ASPIN Spotlight
Prof. Kassas, Dr. Joe Khalife, Dr. Ali Abdallah, and Chiawei Lee Win IEEE Harry Rowe Mimno Award
March 2024 -- Prof. Kassas, his students (Dr. Joe Khalife and Dr. Ali Abdallah), and Mr. Chiawei Lee (Director of Research, US Air Force Test Pilot School) won the 2022 IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Harry Rowe Mimno Award for their paper titled “I Am Not Afraid of the GPS Jammer: Resilient Navigation Via Signals of Opportunity in GPS-Denied Environments.” Established in 1979, this annual award is given in recognition of the best paper published in the peer-reviewed IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine. The award is given two-years after papers get published (to allow for some time to pass to measure the paper's impact). The paper demonstrated the first ever vehicular navigation results during massive intentional GPS jamming exercises (in the Mojave Desert at Edwards Air Force Base, CA) via radio simultaneous localization and mapping (radio SLAM), exploiting unknown terrestrial cellular signals of opportunity. The paper evaluated the timing of two cellular transmitters located in the jammed environment, showing timing stability over 95 minutes of GPS jamming. Moreover, the paper presented navigation results showcasing a ground vehicle traversing a trajectory of about 5 km in 180 seconds in the GPS-jammed environment. The vehicle’s GPS-IMU system drifted from the vehicle’s ground truth trajectory, resulting in a position root mean-squared error (RMSE) of 238 m. In contrast, the radio SLAM approach with signals from a single cellular transmitter whose position was poorly known (an initial uncertainty on the order of several kilometers) achieved a position RMSE of 32 m..
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation and Serves as a Panelist at the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2024
March 2024 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites" and served as a panelist in the session: "Discovering the Low Earth Orbit for PNT and Beyond" at the 2024 Munich Satellite Navigation Summit. The Summit has been taking place for 20 years and is considered a world-leading event in satellite navigation for decision makers from politics, industry, research, and authorities. The entire program of the Summit is composed of high-profile invited talks and panel discussions afterwards. The invited session was chaired by Roberto Prieto Cerdeira (LEO-PNT Project Manager at the European Space Agency) and speakers in the session were Patrick Shannon (Founder and CEO, TrustPoint Inc.), Francis Soualle (Airbus Defence and Space GmbH), Li Zhen (Beihang University), Masaya Murata (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)), and Trevor Landon (Vice President, Satelles/Iridium).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at the Forum Munich Aerospace
March 2024 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites" at the Forum Munich Aerospace event "Navigation Threats and Solutions: Interference Detection and Signals of Opportunity," hosted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at the IEEE Undergraduate Chapter at The Ohio State University
March 2024 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments" at the IEEE Undergraduate Chapter at The Ohio State University.
Prof. Kassas Named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
January 2024 -- Prof. Kassas was elected Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). IEEE Fellow is a distinction reserved for select IEEE members whose extraordinary accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest are deemed fitting of this prestigious grade elevation. The number of IEEE Fellows elevated in a year is no more than one-tenth of one percent of the total IEEE voting membership. Prof. Kassas was elected for "contributions to navigation with signals of opportunity."
Prof. Kassas Serves as Speaker and Panelist at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2024
January 2024 -- Prof. Kassas served as a speaker and panelist on an invited Panel on "U.S. Department of Transportation: GPS at 50, Results for Transportation and New Threats" at the 103rd Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.. TRB 2024 attracted more than 19,000 attendees. The Panel was organized by Dr. Robert Hampshire (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer, U.S. Department of Transportation) and moderated by Ms. Karen Van Dyke (Director of PNT & Spectrum Management, U.S. Department of Transportation). The invited panel comprised: LtCol Robert O. Wray (U.S. Space Force, Commander, 2d Space Operations Squadron), Ken Alexander (Chief Scientific & Technical Advisor for Satellite Navigation Systems, Federal Aviation Administration), Gregory D. Winfree (Agency Director, Texas A&M Transportation Institute), and Dana A. Goward (President, Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation).
Prof. Kassas Receives $150K Grant from Sandia National Laboratories
December 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received a single-PI $150K grant from Sandia National Laboratories for his proposal titled "Icarus: High Altitude Opportunistic Radio Frequency Navigation." This one-year project will study terrestrial and non-terrestrial radio frequency signals of opportunity for high-altitude navigation.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at NSF Workshop on The Convergence of Smart Sensing Systems, Applications, Analytic and Decision Making
December 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation and served as a panelist at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Workshop on The Convergence of Smart Sensing Systems, Applications, Analytic and Decision Making. This invitation-only workshop brought together stakeholders with domain expertise in sensing systems as well as experts in system-theoretic areas such as signal processing, optimization, machine learning, and control theory, so they can interact and address a number of present and future challenges in smart sensing and analytics. The workshop aimed at leveraging the natural synergy between different sensing technologies, their applications, and methodologies developed in analytical areas to accelerate the development in next-generation sensing technologies and systems.
Dr. Mohammad Neinavaie Wins Dr. Robert Dybdal ElectroScience Laboratory Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award
November 2023 -- ASPIN Laboratory alumnus Dr. Mohammad Neinavaie received the 2023 Dr. Robert Dybdal ElectroScience Laboratory Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award for his Ph.D. Dissertation titled "Cognitive sensing and navigation with unknown terrestrial and LEO satellite signals." Every year, the ElectroScience Laboratory (ESL) celebrates the accomplishments of its students, staff, researchers, and faculty in an award ceremony. ESL is a center-of-excellence lab focusing on radio frequency (RF), optics, and electromagnetic research. Since 1942, ESL has consistently maintained a national and international preeminence in electromagnetics and RF systems. ESL is the home to more than 100 graduate and undergraduate students, and through the years, more than 1,000 PhD and master's students graduated from ESL and gone on to very successful careers in government, industry, and academia.
Sharbel Kozhaya, Haitham Kanj, and Prof. Kassas Win 2023 Dr. Robert Dybdal ElectroScience Laboratory Best Paper Award Runner-Up
November 2023 -- The paper by Sharbel Kozhaya, Haitham Kanj, and Prof. Kassas, titled "Multi-constellation blind beacon estimation, Doppler tracking, and opportunistic positioning with OneWeb, Starlink, Iridium NEXT, and Orbcomm LEO satellites" won the 2023 Dr. Robert Dybdal ElectroScience Laboratory Best Paper Award Runner-Up. This paper was published in the 2023 IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) Conference. Every year, the ElectroScience Laboratory (ESL) celebrates the accomplishments of its students, staff, researchers, and faculty in an award ceremony. ESL is a center-of-excellence lab focusing on radio frequency (RF), optics, and electromagnetic research. Since 1942, ESL has consistently maintained a national and international preeminence in electromagnetics and RF systems. ESL is the home to more than 100 graduate and undergraduate students, and through the years, more than 1,000 PhD and master's students graduated from ESL and gone on to very successful careers in government, industry, and academia.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at Workshop on Space Cybersecurity and Resilience
November 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation at the Workshop on Space Cybersecurity and Resilience, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS). This invitation-only workshop gathered experts and leaders from government, academia, and federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs).
Prof. Kassas Gives IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Distinguished Lecture
November 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an online/virtual IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Distinguished Lecture titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments." The lecture attracted the largest number of attendees among all online/virtual IEEE AESS Distinguished Lectures delivered in 2023.
Prof. Kassas Appointed a Senior Editor for IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems
October 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was appointed a Senior Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.
Sharbel Kozhaya and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2023 Conference
September 2023 -- The paper by Sharbel Kozhaya, Haitham Kanj, and Prof. Kassas, titled "Blind Doppler tracking and positioning with NOAA LEO satellite signals" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Urban and Indoor Radio Positioning" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2023) Conference.
Haitham Kanj, Sharbel Kozhaya, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2023 Conference
September 2023 -- The paper by Haitham Kanj, Sharbel Kozhaya, and Prof. Kassas, titled "Acquisition and tracking of Starlink LEO satellite signals in low SNR regime" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Advanced Software and Hardware Technologies for GNSS Receivers" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2023) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Co-organize a Special Session on "Autonomous Navigation for Ground, Seaborne, and Airborne Vehicles" at ION GNSS+ Conference 2023
September 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized along with Dr. Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska (The Ohio State University) a Special Session titled "Autonomous Navigation for Ground, Seaborne, and Airborne Vehicles" at the 2023 Institute of Navigation (ION) GNSS+ Conference, Denver, CO. The session discussed how will automated vehicles transform our lives in the future? What are the remaining challenges that hold back autonomous vehicles, from self-driving cars to unmanned aerial vehicles to autonomous transit, from the mass market? How much can we trust the autonomous navigation and guidance of these cyber-physical systems? What sensors/signals should we use that provide continuous, trustworthy, and secure flow of information needed for autonomous navigation? How is the robustness and integrity addressed by different stakeholders and industries? The session comprised invited presentations from 5 experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia: Ms. Karen Van Dyke (U.S. Department of Transportation), Dr. Timothy Seitz (Transportation Research Center (TRC) Inc.), Dr. Eldar Rubinov (FrontierSI), Dr. Ilaria Martini (u-blox AG), and Dr. Clark Taylor (Air Force Institute of Technology).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Distinguished Lecture at The Ohio State University
September 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited distinguished lecture at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University (OSU). His lecture, titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites," was delivered as part of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Distinguished Lecturers Program.
Prof. Kassas Gives Keynote Presentation at IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC) 2023
September 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave a Keynote Presentation at the Mega Constellation Satellite Networks for 6G Workshop at the 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), Toronto, Canada, titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites."
