Join the AIrTonomy workshop and submit your research use case to become a lead user with 6 months free research infrastructure!
Today’s autonomous aerial vehicles lack the artificial intelligence needed to safely operate in real-world urban air mobility environments. This 2-day workshop will assemble autonomy researchers to discuss and refine use cases and capabilities of a research infrastructure, called AIrTonomy, that would allow them to tackle this challenge using cyber and physical infrastructure components remotely from anywhere in the world.
Featured Speakers
Day 1 | September 11, 2024 | From sim-to-real: How indoor facilities of PUP can facilitate research on human-autonomy teaming and AI for safe and assured autonomy
Time
Event
Location
8:00
Park in Convergence Center Parking lot (bring parking ticket to Burton Morgan for validation)
Convergence Center, 101 Foundry Dr, West Lafayette, Indiana
8:00
Breakfast
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Cafe Area, 1201 W State St, West Lafayette, Indiana
8:30 – 8:45
Opening Remarks: Purdue’s Investment into the Future of a Cyber-Physical Infrastructure for Safe and Trustworthy Physical AI and Smart Crossways of America
Karen Plaut, Executive Vice President for Research (EVPR), Purdue University
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
8:45 to 9:30
Introduction of AIrTonomy: What’s AIrTonomy and what’s the Purdue Unmanned aerial Proving Ground, Sabine Brunswicker, Founding Director AIDA3, and PI AIrTonomy
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
9:30 to 10:00
“Keeping it 100” – Research Considerations for Safe Scaling of Human-on-the-Loop Robotic Fleet Management, Julia Allen, Vice President & Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Saab Inc.
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
10:00 to 10:30
Break with transition to demonstration site
Transportation provided
10:30 to 12:30
Demonstrations of research use cases:
Demonstration of Research in Progress using AIrTonomy’s PURT and SOC to design AI/ML with the goal to move from 4:1 to 1:10
Demo at PURT: (1) Signal degradation and spoofing attacks (2) Autonomous taxing, (3) assured autonomy – design project
Demo at the Smart Operations Center (SOC): Remote operator monitoring the mission leveraging real-time human sensing of cognitive load and situation awareness, VR/AR: How virtual reality allows completely new forms of interaction with autonomous systems
Demo Moderator at PURT: James Goppert, Core Team AIDA3, Purdue University
Demo Moderator at SOC: Sabine Brunswicker, Founding Director AIDA3, and PI AIrTonomy, Demo Moderator: George Takahashi, Lead Visualization Scientist, Envision Center, RCAC, Purdue University
PURT, SOC, Smart Operations Center
12:30 to 13:30
Live Lunch with a Lab to Life Experience:
Demonstration of remote operations of the largest fixed-wing UAV available in the US
Moderator: Joseph Roberts, Purdue Liaison Windracers Group LLC
Remote Operator: Chuhao Deng, Graduate Research Assistant, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University
SOC, Smart Operations Center, PURT
13:30 to 14:00
Q&A from the audience: What are requirements for realistic indoor testing for successful transition from lab to life? What are the challenges?
Panelists:
- Berkay Celik, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University and co-director of Purdue Security Laboratory (PurSec Lab)
- James Goppert, Research Assistant Professor and Managing Director of Purdue’s UAS Research and Test Facility, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Philip Pare, Rita Lane and Norma Fries Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Joseph Roberts, Purdue Liaison Windracers Group LLC
Moderator: Sabine Brunswicker, Founding Director AIDA3, and PI AIrTonomy
SOC, Smart Operations Center, PURT
14:00 to 14:30
Break with transition to meeting site
Transportation provided
14:30 to 15:30
Short lightning talks:
R&D USE CASE 1: AI/ML for perception-based navigation in urban canyons’ under conditions of signal degradation – the role of indoor testing, Karthik Dantu, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Drones Lab, University of Buffalo
R&D USE CASE 2: Explainable AI for Aerodynamics/Propulsion modeling – Why PURT is needed, Devesh Upadhay, AI/ML Lead Skapa, SAAB
R&D USE CASE 3: How real-time human sensing will facilitate research on safe human-autonomy swarms, Ehsan Esfahani, Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Buffalo
R&D USE CASE 4 (5 to 10 min): NXP Mobile Robotics modules and solutions
Iain Galloway, Gerald Peklar Mobile Robotics, System Innovations CTO R&D, NXP
Benjamin M. Perseghetti, Founder & CEO, Rudis Laboratories
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
15:30 to 16:00
Critical Capabilities for Enabling Advanced Airmobility
Parimal Kopardekar, Mission Integration Manager for the Advanced AIr Mobility (AAM) Mission, NASA
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
16:00 to 16:30
Coffee break/dessert with poster session and “poster pitches”
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Cafe Area
16:30 to 17:00
Panel discussion – Critical use cases and infrastructure requirements for sim-to-real:
Panelist:
- Karthik Dantu, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Buffalo
- Inseok Hwang, Professor, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University.
