jun Liu, Pulei Xiong (NRC), and Nasser Lashgarian Azad.