Inside GNSS Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Exploiting Multi-Constellation LEO Satellite Signals of Opportunity for Navigation
August 2023 -- The cover of the August 2023 issue of Inside GNSS Magazine featured an article by Prof. Kassas, Sharbel Kozhaya, Joe Saroufim, Haitham Kanj, and Samer Hayek, titled “A look at the stars: navigation with multi-constellation LEO satellite signals of opportunity.” The article showcased ASPIN Laboratory's breakthrough results in exploiting multi-constellation low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals for navigation. The article presented a LEO-agnostic blind receiver, capable of exploiting LEO downlink signals for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). The article showed experimental results demonstrating the efficacy of the developed receiver with Starlink, OneWeb, Iridium, and Orbcomm. Despite adopting different modulation and multiple access transmission schemes, the receiver was capable of successfully estimating the beacon and tracking the Doppler, in a blind fashion, of 8 LEO satellites (2 OneWeb, 4 Starlink, 1 Iridium, and 1 Orbcomm) over a period of about 560 seconds with Hz-level accuracy. The produced Doppler measurements were fused through a nonlinear estimator to localize a stationary receiver to an unprecedented level of accuracy. Starting with an initial estimate about 3,600 km away, a final three-dimensional (3–D) position error of 5.8 m and 2–D position error of 5.1 m was achieved. Next, the article demonstrated a ground vehicle navigating with the developed receiver via the differential simultaneous tracking and navigation (DSTAN) framework, pioneered by the ASPIN Laboratory, while exploiting signals from 8 LEO satellites (4 Starlink, 1 OneWeb, 2 Orbcomm, and 1 Iridium). The vehicle traversed 1.03 km, the last 0.92 km of which without GNSS signals. While the vehicle's GNSS-aided inertial navigation system (INS), which utilized an industrial-grade inertial measurement unit (IMU), drifted to a final error of 1,877 m and a position root-mean squared error (RMSE) of 788 m, DSTAN dramatically reduced these errors to 4.4 m and 9.5 m, respectively. Finally, the article gave a sneak peak to the future, showing simulation results to demonstrate the promise of the developed approach when more LEO satellites are deployed into space. The simulations considered a fixed-wing aerial vehicle, navigating with LEO-aided INS DTSAN, which utilized a tactical-grade IMU and 3 differential LEO base stations, while exploiting signals from 29 LEO satellites (14 Starlink, 11 OneWeb, 3 Iridium, and 1 Orbcomm), achieving decimeter-level accuracy over a trajectory of 28 km. Aside from achieving this unprecedented level of accuracy, these results represent the first successful opportunistic tracking of unknown OneWeb LEO signals and their exploitation for PNT.
Sharbel Kozhaya, Haitham Kanj, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Research Poster Award at Consortium on Electromagnetics and Radio Frequencies (CERF) Symposium 2023
August 2023 -- The poster by Sharbel Kozhaya, Haitham Kanj, and Prof. Kassas, titled "Opportunistic navigation with multi-constellation LEO satellites" won the Best Research Poster award at the ElectroScience Laboratory (ESL) Consortium on Electromagnetics and Radio Frequencies (CERF) Symposium 2023. The CERF Symposium featured 27 research posters, and the award selection was based on the academic content (accuracy, methodology), appeal to audience (their rationale and comprehension), and overall quality (flow of the presentation, supporting images).
Prof. Kassas Named TRC Endowed Chair in Intelligent Transportation Systems
July 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was named the Transportation Research Center (TRC) Endowed Chair in Intelligent Transportation Systems. Endowed positions are one of the highest honors the University can bestow upon its faculty. These positions illustrate the powerful partnership between faculty and philanthropists in defining areas of discovery and bringing them to life. By funding endowed chairs, donors can convene the brightest minds to focus on particular problems or issues and spur advances in those areas. Awarded to faculty who have achieved great distinction, endowed positions universally acknowledge research and scholarship of the highest caliber and signify the broad impact of the individual’s work. Endowed positions also aid in the recruitment and retention of faculty who are at the top of their respective fields, enhancing their ability to secure future funding.
Prof. Kassas Co-Organizes a Workshop on Mission Critical Communications at the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference 2023
June 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized and co-chaired with Prof. Hichan Moon (Hanyang University, South Korea), Prof. Chuan Foh (University of Surrey, UK), and Prof. Dania Marabissi (University of Florence, Italy), a Workshop on Mission Critical Communications at the 2023 Spring IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, Florence, Italy. The workshop spanned full-a-day and comprised 11 peer-reviewed paper presentations and two keynote presentations by Prof. Moe Win (MIT) and Mr. Federico Frosali (Leonardo).
The Gareth and Billcast Podcast Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Multi-Constellation LEO Satellites
May 2023 -- The Gareth and Billcast podcast episode titled "Finding Yourself, and AI Phenomenology" featured ASPIN Laboratory's latest research in exploiting multi-constellation low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites for positioning and navigation. Hosted by Gareth Mitchell and Bill Thompson, the podcast covers technology stories and news from around the world. The podcast follows up on the hosts' November 2021 BBC World Service weekly podcast, Digital Planet, which featured an interview with Prof. Kassas on ASPIN Laboratory's research in exploiting Starlink satellites for navigation purposes (Prof. Kassas' segment in that interview starts at 11:50 and at 37:00).
IEEE Spectrum: Prof. Kassas Discusses ASPIN Laboratory Research of the First Multi-Constellation Navigation Results with Starlink, ObeWeb, Obrcomm, and Iridium LEO Satellites
May 2023 -- IEEE Spectrum featured an interview with Prof. Kassas on ASPIN Laboratory's latest research in exploiting multi-constellation low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals, in an article titled "This Alternative Could Stay on Target if GPS Fails: Researchers can calculate precise locations from imprecise LEO signals." The article showcased the first demonstration of a ground vehicle navigating with multi-constellation LEO satellite signals from Starlink, OneWeb, Orbcomm, and Iridium to an unprecedented level of accuracy without GPS/GNSS. ASPIN Laboratory's breakthrough results are the first to showcase successful exploitation of the unknown signals transmitted by OneWeb satellites for positioning and navigation purposes.
Sharbel Kozhaya, Haitham Kanj, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Student Paper Award at IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) 2023 Conference
April 2023 -- The paper by Sharbel Kozhaya, Haitham Kanj, and Prof. Kassas titled "Multi-constellation blind beacon estimation, Doppler tracking, and opportunistic positioning with OneWeb, Starlink, Iridium NEXT, and Orbcomm LEO satellites" won the Best Student Paper award at the 2023 IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) 2023 Conference
April 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation at the "Frontiers of GNSS" Special Session at the 2023 IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) Conference, titled "Navigation with Multi-Constellation LEO Satellite Signals of Opportunity: Starlink, OneWeb, Orbcomm, and Iridium." The session featured world-renowned positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) experts from the Aerospace Corporation, European Space Agency (ESA), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Japan/QZSS Strategy Office, AOSense, and Stanford University (Dr. Bradford Parkinson).
Prof. Kassas Elected as Chair of IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society Navigation Systems Panel
April 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was elected as the Chair of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Navigation Systems Panel. The panel is composed of members who have demonstrated leadership and the desire to advance navigation technology and system capabilities for aircraft, spacecraft, ground and marine vehicles, and pedestrians as well as history of navigation systems and navigation education. The panelists span industry, government laboratories, educational institutions, and professional societies.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Distinguished Lecture at West Virginia University
April 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited distinguished lecture at the Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering at West Virginia University (WVU). His lecture, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments," was delivered as part of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Distinguished Lecturers Program.
ION Spring 2023 Newsletter Features an Article about the CARMEN UTC
April 2023 -- The Spring 2023 Newsletter of the Institute of Navigation (ION) featured an article by Prof. Zak Kassas about the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal AssurEd Navigation (CARMEN) titled "Securing PNT for Highly Automated Transportation Systems."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Distinguished Lecture at the University of Minnesota
March 2023 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited distinguished lecture at the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMN). His lecture, titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites," was delivered as part of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Distinguished Lecturers Program.
Prof. Kassas to Lead $15M Department of Transportation Tier 1 Center on Cybersecurity for Highly Automated Transportation Systems
February 2023 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded the team led by Prof. Kassas a $15M Tier 1 University Transportation Center (UTC) in the area of Reducing Transportation Cybersecurity Risks. Prof. Kassas will serve as the principal investigator (PI) and Center Director for a national research consortium comprising The Ohio State University (OSU); University of Texas at Austin (UT); University of California, Irvine (UCI); and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NCAT). The UTC will involve 18 Co-PIs-- OSU: Q. Ahmed, C. Chen, D. Grejner-Brzezinska, Z. Kassas, Z. Lin, F. Ozguner, U. Ozguner, K. Redmill, C. Toth, A. Yener; UT: C. Bhat, T. Humphreys; UCI: A. Chen, V. Deguzman, R. Jayakrishnan, S. Ritchie; NCAT: A. Homaifar, M. Mahmoud. The UTC’s researchers will focus on cybersecurity of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) signals and sensors for multi-modal highly automated transportation systems (ground, aerial, and maritime). The new UTC will be called CARMEN+, short for Center for Automated Vehicle Research with Multimodal AssurEd Navigation, which will expand upon the work completed in the two-year CARMEN UTC, awarded to Ohio State in 2020 and led by Kassas. Reflecting the popularity of the program that launched in 1988, the U.S. Department of Transportation received a record 169 UTC grant proposals, from which only 20 Tier 1 UTCs were awarded.
Prof. Kassas Named Fellow of the Institute of Navigation
January 2023 -- Prof. Kassas was elected Fellow of the Institute of Navigation (ION). ION Fellow membership recognizes sustained professional accomplishments that have significantly contributed to the advancement of the arts and sciences of Positioning, Navigation and/or Timing (PNT) in the areas of technology, management, practice or teaching, and a demonstrated and sustained impact on the PNT community. The number of ION Fellow promotions every year cannot exceed 0.1% of the total number of members. Prof. Kassas was elected for "groundbreaking contributions to the theory and application of navigation with terrestrial and extraterrestrial signals of opportunity, and for dedicated national leadership and scientific service."
Prof. Kassas Named Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society
January 2023 -- Prof. Kassas was named a 2023-2024 Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS). The IEEE Distinguished Lecturers are eminent experts who help lead their fields in new technical developments that shape the global community. These experts specialize in fields of interest of their society and travel to various technical and regional groups to lecture at events. The AESS fields of interest include organization, systems engineering, design, development, integration, and operation of complex systems for space, air, ocean, or ground environments. These systems include those represented on the AESS technical panels: navigation, avionics, radar, cyber security, among other interests including information fusion. Prof. Kassas will deliver two lectures related to his research: "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments" and "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites."
Prof. Kassas Gives Distinguished Presentation at the 6G Summit
January 2023 -- Prof. Kassas gave an invited distinguished presentation at the 3rd 6G Summit, hosted by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites." The Summit featured 24 invited presentations from international experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia.
Prof. Kassas Gives Receives $350K Award from the Aerospace Corporation
January 2023 -- Prof. Kassas received a $350K award from the Aerospace Corporation. This two-year award will enable researching and demonstrating signals of opportunity as an alternative positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) to global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).
Prof. Kassas Gives Plenary Presentation at the International GNSS Conference 2022
December 2022 -- Prof. Kassas gave a Plenary Presentation at the 2022 International GNSS Conference, Sydney, Australia, titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites."
