This project implements a robotic control system that demonstrates the impact of secure versus insecure communication in cyber-physical systems. The system consists of a web-based user interface, an application server, and a robotic vehicle. The UI allows an operator to send movement commands and receive telemetry from the robot in real time through the server. The system supports two communication modes. In the insecure mode, messages between the UI, server, and robot are transmitted without encryption or authentication. This allows us to demonstrate common network attacks. In the secure mode, the system uses encrypted and authenticated communication to protect command and telemetry messages. This ensures confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity between all system components. During the demonstration, we first show how attacks can compromise the robot under insecure communication, then enable the secure protocol to demonstrate how these attacks are prevented. The project illustrates the importance of secure communication in modern robotic and networked control systems.

Our team collaborated with Electrical and Computer Engineering 35 on this project.