Project Identifying vulnerabilities in infrared range finders for transportation systems Program DUIRI - Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship Term Spring 2026 Status Accepted Research Area Global Security Description Cyber-physical systems consist of computing elements that monitor sensors and control physical actuators to accomplish some task. Secure operation of such systems depends on the integrity of sensor values. When sensors can be tricked into reporting false or invalid values, a system can be driven to misbehave. A reproducible disruption like this constitutes a vulnerability that may be exploitable at will. For this project, we want to investigate and identify potential vulnerabilities of an infrared range finder used in the transportation industry. Such sensors are employed in a multitude of low-risk applications --- everything from measuring building occupancy to optimizing golf trajectories. Their use in data collection and safety-critical roles in transportation applications creates opportunities for motivated attackers to cause financial, material, and human injury. By identifying vulnerabilities, we can anticipate and mitigate future attempts at exploiting them. We can also make recommendations for how to improve a range finder to be resilient against identified weaknesses. Supervisor Richard L Kennell Mentor Satish V Ukkusuri Type of work required - Characterize and model an infrared range finder.
- Investigate ways to force it to report an incorrect distance to an object.
- Determine limits to the accuracy and reproducibility of forged readings.
- Identify improvements and counter measures that reduce the likelihood of success for potential attacks.

This work will involve sensing the time of flight for transmitted light pulses, so a participant will inevitably learn a great deal about fine-grain measurement techniques.
Websites Qualifications Candidates must be in good academic standing. Candidates must be adept at using Linux-based tools to configure and program high-speed embedded microcontrollers as well as use a hardware description language to configure an FPGA. Candidates will also be expected to be comfortable using electronic test equipment to analyze devices and prototype new digital and analog electronic systems. Credit Hours 0 Weekly Hours 10 (estimated)