Prof. Kassas Serves as Panelist at the International GNSS Conference 2022
December 2022 -- Prof. Kassas served on an invited Panel on "5G" at the 2022 International GNSS Conference, Sydney, Australia. The Panelists included Fredrik Gunnarsson (Ericsson Research), Grant Hausler (Swift Navigation), Luis Elneser (FrontierSI), and Guillermo Tobías González (GMV). The panel was moderated by Christopher Marshall (FrontierSI).
Prof. Kassas Serves as Panelist at the International GNSS Conference 2022
December 2022 -- Prof. Kassas served on an invited Panel on "PNT in Low Earth Orbit" at the 2022 International GNSS Conference, Sydney, Australia. The Panelists included Patrick Diamond (LEOPNT), Joshua Morales (StarNav), and Bryan Chan (Xona Space Systems). The panel was moderated by Eldar Rubinov (FrontierSI).
Prof. Kassas Invited as a Subject Matter Expert to Present at the 27th National Space-Based PNT Advisory Board Meeting
November 2022 -- Prof. Kassas was invited by the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, & Timing (PNT) Advisory Board to present in their 27th Meeting in Redondo Beach, CA, about "LEO Constellations for Navigation: Overview, Details of Starlink, How LEO can Backup GPS". The Board provides independent advice to the U.S. government on GPS-related policy, planning, program management, and funding profiles in relation to the current state of national and international satellite navigation services.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at IEEE Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellites & Systems Workshop
November 2022 -- Prof. Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites" at the 2nd IEEE Low Earth Orbit Satellites & Systems (LEO SatS) Workshop. Organized by the IEEE LEO SatS Project, which was launched by the IEEE Future Directions in 2021, the Workshop featured a dozen presentations from international experts in various aspects of LEO satellites, namely computation and technology; communication; navigation; remote sensing; and education, collaboration, and open source.
Prof. Kassas Invited as Speaker and Panelist at ITS America's Webinar "The New Infrastructure: Physical + Digital Helps Enable Positive Citizen Outcomes"
November 2022 -- Prof. Kassas was invited by Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) to be speaker and panelist at a webinar titled "The New Infrastructure: Physical + Digital Helps Enable Positive Citizen Outcomes." The speakers included: Dr. Robert Hampshire (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer, U.S. DOT), Joshua Benson (Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Operations, NYC DOT), Preeti Choudhary (Executive Director of Drive Ohio, Ohio DOT), Amy Scarton (Deputy Secretary, Washington State DOT), Tony Tavares (Director, Caltrans), Leslie Harlien (VP of Public Business Development and Strategy, Dell), Sajid Khan (General Manager of Smart Cities & Transportation Business Strategy & Marketing, Intel), Gregg Descheemaeker (General Manager of US Education, State & Local Governments, Intel), Elizabeth McGee (Chief Strategy & Innovation Advisor, U.S. Public Sector, Intel), Laura Chace (President & CEO, ITSA), and Tim Drake (VP of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, ITSA).
Prof. Kassas, Ali Abdallah, and US Air Force Collaborators Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2022 Conference
September 2022 -- The paper by Prof. Kassas, Ali Abdallah, Chiawei Lee, Juan Jurado, Steven Wachtel, Jacob Duede, Zachary Hoeffner, Thomas Hulsey, Rachel Quirarte, and RunXuan Tay, titled "Protecting the Skies: GNSS-Less Aircraft Navigation with Terrestrial Cellular Signals of Opportunity" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "New Technologies, Opportunities and Challenges" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2022) Conference.
Sharbel Kozhaya and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2022 Conference
September 2022 -- The paper by Sharbel Kozhaya and Prof. Kassas, titled "Blind Receiver for LEO Beacon Estimation with Application to UAV Carrier Phase Differential Navigation" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Advanced Processing of Signals of Opportunity for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2022) Conference.
Mohammad Neinavaie and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2022 Conference
September 2022 -- The paper by Mohammad Neinavaie and Prof. Kassas, titled "Joint Detection and Tracking of Unknown Beacons for Navigation with 5G Signals and Beyond" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Protection and Optimization" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2022) Conference.
Ralph Sabbagh and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2022 Conference
September 2022 -- The paper by Ralph Sabbagh and Prof. Kassas, titled "Observability Analysis of Opportunistic Receiver Localization with LEO Satellite Pseudorange Measurements" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Navigation Using Environmental Features" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2022) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Serves as Panelist at the ION GNSS+ Conference 2022
September 2022 -- Prof. Kassas was invited to be a speaker and panelist in a special session on "Beyond GNSS: Emerging Trends in LEO-based Satnav and Signals of Opportunity for PNT" at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2022) Conference. The special session was organized by Dr. Sanjeev Gunawardena (Air Force Institute of Technology) and Dr. Joanna Hinks (Air Force Research Laboratory). Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Roy Want (Google), Mr. Logan Scott (LS Consulting), Dr. Mark Psiaki (Virginia Tech), Dr. Emanuela Falletti (LINKS Foundation), Mr. Lionel Ries (European Space Agency), and Mr. Salvatore Corvo (Thales Alenia Space).
Prof. Kassas Serves as Panelist at the ION GNSS+ Conference 2022
September 2022 -- Prof. Kassas was invited to be a speaker and panelist in a special session on "Autonomous Navigation for Ground, Seaborne, and Airborne Vehicles" at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2022) Conference. The special session was organized by Dr. Andrey Soloviev (QuNav) and Dr. Juliette Marais (Université Gustave Eiffel). Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Boris Pervan (Illinois Institute of Technology), Dr. Omar García Crespillo (German Aerospace Center, DLR), Mr. Valentin Barreau (SNCF, French Railways), Dr. Boubeker Belabbas (Bosch), and Dr. Philippe Bonnifait (Technological University of Compiegne).
Prof. Kassas Invited to a Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Stakeholder Roundtable at US Department of Transportation Headquarters in Washington, DC
August 2022 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) invited Prof. Kassas to a Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Stakeholder Roundtable at USDOT Headquarters in Washington, DC. The event was organized by Dr. Robert Hampshire, USDOT's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer, and included a visit by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. The half-day agenda included a high-level overview of the DOT Complementary PNT Demonstration and recommendations; perspectives from PNT technology vendors on successes and challenges with deployment of complementary PNT capabilities; perspectives from critical infrastructure sectors on the need for resilient PNT solutions; successes and barriers to adoption of complementary PNT technologies into end user critical infrastructure applications; and U.S. government actions to expedite adoption of resilient PNT solutions. Prof. Kassas was the only academic invited to the roundtable.
Prof. Kassas Gives Keynote Presentation at IFAC Symposium on Advances in Automotive Control 2022
August 2022 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave a Keynote Presentation at the Invited Session: Position, Navigation and Timing Security in Highly Automated Vehicles at the 2022 IFAC Symposium on Advances in Automotive Control, Columbus, OH, which overviewed the US Department of Transportation University Transportation Center (UTC): CARMEN: Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal AssurEd Navigation.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Webinar for GPS World Magazine on Why LEO PNT is Closer to Reality Than You Think
August 2022 -- Prof. Kassas gave an invited webinar hosted by GPS World Magazine and Orolia Defense & Security titled "A Galaxy Far, Far Away? Why LEO PNT is Closer to Reality Than You Think." Other webinar speakers were Alaiya Tuntemeke-Winter (Orolia Defense & Security), Patrick Shannon (TrustPoint, Inc.), and Bryan Chan (Xona Space Systems).
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IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments
July 2022 -- The cover of the July 2022 issue of IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine featured an article by Prof. Kassas, Joe Khalife, Ali Abdallah, and Chiawei Lee (Edwards Air Force Base), titled I Am Not Afraid of the GPS Jammer: Resilient Navigation via Signals of Opportunity in GPS-Denied Environments. The article presented the first published experimental results evaluating the efficacy of ASPIN Laboratory's radio simultaneous localization and mapping (radio SLAM) in a real GPS-denied environment. These experiments took place at Edwards Air Force Base, Mojave Desert, California, USA, during NAVFEST, where GPS was intentionally jammed with jamming-to-signal (J/S) ratio as high as 90 dB. The article evaluated the timing of two cellular long-term evolution (LTE) transmitters located in the jammed environment, showing timing stability over 95 minutes of GPS jamming. Moreover, the article presented navigation results showcasing a ground vehicle traversing a trajectory of about 5 km in 180 seconds in the GPS-jammed environment. The vehicle’s GPS-IMU system drifted from the vehicle’s ground truth trajectory, resulting in a position root mean-squared error (RMSE) of 238 m. In contrast, the radio SLAM approach with signals from a single cellular LTE transmitter whose position was poorly known (an initial uncertainty on the order of several kilometers) achieved a position RMSE of 32 m.
ASPIN Laboratory Paper Ranks as the Most Popular in IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems
July 2022 -- The paper by Mohammad Neinavaie, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas titled Acquisition, Doppler tracking, and positioning with Starlink LEO satellites: first results was ranked in July 2022 as the most accessed paper among all papers ever published by the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems. The fifth most accessed paper was also authored by ASPIN Laboratory titled The first carrier phase tracking and positioning results with Starlink LEO satellite signals. These papers developed a new theoretical framework for acquisition and tracking of unknown Starlink signals and showcased the first ever successful exploitation of these signals for meter-level-accurate positioning. Starlink is a megaconstellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, operated by SpaceX.
Prof. Kassas Co-Organizes a Special Session on Estimation and Fusion for Navigation at FUSION Conference 2022
June 2022 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized with Prof. Jindrich Dunik (University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic), Prof. Michael Braasch (Ohio University), and Prof. Pau Closas (Northeastern University), a Special Session titled " Estimation and Fusion for Navigation" at the 2022 International Conference on Information Fusion, Linköping, Sweden.
Prof. Kassas Gives Keynote Presentation at IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference 2022
June 2022 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave a Keynote Presentation at the Workshop on Mission Critical Communications at the 2022 Spring IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, Helsinki, Finland, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Navigation of Highly Automated Vehicles."
Nadim Khairallah and Prof. Kassas Win Best Student Paper Award at IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference 2022
June 2022 -- The paper by Nadim Khairallah and Prof. Kassas titled "An Interacting Multiple Model Estimator of LEO Satellite Clocks for Improved Positioning" won the overall Best Student Paper award at the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC, Spring 2022). The paper was chosen from among 614 papers accepted at VTC Spring 2022.