- Ziran Wang, Assistant Professor, Autonomous and Connected Systems Initiative, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University
- Yuehwern Yih, Tompkins Professor of Industrial Engineering, Director of Smart Operations and Systems (SOS) Laboratory, Purdue University
Moderator: Sabine Brunswicker, Founding Director AIDA3, and PI AIrTonomy
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
17:00 to 18:00
Reception & Networking
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Cafe Area
18:00 to 19:30
Conference Dinner with Dinner Speech
Opening Remarks: The PUP: The Purdue Triangle and how it will pave the way for next generation urban airmobility
Bill Crossley, Head of School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University
Keynote Speech: Simon Thompson, CEO Windracers Group
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Cafe Area
Day 2 | September 12, 2024 | Dealing with complexity outdoors: Our PUP can facilitate research on autonomy for remote sensing and complex AAV missions
8:00
Park in Convergence Center Parking lot, meet in Convergence Center Lobby
Convergence Center, 101 Foundry Dr, West Lafayette, Indiana
8:05
Transition to Martell Forest
Transportation provided
8:45
Breakfast
Purdue Martell Forest, 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana
9:00 to 9:30
Opening Remarks
NSF’s expectations towards future midscale RI-1 infrastructure grants and overview of CPS program
David Corman, Program Director leading Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC), and CIVIC Innovation Challenge Programs, National Science Foundation
Purdue Martell Forest, 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana
9:30 to 10:30
Live Demo and Tours, followed by onsite Presentation:
Forestry Drone Lab Demo: Leveraging UAVs for Remote Environmental Sensing and Forestry
Moderator: Songlin Fei, Professor & Dean’s Chair of Remote Sensing, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
Purdue Martell Forest, 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana
10:30 to 11:45
Lightning Talks:
R&D USE CASE 1: AI/ML for successful UAV-enabled forest inventory using the envisioned AIrTonomy infrastructure, Songlin Fei, Professor & Dean’s Chair of Remote Sensing, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
R&D USE CASE 2: Optimizing edge computing for precision agriculture using AIrTonomy infrastructure, Christopher C. Stewart, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University
R&D USE CASE 3: Deployment and Use of Private Cellular Networks in Agriculture, Scott A. Shearer, Professor and Chair, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University
Session Moderator: N.N.
Purdue Martell Forest, 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana
11:45 to 12:15
Keynote: The unique capabilities the PUP: A focus on Airspace Integration and Sensor/Communication Infrastructures,
Gerald Charlwood, Saab Airborne Systems, Former CTO
Purdue Martell Forest, 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana
12:15 to 12:45
Lunch with posters session, presentation, and demo from PhaseSpace: Capabilities of outdoor motion-capture system
Tracy McSheery, CEO PhaseSpace
Dr. Kan Anant, VP Operations PhaseSpace
Purdue Martell Forest, 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana
12:45 to 13:15
Panel discussion – Critical use cases and infrastructure requirements for research on remote sensing and complex AAV missions in outdoor test-beds
Panelist:
- Christopher Brinton, Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University
- Gerald Charlwood, Saab Airborne Systems, Former CTO
- Melba Crawford, Nancy Uridil and Frank Bossu Distinguished Professor in Civil Engineering, Purdue University
- Nan Kong, Professor of Biomedical Engineering with a Joint Appointment with Industrial Engineering, Associate Director for Health Systems, Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, Purdue University
- Scott Shearer, Professor and Chair, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University
Moderator: Gerald Charlwood, Saab Airborne Systems, Former CTO
Purdue Martell Forest, 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana
13:15 to 13:45
Collaboration between sites to leverage the benefits of AIrTonomy
Ismail Guvenc, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, PI of NSF AERPAW Project, North Carolina State University
Purdue Martell Forest, 1007 N 725 W, West Lafayette, Indiana
13:45 to 14:15
Transition to Purdue, break
Transportation provided
14:15 to 14:45
Keynote: What will it take to sustain an infrastructure like AIrTonomy?
Kyle Snyder, Principal, Best Autonomous Insights
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
14:45 to 15:15
Access from Anywhere in the world: How the cyber components of AIrTonomy will change how US researchers will perform research on physical AI
Carol Song, Chief Scientist RCAC, Purdue University, and Vipin Chaudhary, Department Chair, Computer and Data Sciences Department, Kevin J. Kranzusch Professor, Computer and Data Sciences Department, Case Western Reserve University
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
15:15 to 15:45
Open Panel Discussion – Business Model and Sustainability: Who and how are we paying for the sustainability of the infrastructure?
Speaker/Discussion leaders:
Sabine Brunswicker, Founding Director AIDA3, Purdue University
David Corman, Program Director leading Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC), and CIVIC Innovation Challenge Programs, National Science Foundation
Damon Lercel, Assistant Professor, School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, Purdue University
Ismail Guvenc, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, PI of NSF AERPAW Project, North Carolina State University
Kyle Snyder, Principal, Best Autonomous Insights
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
15:45 to 16:30
Closing Industry Panel: Advancing Aviation Innovation: What It Takes: Meet the CEO’s from four promising Purdue startups advancing several next generation air mobility innovations to market.
Learn what it takes and the importance of collaboration and partnerships.
- Matt Bechdol, GRYFN – provider of data and analytics captured by multi-sensor UAV solutions to drive actionable decisions beginning with the agriculture market.
- Nick Gunady, Aerovy – energy grid infrastructure management for future of EV air mobility
- Duncan Mulgrew, Uniform Sierra Aerospace – autonomous drone technology targeting emergency response use cases
- Aaron Pierce, Pierce Aerospace – secure airspace monitoring and surveillance platform
Moderator: David Broecker, Chief Innovation and Collaboration Officer, Purdue Research Foundation
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121
16:30 to 17:00
Announcement of best R&D use case based on community rating (social media) and feedback from online participants.
Announcement of lead user task force
Closing Remarks and Next steps, AIrTonomy Team
Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 206
17:00
End of Event
