Intelligent machines to converge on campus

For the first time in its history, the International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned Systems (ICIUS) is coming to North America, with Concordia as the host.

From September 29 to October 1, the world’s leading experts in the field will explore the latest research on technologies that in recent years have garnered considerable media coverage, both good and bad. Intelligent unmanned systems can include anything from drones used by the military to the delivery devices being tested by Amazon.

At Concordia, the focus is on civilian applications, thanks in large part to the pioneering work of Youmin Zhang, who is the general chair of this tenth incarnation of ICIUS, and a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Unmanned intelligent systems, as Zhang explains, are diverse. The term covers systems that fly, travel on land or in water, even stationary systems in factories and buildings. The common factor is the drive to make systems intelligent — that is to say, capable of certain autonomous, undirected functions.

“This is a very newly developed field,” says Zhang, going on to describe some of the research coming out of his research group, which has made large strides forward in recent years. “There are now twenty-five members of my group, including 15 graduate students plus visiting students and visiting scientists.”

Zhang’s work is chiefly in the area of guidance, navigation and control — a scientific area frequently falling under the catchall acronym GNCs. The applications of this field are potentially vast. Zhang is quick to provide several real-world examples that he has worked on.

Unmanned systems that can see

Zhang has received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to support his collaboration with the local aerospace company Marinvent. The goal of this research is to enable unmanned systems to “see” each other in flight so as to avoid collision.

Micro pilot for combatting forest fires

NSERC funding also supports this project with the goal of developing an autopilot system (a micro pilot) for a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). The testing and application of the autopilot are being conducted specifically with UAVs that monitor forests for possible fires. The UAV would be able to detect potential fires using visual processing software and then send alerts to emergency responders.

Smart grid systems

Zhang was living in Ontario during the famous blackout that shut down Toronto and much of the American northeast in 2003. Days without electricity convinced Zhang that there was a need to improve the systems that we all rely on to heat, cool and power our buildings. He now works in the area of fault-tolerant control systems for “smart grids,” systems capable of monitoring, detecting and diagnosing their own potential errors.

In a research paper published in 2008, Zhang provided an overview of research into fault-tolerant control systems from 1971 to the current day, and mapped out potential future avenues for academic investigation. The paper, published in Annual Reviews in Control, was a seminal work, and is now a top-ranked article in the field for impact, having been cited almost 1,000 times by other academic authors.

With such influential work underway, Zhang is looking forward to throwing open the doors of his labs so attendees of ICUIS can see firsthand the progress being made here at Concordia. He is also keenly anticipating the next major conference he has helped to bring to Montreal — the upcoming 2016 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

Learn more about the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.