Prof. Kassas Co-Organizes a Workshop on Mission Critical Communications at the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference 2022
June 2022 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized and co-chaired with Prof. Hichan Moon (Hanyang University, South Korea) and Prof. Chuan Foh (University of Surrey, UK), a Workshop on Mission Critical Communications at the 2022 Spring IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, Helsinki, Finland. The workshop spanned half-a-day and comprised 6 peer-reviewed paper presentations and a keynote presentation.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Distinguished Seminar at Aerospace Corporation
May 2022 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited distinguished seminar at the Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA, titled "Ad Astra: Navigation with Megaconstellation LEO Satellites." Hosted by Aerospace Technical Fellows and the PNT-COMM Hub, the distinguished seminar was live-streamed, attracting more than 250 in-person and online attendees.
ASPIN Laboratory Win Best Demo Award Runner-Up at ACM Workshop on Automotive and Autonomous Vehicle Security (AutoSec) 2022
April 2022 -- The paper by Ali Abdallah, Prof. Kassas, and Chiawei Lee (Edwards Air Force Base) won the best demo award runner-up at the 2022 ACM Workshop on Automotive and Autonomous Vehicle Security (AutoSec). This peer-reviewed Workshop took place as part of the Network & Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium, which is considered one of the top-tier security conferences (referred to as "big 4"). The Workshop showcased demonstrations of the latest attacks and defenses on automotive and autonomous vehicles. The paper showed ASPIN Laboratory's latest and most advanced navigation framework with terrestrial cellular signals, which achieved unprecedented navigation accuracy in a GPS-denied environment. The video accompanying the paper demonstrated a ground vehicle navigating during live GPS jamming at Edwards Air Force Base at NAVFEST, achieving a position root-mean squared error of 2.6 m with cellular signals only, over a trajectory of 5 km.
Prof. Kassas and Collaborators Receive $1.2M from the National Science Foundation
April 2022 -- The team of Prof. Lee Swindlehurst, Prof. Hamid Jafarkhani, and Prof. Tirtha Banerjee from the University of California, Irvine (UCI); Dr. Janice Coen from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR); and Prof. Kassas was awarded a $1.2M grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) program, to pursue the project titled "SMAC-FIRE: Closed-Loop Sensing, Modeling and Communications for WildFIRE." The system developed under this project will enable more rapid localization and situational awareness of wildfires at their earliest stages, better predictions of both local, near-term and event-scale behavior, better situational awareness and coordination of personnel and resources, and increased safety for fire fighters on the ground.
Prof. Kassas Invited to a US Government Accountability Office Panel to Discuss GPS Interference in the Transportation Sector
March 2022 -- The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) invited Prof. Kassas to a panel to discuss the issue of GPS interference in the transportation sector. Prof. Kassas represented the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Navigation Systems Panel and was the only academic invited to the GAO panel.
Prof. Kassas Receives $750K Grant from the Office of Naval Research
March 2022 -- Prof. Kassas received a three-year, single PI $750,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The grant will fund research to develop an innovative framework that enables resilient and accurate positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) in GPS-denied and GPS-degraded environments by exploiting low and medium Earth orbit (LEO and MEO) satellite signals. This framework, termed cognitive opportunistic navigation, assumes minimal prior knowledge about the radio frequency (RF) environment and learns unknown LEO and MEO signals in a cognitive fashion, turning these signals into our own “dedicated” PNT sources.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2022
March 2022 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled Ad Astra: Navigation with Starlink Megaconstellation LEO Satellites in the session: "Space Mission and Technology Validation" at the 2022 Munich Satellite Navigation Summit. The Summit has been taking place for more than a decade and is considered a world-leading event in satellite navigation for decision makers from politics, industry, research, and authorities. The entire program of the Summit is composed of high-profile invited talks and panel discussions afterwards. The invited session was chaired by Dr. Christoph Günther (Head of the Institute of Communications and Navigation, German Aerospace Center (DLR)) and speakers in the session were Dr. Stefan Schlüter (Head of the Department of Systems Analysis and Evolution at the Galileo Competence Center, DLR), Dr. Andreas Knopp (Chair of Signal Processing, Universität der Bundeswehr München), and Dr. Joanna Hinks (Principal Investigator, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)).
Prof. Kassas Organizes a Special Session on "AI and Advanced Technologies for Next Generation GNSS" at Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2022
March 2022 -- Prof. Zak Kassas organized a Special Session titled "AI and Advanced Technologies for Next Generation GNSS" at the 2022 Munich Satellite Navigation Summit. The session comprised invited presentations from 3 experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia: Dr. Erik Blasch (Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)), Dr. Fabio Dovis (Politecnico di Torino, Torino), and Dr. Stefano Maggiolo (Google).
Columbus Dispatch: Prof. Kassas Discusses USDOT CARMEN UTC Research in Protecting Autonomous Vehicles from GPS Tampering
March 2022 -- The Columbus Dispatch featured an interview with Prof. Kassas, Director of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal AssurEd Navigation (CARMEN), titled Ohio State Researchers Seek to Protect Cars from GPS Tampering.
Dr. Joe Khalife Wins IEEE AESS Robert T. Hill Best Dissertation Award
February 2022 -- ASPIN Laboratory alumnus Dr. Joe Khalife received the prestigious IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) 2021 Robert T. Hill Best Dissertation for his Ph.D. Dissertation titled "Precise navigation with cellular signals: Receiver design, differential and non-differential frameworks, and performance analysis." Established in 2015, the IEEE AESS Robert T. Hill Best Dissertation Award is an annual award that recognizes a candidate that have recently received a Ph.D. degree and have written an outstanding Ph.D. dissertation in the Field of Interest of the Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society.
Nadim Khairallah Wins US Department of Transportation Graduate Student of the Year Award
January 2022 -- Nadim Khairallah received the prestigious US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Graduate Student of the Year award. This annual award honors the most outstanding graduate students for their achievements and promise for future contributions to the transportation field. The selection underwent a competitive review process by a committee composed of faculty and advisers. The award is based on accomplishments in such areas as technical merit and research, academic performance, professionalism, and leadership. Nadim was nominated via the Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal AssurEd Navigation (CARMEN), which is composed of the following universities: The Ohio State University; University of California, Irvine; University of Texas at Austin; and University of Cincinnati. CARMEN is one of the Tier 1 centers funded by USDOT Office of the Secretary for Research and Technology under the University Transportation Centers (UTC) program.
Inside GNSS Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Exploiting Starlink Satellite Signals for Navigation
December 2021 -- The cover of the December 2021 issue of Inside GNSS Magazine featured an article by Prof. Kassas, Mohammad Neinavaie, Joe Khalife, Nadim Khairallah, Sharbel Kozhaya, Jamil Haidar-Ahmad, and Zeinab Shadram, titled “Enter LEO on the GNSS Stage: Navigation with Starlink Satellites.” The article showcased ASPIN Laboratory's novel results of exploiting SpaceX's Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals for navigation. The article presented a cognitive opportunistic navigation framework to extract relevant information from unknown Starlink downlink signals, which yield Doppler and carrier phase observables. Simulation results were presented showing the potential of using the future Starlink LEO megaconstellation. Experimental results were presented showing (i) positioning of a stationary receiver with signals from 6 Starlink satellites, achieving a horizontal positioning accuracy of 7.7 m; (ii) differential positioning of a stationary receiver with 3 Starlink satellites, achieving a horizontal positioning accuracy of 5.6 m (a stationary base was placed around 1 km away); and (iii) ground vehicle navigation over a 1.82 km trajectory without GNSS signals via a tightly-coupled LEO-aided inertial navigation system (INS), known as the STAN (simultaneous tracking and navigation) framework, with 3 Starlink and 2 Orbcomm LEO satellites, achieving a 3-D positioning root mean squared error (RMSE) of 21.6 m (the INS only RMSE was 118.5 m). These results represent the first ground vehicle navigation results with Starlink LEO satellites.
IEEE Spectrum Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Exploiting Starlink Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Signals for Navigation
December 2021 -- The December 2021 issue of IEEE Spectrum Magazine featured an article titled Could Starlink Be a Backup GPS? highlighting the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems Paper by Joe Khalife, Mohammad Neinavaie, and Prof. Kassas on The First Carrier Phase Tracking and Positioning Results with Starlink LEO Satellite Signals. The highlight article appeared in the Magazine's Journal Watch column.
Prof. Kassas Receives $450K Grant for the AFOSR YIP Award
November 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) award for his work on "Dynamic Data Driven C-SPAN: Cognitive Sensing, Perception, Autonomy, and Navigation." The AFOSR YIP is a highly competitive program that recognizes scientists and engineers at U.S. research institutions who received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last seven years and show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research of military interests. The objective of this program is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force mission and the related challenges in science and engineering. The 36 awardees were selected from more than 175 applicants.
This three-year, $450,000 award will fund research aimed at improving situational awareness in ground and aerial operations by taking advantage of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite megaconstellations. Over the next decade, companies around the world are planning to launch tens of thousands of LEO satellites to improve broadband communications. This research will develop a dynamic data-driven application system (DDDAS) framework to deal with the challenges of LEO satellite megaconstellations: space situational awareness; large-scale optimization; adaptive, optimal, computationally efficient heterogeneous data fusion; and context-aware sensing and autonomy.
BBC Digital Planet: Prof. Kassas Discusses ASPIN Laboratory Research of the First Navigation Results with Starlink Satellites
November 2021 -- The BBC World Service weekly podcast, Digital Planet, featured an interview with Prof. Kassas on ASPIN Laboratory's latest research in exploiting Starlink satellites for navigation purposes. Prof. Kassas' segment in the interview starts at 11:50 and at 37:00. Hosted by Gareth Mitchell, the weekly podcast covers technology stories and news from around the world, drawing around 110-140K weekly downloads and is one of the most popular BBC podcasts.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Webinar for GPS World Magazine on PNT Performance in Challenged Environments
November 2021 -- Prof. Kassas gave an invited webinar hosted by GPS World Magazine and Orolia Defense & Security titled "Measuring Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Performance in Challenged Environments." Other webinar speakers were Jonathan Taylor (Lead Navigation Engineer at Orolia Defense & Security) and Mitch Narins (Principal Consultant and Owner at Strategic Synergies, LLC).
Forbes Article Highlights CARMEN UTC Research
October 2021 -- An article in Forbes titled “New Ohio State Research Reduces GPS Vulnerabilities” highlighted recent research results from CARMEN on reducing GPS vulnerabilities and finding alternatives to GPS. CARMEN, the Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal AssurEd Navigation, a US Department of Transportation Center directed by Prof. Kassas, has successfully demonstrated using cellular LTE and 5G signals and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals (e.g., Orbcomm, Iridium, and Starlink) for navigation. The CARMEN team includes Prof. Todd Humphreys (University of Texas at Austin) who has been studying GPS signal authentication using terrestrial signals and evaluating risk identification.
IEEE Spectrum: Prof. Kassas Discusses ASPIN Laboratory Research of the First Navigation Results with Starlink Satellites
October 2021 -- IEEE Spectrum featured an interview with Prof. Kassas on ASPIN Laboratory's latest research in exploiting Starlink satellites for navigation purposes in an article titled "Building an Alternative to GPS". Starlink is a megaconstellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, operated by SpaceX. ASPIN Laboratory's breakthrough results are the first to showcase successful exploitation of the unknown signals transmitted by Starlink satellites for positioning and navigation purposes.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at Tufts University
October 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University, Medford, MA, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Autonomous Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments."
Prof. Kassas Receives $300K Grant from Sandia National Laboratories
September 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received a single-PI $300K grant from Sandia National Laboratories for his proposal titled "Aircraft Navigation via Opportunistic Radio Frequency Simultaneous Localization and Mapping." This two-year project will develop novel navigation strategies for aircraft in GNSS-denied environments, exploiting ambient terrestrial signals of opportunity.
Ars Technica Discusses ASPIN Laboratory Research of the First Navigation Results with Starlink Satellites
September 2021 -- Ars Technica featured an article discussing ASPIN Laboratory’s research in exploiting Starlink satellites for navigation purposes in an article titled "Researchers Use Starlink Satellites to Pinpoint Location, Similar to GPS". The article also featured an interview with Prof. Kassas who discussed this feat.
Science Features ASPIN Laboratory Research Showcasing the First Navigation Results with Starlink Satellites
September 2021 -- Science featured ASPIN Laboratory's research in exploiting Starlink satellites for navigation purposes in an article titled "Scientists Create their Own GPS by Spying on Internet Satellites". Starlink is a megaconstellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, operated by SpaceX. There are currently more than 1,700 Starlink satellites in orbit, with plans to launch tens of thousands more satellites in the near future. This research is described in the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems paper titled The First Carrier Phase Tracking and Positioning Results with Starlink LEO Satellite Signals. These breakthrough results are the first to showcase successful exploitation of the unknown signals transmitted by Starlink satellites for positioning and navigation purposes.
ASPIN Laboratory Researchers Author 3 of the 10 Most Watched Presentations at ION GNSS+ 2021
September 2021 -- The Fall 2021 Newsletter of the Institute of Navigation (ION) recapped the ION GNSS+ 2021 conference. Three of the ten most watched presentations at the Conference were authored by ASPIN Laboratory researchers: (1) Exploiting Starlink Signals for Navigation: First Results, (2) Comparison of Neural Network Architectures for Simultaneous Tracking and Navigation with LEO Satellite, and (3) A Machine Learning Multipath Mitigation Approach for Opportunistic Navigation with 5G Signals.
Joe Khalife, Mohammad Neinavaie, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2021 Conference
September 2021 -- The paper by Joe Khalife, Mohammad Neinavaie, and Prof. Kassas, titled "Universal Receiver Architecture for Blind Navigation with Partially Nnown Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Signals of Opportunity" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Alternate Localization Technologies in GNSS Challenged Environments" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2021) Conference.
Mohamad Orabi, Ali Abdallah, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2021 Conference
September 2021 -- The paper by Mohamad Orabi, Ali Abdallah, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas, titled "A Machine Learning Multipath Mitigation Approach for Opportunistic Navigation with 5G Signals" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Advanced Processing of Signals of Opportunity for Positioning, Navigation and Timing" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2021) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Co-organize a Special Session on "AI-Enabled Navigation in Smart Cities" at ION GNSS+ Conference 2021
September 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized along with Dr. Charles Toth (The Ohio State University) and Dr. Andrew Hansen (Vople Center, U.S. Department of Transportation) a Special Session titled "AI-Enabled Navigation in Smart Cities" at the 2021 Institute of Navigation (ION) GNSS+ Conference, St. Louis, MO. The session discussed the latest advances in endowing navigation systems in transportation, critical infrastructure, and commercial application with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. The session comprised invited presentations from 5 experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia: Ms. Karen Van Dyke (U.S. Department of Transportation), Dr. Peter Reinartz (German Aerospace Center (DLR)), Prof. Jan Dirk Wegner, (ETH Zurich), Mr. Joe Grasso (National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)), and Dr. Erik Blasch (Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)).
Prof. Kassas Invited as Speaker and Panelist in the Special Session "On the Road to Automated Vehicles" in Navigation at ION GNSS+ Conference 2021
September 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was invited to be a speaker and panelist in a special session titled "On the Road to Automated Vehicles" at the ION GNSS+ Conference 2021. The special session was organized by Prof. Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska (The Ohio State University) and Dr. Tyler Reid (Xona Space Systems). Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Niels Joubert (Aurora), Ms. Emily Hernandez (CelLink), and Dr. Gary Fay (Rivian Automotive).
Prof. Kassas Co-organizes Special Session on Resilient and Secure Navigation for Highly Automated Transportation Systems at IEEE ITSC 2021
September 2021 -- Prof. Kassas co-organized a special session titled "Resilient and Secure Navigation for Highly Automated Transportation Systems" at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC) 2021. Peer-reviewed paper submissions to the special session was by invitation and included papers from University of California, Irvine; University of Texas at Austin; and The Ohio State University. The Special Session was co-organized by Prof. Umit Ozguner and Dr. Joe Khalife. The special session was kicked off by a Keynote Presentation by Prof. Chandra Bhat (University of Texas at Austin).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at the Lebanese American University
September 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the School of Engineering at the Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon, titled "Resilient and Accurate Navigation of Highly Automated Vehicles."
Prof. Kassas Appointed a Senior Editor for IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles
August 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was appointed a Senior Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at the International Technical Symposium on Navigation and Timing (ITSNT) 2021
June 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited virtual seminar at the International Technical Symposium on Navigation and Timing, (ITSNT), Toulouse, France, titled "I am Not Afraid of the Jammer: Navigating with Signals of Opportunity in GPS-Denied Environments." The conference drew a worldwide audience, who attended invitation-only presentations, delivered by renowned experts from government, academia, and industry (e.g., European Commission, German Aerospace Center (DLR), European GNSS Agency (GSA), Centre National D'études Spatiales (CNES), u-blox, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Texas Austin, University of Colorado Boulder, and Illinois Institute of Technology).
Prof. Kassas Serves as Panelist at ASCE International Conference on Transportation and Development
June 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas served on an invited Panel on "Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) in Transportation Safety Applications" at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) International Conference on Transportation & Development (ICTD). The Panelists included Ms. Karen Van Dyke (Director of PNT & Spectrum Management at U.S. Department of Transportation), Prof. Todd Humphreys (University of Texas at Austin), and Prof. Zak Kassas. The Panel was moderated by Prof. Stephen Ritchie (University of California, Irvine) and Prof. Chandra Bhat (University of Texas at Austin).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar to the Air Force Research Laboratory
May 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited virtual seminar to the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments." The seminar was attended by various AFRL bases and other Department of Defense (DoD) branches.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at Workshop on Safety and Security for Connected Autonomous Vehicles
May 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited virtual presentation at the University of California (UCI) Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) Workshop on Safety and Security for Connected Autonomous Vehicles, titled "Highly Automated Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Mu Jia Receives Melucci Endowed Fellowship
April 2021 -- Mu Jia received the 2020-2021 Melucci Endowed Fellowship. This annual fellowship is awarded based on academic record, as well as interest in, and commitment to Aerospace Engineering.
Prof. Kassas Joins IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society Navigation Systems Vision and Perspectives Panel
March 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was invited to join the newly established IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Vision and Perspectives Panel. The Panel is composed of one representative from each of the six IEEE AESS Technical Panels. The Panel will advise the Technical Operations Committee on future directions and initiatives.
Prof. Kassas Gives Presentation to US-EU GPS-Galileo Working Group C
February 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was invited to present at the US-EU Working Group C - Resilience Subgroup meeting. Working Group C (WG-C) was established to enhance next generation GPS-Galileo cooperation between the U.S. and the European Union (EU). One of the objectives of WG-C is to develop integrated applications for Safety-of-Life services (e.g., aviation).
Prof. Kassas Elected as Vice Chair of IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society Navigation Systems Panel
February 2021 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was elected as the Vice Chair of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Navigation Systems Panel. The panel is composed of members who have demonstrated leadership and the desire to advance navigation technology and system capabilities for aircraft, spacecraft, ground and marine vehicles, and pedestrians as well as history of navigation systems and navigation education. The panelists span industry, government laboratories, educational institutions, and professional societies.
Inside GNSS Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Navigation with 5G Signals
February 2021 -- The February 2021 issue of Inside GNSS magazine featured an article by Prof. Kassas, Ali Abdallah, and Mohammad Orabi, titled “Carpe Signum: Seize the Signal – Opportunistic Navigation with 5G.” The article presents the first ever published experimental results for opportunistic navigation with downlink 5G signals. The 5G signals were processed with the Multichannel Adaptive TRansciever Information eXtractor (MATRIX) software-defined receiver (SDR) developed by the ASPIN Laboratory. The experimental results show a ground vehicle navigating in an urban environment for 773 m, achieving a position root mean-squared error (RMSE) of 4.1 with only 5 5G gNBs.
Authoritative Navigation Reference Publishes Two Chapters Authored by Prof. Kassas
January 2021 -- After nearly six years of writing, editing, and assembly, the authoritative reference for position, navigation, and timing (PNT) is finally published by Wiley-IEEE Press. This reference, titled "Position, Navigation, and Timing Technologies in the 21st Century: Integrated Satellite Navigation, Sensor Systems, and Civil Applications" is considered a follow-up for the highly cited and bestselling reference in the history of the AIAA publishing world: "Global Positioning System: Theory and Applications," appearing in 1996, and commonly referred to as the "Blue Book." The new reference is composed of more than 2000 pages in two volumes with 6 subdivisions: (1) Satellite Navigation Systems, (2) Satellite Navigation Technologies, (3) Satellite Navigation for Engineering and Scientific Applications, (4) PNT Using Radio Signals-of-Opportunity, (5) PNT Using Non-Radio Signals-of-Opportunity, and (6) PNT for Consumer and Commercial Applications. The reference is organized into 64 chapters, each authored by subject matter experts in the respective field. The four lead editors of the new reference are Y. Jade Morton, University of Colorado at Boulder and past president of the Institute of Navigation (ION); Frank van Diggelen, Google and current president of the ION; James J. Spilker, formerly of Stanford University; and Bradford W. Parkinson, Stanford University, chief architect for GPS and the first Director of the GPS Joint Program Office. Prof. Kassas authored two chapters: "Chapter 37: Navigation with Cellular Signals of Opportunity" and "Chapter: 43: Navigation from low Earth orbit - Part 2: models, implementation, and performance," with significant content from ASPIN's latest research, carried out mainly by ASPIN alumni Dr. Joe Khalife, Dr. Kimia Shalamei, and Dr. Joshua Morales.
Prof. Kassas Receives $457K DOD DURIP Award
December 2020 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received a single-PI $457 Department of Defense (DOD) Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) award for his work on "Harnessing Terrestrial and Space-Based Millimeter-Wave Signals for Resilient and Accurate Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT)." Supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), this award will be used to build a mmWave opportunistic navigation system (mONS) testbed, which will be the first-of-its-kind in research aimed at harnessing terrestrial and space-based mmWave signals for resilient and accurate PNT in GPS-denied and GPS-challenged environments. The proposed mONS testbed is envisaged to be deployed in multiple configurations: (1) as a stationary ground station, (2) on ground vehicles, (3) on manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, (4) on maritime vehicles, and (5) a combination thereof. The annual DURIP award process is highly competitive and is administered through a merit competition jointly by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office, and Office of Naval Research. Of the 742 received proposals for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, only 150 were awarded.
Prof. Kassas Invited as Speaker and Panelist at Workshop Hosted by Stanford University
December 2020 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was invited to be a speaker and panelist at an invitation-only "Workshop on Spectrum Challenges and Opportunities for 6G and Navigation" at Stanford University. The workshop featured well-recognized experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia. Professor Kassas' presentation was titled "Opportunistic Navigation with 6G Signals."
Prof. Kassas, Joe Khalife, Ali Abdallah, and Chiawei Lee Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2020 Conference
September 2020 -- The paper by Prof. Kassas, Joe Khalife, Ali Abdallah, and Chiawei Lee (Edwards Air Force Base) titled "I am Not Afraid of the Jammer: Navigating with Signals of Opportunity in GPS-Denied Environments" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Spectrum: Protection and Optimization" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2020) Conference.
Mohammad Neinavaie, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2020 Conference
September 2020 -- The paper by Mohammad Neinavaie, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas titled "Blind Opportunistic Navigation: Cognitive Deciphering of Partially Known Signals of Opportunity" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "GNSS Receiver Technologies and Processing for Challenging Environments 1" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2020) Conference.
Ali Abdallah, Kimia Shamaei, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2020 Conference
September 2020 -- The paper by Ali Abdallah, Kimia Shamaei, and Prof. Kassas titled "Assessing Real 5G Signals for Opportunistic Navigation" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Alternative Technologies for GNSS-Denied Environments 2" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2020) Conference.
Dr. Kimia Shamaei Wins ION Bradford Parkinson Award
September 2020 -- ASPIN Laboratory alumna Dr. Kimia Shamaei received the prestigious Institute of Navigation (ION) 2020 Bradford Parkinson Award for her Ph.D. Dissertation titled "Exploiting cellular signals for navigation: 4G to 5G." Established in 2004, the Bradford Parkinson Award is an annual award that recognizes an outstanding graduate student in the field of Positioning, Navigation, Timing (PNT) and/or applications whose Ph.D. Dissertation represents truly significant innovations in the technology, application, or policy of modern navigation systems. Dr. Shamaei accepted the award from the ION Satellite Division Chair Dr. Chris Hegarty at the ION GNSS+ Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Kassas Organizes a Special Session on "AI for GNSS-Enabled Autonomous Systems: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" at ION GNSS+ Conference 2020
September 2020 -- Prof. Zak Kassas organized a Special Session titled "AI for GNSS-Enabled Autonomous Systems: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" at the 2020 Institute of Navigation (ION) GNSS+ Conference, Virtual. The session discussed the opportunities and challenges associated with endowing GNSS-enabled autonomous, safety-critical cyber-physical systems (CPS) with artificial intelligence (AI). The session focused on integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the national airspace and bringing self-driving cars into our streets. The session comprised invited presentations from 5 experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia: Dr. Andrew Hansen (Vople Center, U.S. Department of Transportation), Prof. Robert Leishman (Air Force Institute of Technology), Dr. Yang Gao (University of Calgary), Mr. Mitch Narins (Strategic Synergies), and Prof. Zak Kassas (University of California, Irvine).
Prof. Kassas to Lead Department of Transportation Tier 1 Center on Highly Automated Transportation Systems Research
August 2020 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded a nearly $2M grant with an additional $1M in cost-share to the team led by Prof. Kassas to establish a Tier 1 University Transportation Center (UTC) in the area of Highly Automated Transportation Systems Research. Prof. Kassas will serve as the principal investigator (PI) and Center Director for a national research consortium comprising The Ohio State University (OSU); University of California, Irvine (UCI); University of Texas at Austin (UT); and University of Cincinnati (UC). The UTC’s researchers will focus on the security of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) components associated with highly automated transportation systems. The UTC will be named CARMEN (Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal AssurEd Navigation) and research will occur at all four institutions. The UTC will assess PNT threat scenarios and risks to highly automated transportation systems, develop mitigation strategies, and systemize standards and guidelines for cyber-resilient PNT systems. While research and testing will begin with ground-based vehicles, extensions will include aviation and waterway transportation. The USDOT UTC program, launched in 1988, received 67 grant applications this year and selected four new Tier 1 UTCs.
Inside Unmanned Systems Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in a Special Issue on Urban Air Mobility
July 2020 -- The July 2020 issue of Inside Unmanned Systems magazine featured an article by Prof. Kassas, Joe Khalife, Mohammad Neinavaie, and Trier Mortlock, titled “Opportunity Comes Knocking: Overcoming GPS Vulnerabilities with Other Satellites’ Signals.” The article appeared in a Special Issue on Urban Air Mobility. The article presents a novel carrier phase differential low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based navigation framework for aerial vehicle navigation. This framework, termed CD-LEO, exploits LEO satellites with poorly known states, which are not intended for navigation, to achieve robust and accurate navigation in the absence of GNSS signals. The article presents simulation and experimental results of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) navigating with the developed CD-LEO framework. The LEO satellite signals were processed with the Multichannel Adaptive TRansciever Information eXtractor (MATRIX) software-defined receiver (SDR) developed by the ASPIN Laboratory. The experimental results show a UAV navigating for 2.28 km, achieving a position root mean-squared error (RMSE) of 14.8 with only 2 Orbcomm LEO satellites. The simulation results show the potential of using future LEO constellations to achieve centimeter-level accuracy with 44 Starlink LEO satellites. These results represent the most accurate results to-date for opportunistic navigation with LEO satellites.
Prof. Kassas Serves as Guest Editor for IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine Special Issue on GNSS-Based Positioning
July 2020 -- Prof. Kassas served as a Guest Editor for a special issue of the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine on GNSS-Based Positioning. The other Guest Editors of this special issues were Prof. Fabio Dovis (Politecnico di Torino), Prof. Laura Ruotsalainen (University of Helsinki), Prof. Rafael Toledo-Moreo (Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena), and Prof. Vassilis Gikas (National Technical University of Athens).
ASPIN Team Wins Grand Prize of IEEE Signal Processing Society Contest for Beamforming Research (5-MICC) 2020
May 2020 -- The ASPIN team supervised by Prof. Kassas won the grand prize at the IEEE Signal Processing Society Five-Minute Video Clip (5-MICC) Contest for Beamforming Research. Though the contest welcomes entries on any topic, this year’s theme, "Let There Be a Beam!", especially encouraged submissions on beamforming. The ASPIN team included graduate student Ali Abdallah who mentored the undergraduate students Zainab Ashai, Xinyi (Taylor) Zhang, and Qitai (Neo) Meng. The video entry was titled “An Indoor Localization System Exploiting LTE Signals: A Synthetic Aperture-Based Beamforming Approach to Mitigate Multipath.” The video showed the most accurate indoor localization to date by exploiting cellular long-term evolution (LTE) signals. Video submissions for the contest, which included a report in the form of a conference paper, went through three selection rounds. In the first round, 10 invited teams were selected from all the submissions. In the second round, the judging panel further culled the list down to three finalists. Lastly, the panel ranked the finalists, taking a popular vote into account. The winners (grand prize and first and second runners up) were announced during the IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP) conference 2020.
Prof. Kassas Organizes Special Session on Signal Processing for Sensing, Information Fusion, and Situational Awareness in Autonomous Systems at IEEE ICASSP 2020
May 2020 -- Prof. Kassas organized a special session titled "Signal Processing for Sensing, Information Fusion, and Situational Awareness in Autonomous Systems" at the IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP) conference 2020. Peer-reviewed paper submissions to the special session was by invitation and included papers from University of California, Irvine; University of Texas at Austin and Honda R&D Americas; University of Southern California and Beijing Institute of Technology; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Ericsson Research; Politecnico di Torino and Fugro Innovation & Technology B.V.; and University of West Bohemia.
Joe Khalife, Mohammad Neinavaie, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Award at IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) 2020 Conference
April 2020 -- The paper by Joe Khalife, Mohammad Neinavaie, and Prof. Kassas titled "Navigation with Differential Carrier Phase Measurements from Megaconstellation LEO Satellites" won a Best Paper award at the IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS 2020) Conference for "Track C: Integrated, Collaborative, and Opportunistic Navigation." The Best Paper awards were awarded to the authors of the best paper in each of the conference's four technical tracks.
Ali Abdallah and Prof. Kassas Win Best Student Paper Award at IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) 2020 Conference
April 2020 -- The paper by Ali Abdallah and Prof. Kassas titled "Deep Learning-Aided Spatial Discrimination for Multipath Mitigation" won the Best Student Paper award at the IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS 2020) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Gives Keynote Presentation at the International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations 2020
April 2020 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave a Keynote Presentation at the 17th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG 2020), Las Vegas, NV, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation." ITNG 2020 publishes its book of chapters in the Springer series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing Series.
ASPIN Laboratory Invited to Conduct Experiments on Air Force Aircraft
March 2020 -- The ASPIN Laboratory was invited to conduct experiments on Air Force aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in a mission called "SNIFFER: Signals of opportunity for Navigation In Frequency-Forbidden EnviRonments." The experiments aimed at validating the laboratory's research in autonomous vehicle navigation with signals of opportunity for high altitude aircraft in different real-world environments.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at Information Theory and Applications Workshop 2020
February 2020 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation in the Robotics and Control III session at the Information Theory and Applications Workshop 2020, San Diego, CA, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation."
Prof. Kassas Receives ION Colonel Thomas L. Thurlow Award
January 2020 -- Prof. Kassas received the prestigious Institute of Navigation (ION) 2019 Colonel Thomas L. Thurlow Award for "foundational work in the theory and practice of exploiting signals of opportunity for accurate and reliable positioning, navigation and timing." Established in 1945, this award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the advancement of navigation. The award is named for U.S. Army Air Corps Colonel Thomas L. Thurlow, an engineer and pilot who contributed significantly to the development and testing of navigation equipment and the training of navigators and pilots. Previous winners include Brad Parkinson, known as “the father of GPS”; Marco Falcone, who headed the effort to develop Galileo, the European Navigation Satellite System; and several National Academy of Engineering members. Prof. Kassas accepted the award from the ION President Prof. Jade Morton at the ION Awards Ceremony.
Ali Abdallah Receives Paul and Beverly Holmes Endowed Fellowship
December 2019 -- Ali Abdallah received the 2019-2020 Paul and Beverly Holmes Endowed Fellowship. This annual fellowship is awarded to students who have a demonstrated background and interest in flight systems navigation. The winners are selected based on their academic records and their research’s direct connection to the technology and theory of navigation and guidance devices.
Kimia Shamaei and Prof. Kassas Give Invited ION Webinar
December 2019 -- Kimia Shamaei and Prof. Kassas gave an invited webinar hosted by the Institute of Navigation (ION) titled "LTE Receiver Design and Multipath Analysis for Navigation in Urban Environments." The webinar discussed their paper, which was published in NAVIGATION, Journal of the Institute of Navigation and received the prestigious 2018 Samuel Burka Award. The webinar showed the structure of the proposed receiver, which is capable of extracting code and carrier phase measurements from received LTE signals. It also analyzed the performance in multipath environments and demonstrated a ground vehicle navigating with this receiver with a meter-level-accuracy and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigating with a sub-meter-level accuracy.
ION Newsletter: Prof. Kassas Recaps the Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Conference 2019
October 2019 -- The Institute of Navigation (ION) Fall 2019 Newsletter featured an article by Prof. Zak Kassas recapping the Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Conference 2019, which he co-organized with Prof. Robert Leishman from the Air Force Institute of Technology. CASSCA 2019 discussed the opportunities and challenges (technical, commercial, ethical, and legal) associated with developing fully autonomous systems that are cognizant and trustworthy for safety critical applications (e.g., self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and marine vehicles). CASSCA 2019 spanned two-days with two parallel tracks comprising 34 presentations and 7 Q&A panels, featuring well-recognized experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia.
ASPIN Laboratory Invited to Conduct Experiments in GPS Jammed Environment
September 2019 -- The ASPIN Laboratory was invited to conduct experiments at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in the Developmental Test (DT) Navigation Festival (NAVFEST), during which GPS signals were intentionally jammed. The experiments aimed at validating the laboratory's research in autonomous vehicle navigation with signals of opportunity in real-world GPS-denied environments.
Prof. Kassas Co-Organizes a Workshop on Reliable Ubiquitous Navigation in Smart Cities at the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference 2019
September 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized and co-chaired with Dr. Christian Gentner (German Aerospace Center (DLR)) and Prof. Fabio Dovis (Politecnico di Torino) a Workshop on Reliable Ubiquitous Navigation in Smart Cities at the 2019 Fall IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, Honolulu, HI. The workshop spanned a full day and comprised 11 peer-reviewed paper presentations and 2 keynote presentations from Mr. Stan Chesnutt, Software Developer and Manager (Google) and Mr. Jeb Benson, Program Manager (National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)). The keynote speakers and workshop organizers convened in a Q&A panel at the end of the workshop.
Joe Khalife and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2019 Conference
September 2019 -- The paper by Joe Khalife and Prof. Kassas titled "Assessment of Differential Carrier Phase Measurements from Orbcomm LEO Satellite Signals for Opportunistic Navigation" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Aided GNSS and Sensor Fusion in Challenging Environments 2" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2019) Conference.
Dr. Mahdi Maaref and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2019 Conference
September 2019 -- The paper by Dr. Mahdi Maaref and Prof. Kassas titled "UAV Integrity Monitoring Measure improvement using Terrestrial Signals of Opportunity" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Advanced Integrity Algorithms for Multisensor Navigation" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2019) Conference.
Ali Abdallah, Kimia Shamaei, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2019 Conference
September 2019 -- The paper by Ali Abdallah, Kimia Shamaei, and Prof. Kassas titled "Indoor Localization with LTE Carrier Phase Measurements and Synthetic Aperture Antenna Array" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Technologies for GNSS-Denied Environments" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2019) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Co-Organizes a Special Session on "Navigating Smart and Connected Cities" at ION GNSS+ Conference 2019
September 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized and co-chaired with Prof. Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, The Ohio State University, a Special Session titled "Navigating Smart and Connected Cities" at the 2019 Institute of Navigation (ION) GNSS+ Conference, Miami, FL. The session discussed the future of navigation in smart and connected cities and the path towards overcoming the challenges of autonomous mass-transportation, specifically big data, networking, human-robot interactions, signals of opportunity, security, and privacy. The session comprised invited presentations from 5 experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia: Ms. Karen Van Dyke (U.S. Department of Transportation), Dr. Charles Toth (The Ohio State University), Mr. Jeremy Pack (Google), Mr. Ramsey Faragher (Focal Point Positioning), Prof. Todd Humphreys (University of Texas at Austin).
Prof. Kassas Invited as Speaker and Panelist in the Special Session: The Spectrum of Autonomy in Navigation at ION GNSS+ Conference 2019
September 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was invited to be a speaker and panelist in a special session on "The Spectrum of Autonomy in Navigation" at the ION GNSS+ Conference 2019. The special session was organized by Dr. Andrew Hansen (U.S. Department of Transportation) and Dr. Fabrice Kunzi (General Atomics ASI). Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Scott Martin (Auburn University), Mr. Jonathan Koopmann (Volpe National Transportation Systems Center), Prof. Robert Leishman (Air Force Institute of Technology), and Mr. Nunzio Gambale (Locata Corporation).
Prof. Kassas Invited as Speaker and Panelist in the Special Session: PNT Security and Robustness at ION GNSS+ Conference 2019
September 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was invited to be a speaker and panelist in a special session on "PNT Security and Robustness" at the ION GNSS+ Conference 2019. The special session was organized my Mr. Logan Scott (LS Consulting) and Dr. Oscar Pozzobon (Qascom). Other speakers and panelists included Prof. Fabio Dovis (Politecnico di Torino), Ms. Karen Van Dyke (U.S. Department of Transportation), Dr. Ignacio Fernandez-Hernandez (European Commission), Dr. John Raquet (Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc. (IS4S)), and Prof. Todd Humphreys (University of Texas at Austin).
Prof. Kassas Organizes and Chairs Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Conference
September 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized with Prof. Robert Leishman from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) the ION Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Conference 2019. Prof. Zak Kassas served as the General Chair while Prof. Robert Leishman served as the Program Chair. The CASSCA Conference discussed the opportunities and challenges (technical, commercial, ethical, and legal) associated with developing fully autonomous systems that are cognizant and trustworthy for safety critical applications (e.g., self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and marine vehicles). The CASSCA Conference featured presenters and panelists who are well-recognized experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia, including Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), US Naval War College (USNWC), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), The Ohio State University (OSU), The University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Penn State University (PSU), Virginia Tech (VT), Arizona State University (ASU), University of Cincinnati (UC), West Virginia University (WVU), University of New Mexico (UNM), Cornell University (Cornell), Temple University (Temple), Florida Polytechnic University (Florida Poly), Brigham Young University (BYU), Lockheed Martin Corporation (Lockheed Martin), The Raytheon Company (Raytheon), Ford Motor Company (Ford), Spirent Automotive & Connected Vehicles Solutions (Spirent), Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc. (IS4S), among others. The CASSCA Conference grew from a single-day, single-track workshop comprising 8 presentations and 2 Q&A panels in 2018 to a two-day conference with two parallel tracks comprising 34 presentations and 7 Q&A panels in 2019.
Inside GNSS Magazine: Prof. Kassas Talks about Location-Based Services and 5G
September 2019 -- Inside GNSS Magazine featured an interview with Prof. Zak Kassas about the latest location-based services (LBS) tests for fifth generation (5G) cellular technology.
Inside GNSS Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Exploiting Low Earth Orbit Satellite Signals for Navigation
August 2019 -- The cover of the August 2019 issue of Inside GNSS magazine featured an article by Prof. Kassas, Joshua Morales, and Joe Khalife, titled “New-Age Satellite-Based Navigation – STAN: Simultaneous Tracking and Navigation with LEO Satellite Signals.” The article discusses the potential of exploiting existing and future low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations for navigation. The article presents a novel navigation framework for autonomous vehicle navigation via a tightly-coupled LEO-aided inertial navigation system (INS). This framework, termed STAN: simultaneous tracking and navigation, estimates the poorly known states of LEO satellites simultaneously with the states of the navigating vehicle. The article presents simulation and experimental results of ground vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) navigating with LEO signals. The simulation results show the potential of using future LEO constellations to achieve GPS-like navigation performance. The experimental results show a UAV aiding its INS with Doppler measurements drawn from two Orbcomm LEO satellites, reducing the final position error from 123.5 m with INS only to 5.7 m with LEO-aided INS STAN framework, after 30 seconds of GPS unavailability. These results represent the most accurate results to-date for opportunistic navigation with LEO satellites.
Prof. Kassas Gives Presentation at NIST Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting
July 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave a presentation at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting titled "Ultimate Navigation Chip: Chip-Scale Personal Navigation System Integrating Deterministic Localization and Probabilistic Signals of Opportunities." This annual meeting is organized by NIST's Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division, which is the primary federal laboratory conducting research, development, testing, and evaluation for public safety communications technologies.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division
June 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division (NSWC-Corona), where he and the 7 senior design project teams he co-supervised presented their ONR-sposnored projects. The projects were: (1) Rogue RF Signal Detector Drone, (2) Trilateral FM Signal Locator, (3) Wideband Spectrum Monitor, (4) Autonomous Target Robot, (5) Auto-Adjusting P2P Microwave Link, (6) Autonomous Target Scoring Drone, and (7) Autonomous Aerial Position Tracking System.
IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine Features an Invited Article by Prof. Kassas on Current Trends and Future Challenges of Navigation Systems for Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Vehicles
May 2019 -- The May 2019 issue of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine featured an invited article from the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Navigation Systems Panel on Navigation Systems for Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Vehicles: Current Trends and Future Challenges. The invited article was authored by Prof. Kassas, Prof. Pau Closas, and Prof. Jason Gross.
Prof. Kassas Serves as Invited Panelist at UCI MAE Graduate Student Association "Know How Series" Event: Career Opportunities Outside Academia
May 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas served as a panelist in the "Know How Series" Event: Career Opportunities Outside Academia, organized by the Graduate Student Association (GSA) of the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS)
April 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Laboratoire des technologies spatiales, systèmes embarqués, navigation et avionique (LASSENA) at the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), Montreal, Canada, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation."
Kimia Shamaei and Prof. Kassas Win ION Samuel Burka Award
January 2019 -- Kimia Shamaei and Prof. Kassas received the Institute of Navigation (ION) 2018 Samuel Burka Award for their paper titled "LTE Receiver Design and Multipath Analysis for Navigation in Urban Environments," published in the Winter 2018 issue of NAVIGATION, Journal of The Institute of Navigation. Established in 1959, the Samuel Burka Award is an annual award that recognizes outstanding achievement in the preparation of papers advancing the art and science of positioning, navigation, and timing. Prof. Kassas accepted the award from the ION President Prof. John Raquet at the ION Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Kassas Appointed an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems
January 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was appointed an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.
Prof. Kassas Elected to the Institute of Navigation (ION) Council 2019-2021
January 2019 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was elected to the Institute of Navigation (ION) Council for the position of Western Council Members-At-Large for the 2019-2021 term.
Prof. Kassas Receives $750K Grant for the ONR YIP Award
December 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program (YIP) award for his work on "I Hear, Therefore I Know Where I Am: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Robust and Accurate Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments." The ONR YIP is one of the nation’s oldest and most selective basic research early career awards in science and technology. Its purpose is to fund tenure-track academic researchers whose scientific pursuits show outstanding promise for supporting the Department of Defense, while also promoting their professional development. The ONR YIP is a highly competitive program in which academic achievements and potential for scientific breakthroughs are major factors in the evaluation process. The 25 awardees were selected from more than 260 applicants— all of whom are college and university faculty and obtained a PhD within the past seven years.
This three-year, $750,000 award will fund research aimed at a modernized position, navigation, and timing (PNT) system architecture that mitigates the shortcomings of the current GPS-based PNT paradigm- one that is networked, collaborative, adaptable, and signal-diverse, exploiting signals of opportunity (SOPs). SOPs are promising reliable and accurate PNT sources since they enjoy several advantages over GPS: they are (1) ubiquitous, (2) received at a significantly higher power, (3) diverse in frequency and direction, and (4) free to use, since they are already being transmitted for other purposes.
GPS World Magazine Recaps "Special Session: Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems – The Way Ahead" at ION GNSS+ Conference 2018
October 2018 -- GPS World Magazine featured an article recapping the Special Session titled "Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems – The Way Ahead" at the 2018 Institute of Navigation (ION) GNSS+ Conference, Miami, FL, which Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized and co-chaired with Prof. John Raquet, Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). The session discussed the significant developments in autonomous cyber-physical systems (CPS), which are systems that integrate sensing, computation, networking, and physical processes (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles, self-driving cars, unmanned underwater vehicles, smart cities, etc.). The session comprised invited presentations from 5 experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia: Prof. Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska (The Ohio State University), Dr. Brett Piekarski (U.S. Army Research Laboratory), Prof. Demoz Gebre-Egziabher (University of Minnesota), Mr. Stephen Rounds (NavCom, John Deere), and Dr. Mike Veth (Veth Research Associates).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation in a Special Session at the Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers 2018
October 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "Event-based Communication Strategy for Collaborative Navigation with Signals of Opportunity" at a Special Session on Signal Processing for GNSS and/or Localization with Terrestrial Networks at the Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers 2018.
GPS World Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Integrity Monitoring of LTE Signals of Opportunity-Based Navigation for Autonomous Ground Vehicles
October 2018 -- The October 2018 issue of GPS World Magazine featured an article highlighting the ION GNSS+ Conference paper by Mahdi Maaref, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas on Integrity Monitoring of LTE Signals of Opportunity-Based Navigation for Autonomous Ground Vehicles. The highlight article appeared in the Magazine's Research Online column.
Joshua Morales, Joe Khalife, Ali Abdallah, Christian Ardito, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2018 Conference
September 2018 -- The paper by Joshua Morales, Joe Khalife, Ali Abdallah, Christian Ardito, and Prof. Kassas titled "Inertial Navigation System Aiding with Orbcomm LEO Satellite Doppler Measurements" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "UAV Navigation Technology and Algorithms" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2018) Conference.
Joe Khalife, Souradeep Bhattacharya, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2018 Conference
September 2018 -- The paper by Joe Khalife, Souradeep Bhattacharya, and Prof. Kassas titled "Centimeter-Accurate UAV Navigation with Cellular Signals" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Connected and Collaborative Autonomy" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2018) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Co-Organizes a Special Session on "Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems – The Way Ahead" at ION GNSS+ Conference 2018
September 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas co-organized and co-chaired with Prof. John Raquet, Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), a Special Session titled "Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems – The Way Ahead" at the 2018 Institute of Navigation (ION) GNSS+ Conference, Miami, FL. The session discussed the significant developments in autonomous cyber-physical systems (CPS), which are systems that integrate sensing, computation, networking, and physical processes (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles, self-driving cars, unmanned underwater vehicles, smart cities, etc.). The session comprised invited presentations from 5 experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia: Prof. Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska (The Ohio State University), Dr. Brett Piekarski (U.S. Army Research Laboratory), Prof. Demoz Gebre-Egziabher (University of Minnesota), Mr. Stephen Rounds (NavCom, John Deere), and Dr. Mike Veth (Veth Research Associates). The invitees discussed their perspectives not only on the current state of autonomous CPS, but also on future challenges that we need to address as we integrate these systems into our environment. The experts also convened for a Q&A panel.
Prof. Kassas Receives ION Outstanding Peer Review Recognition Award
September 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received the Institute of Navigation (ION) Outstanding Peer Review Recognition Award during the 2018 ION GNSS+ Conference, Miami, FL. This awards recognizes outstanding peer reviewers, who selflessly provided quality and timely reviews that maintain standards of quality, provide credibility, and contribute to the advancement of the field.
Prof. Kassas and the ASPIN Laboratory Moving to the University of California, Irvine
August 2018 -- After 4 years at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), Prof. Zak Kassas and the ASPIN Laboratory are moving to the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in Winter 2019. Prof. Zak Kassas will be a faculty in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science.
ASPIN Laboratory Hosts Game of Drones 2018 - Episode 3
June 2018 -- ASPIN Laboratory hosted "Episode 3" of their annual Game of Drones: an annual summer event in which middle and high school students are invited to participate in a game of drones. These games span half a day of fun and engaging games involving drones to teach and inspire students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A total of 81 students participated in Episode 3 of Game of Drones. ASPIN Laboratory has been organizing and hosting these games since 2016.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at the IFAC Workshop on Networked & Autonomous Air & Space Systems 2018
June 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation at the IFAC Workshop on Networked & Autonomous Air & Space Systems (IFAC NAASS 2018), Santa Fe, New Mexico, titled "Precise UAV Navigation by Exploiting Cellular Signals of Opportunity." The presentation was part of an invited Plenary Session on UAV Estimation & Control.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division
June 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation at the the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division (NSWC-Corona), where he and the 7 senior design project teams he co-supervised presented their ONR-sponsored projects. The projects were: (1) Autonomous Target Robot, (2) Rogue Radio Frequency (RF) Signal Detector, (3) Auto-Adjusting P2P Microwave Link, (4) Autonomous Target Scoring Drone, (5) Autonomous Target Scoring Drone, (6) Autonomous Target Scoring Drone, and (7) Localization of RF Transmission Using Phased Arrays.
Prof. Kassas Gives Plenary Presentation at the European Navigation Conference 2018
May 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave a Plenary Presentation at the 24th European Navigation Conference (ENC 2018), Gothenburg, Sweden, titled "Cognizant Autonomous Vehicles: Opportunities and Challenges." ENC 2018 was hosted by Chalmers University of Technology and sponsored by the IEEE, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), the European Commission of the European Union (EU), the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), among others.
Christian Ardito Receives Bourns College of Engineering Academic Excellence Award and Dean's Academic Distinction Award
May 2018 -- Christian Ardito was selected among all undergraduate Electrical Engineering students to receive the Bourns College of Engineering Academic Excellence Award. This award recognizes students, one from each undergraduate program, who are selected by their faculty for achieving excellence in their academics, and research or creative activity. Christian Ardito also received the Dean's Academic Distinction Award. This award recognizes undergraduate students maintaining a GPA of 3.90 or above.
Souradeep Bhattacharya Receives Bourns College of Engineering Outstanding Achievement Award
May 2018 -- Souradeep Bhattacharya was selected among all undergraduate Engineering students to receive the Bourns College of Engineering Outstanding Achievement Award. Recipients of this award are selected by their respective college deans to recognize students for their exemplary achievement in academics and research or creative activity, their breadth of involvement in the college, and for their commitment to service and citizenship.
Joe Khalife and Prof. Kassas Win IEEE Walter Fried Award for Best Paper at IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) 2018 Conference
April 2018 -- The paper by Joe Khalife and Prof. Kassas titled "Precise UAV Navigation with Cellular Carrier Phase Measurements" won the IEEE Walter Fried Award for Best Paper at the IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS 2018) Conference. The Walter Fried Award is a biennial award given to the best overall paper at the conference on the basis of technical content; innovation; importance and timeliness of the subject matter; and conciseness, clarity, and completeness of the written material.
Prof. Kassas Receives $500K Grant for the NSF CAREER Award
April 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award for his work on "Situational awareness strategies for autonomous systems in dynamic uncertain environments." The CAREER is NSF's most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.
This five-year, $500,000 award will fund research aimed at enabling autonomous cyber-physical systems (CPS) deployed in dynamic, uncertain, poorly modeled environments to possess situational awareness, ensuring successful mission pursuit. The specific main objectives are: (1) Analyze the observability of unknown dynamic, stochastic environments comprising multiple agents. (2) Develop adaptation strategies to refine the agents’ models of the environment, on-the-fly, as the agents build spatiotemporal maps. (3) Design optimal, computationally efficient information fusion algorithms with performance guarantees. (4) Synthesize optimal, real-time decision making strategies to balance the potentially conflicting objectives of information gathering and mission fulfillment. This investigation will enable autonomous CPS to navigate complex tradeoffs, leading to autonomous identification and adoption of the optimal strategy.
ION Newsletter: Prof. Kassas Recaps the Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Workshop 2018
April 2018 -- The Institute of Navigation (ION) Spring 2018 Newsletter featured an article by Prof. Zak Kassas recapping the Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Workshop 2018, which he organized. CASSCA 2018 featured well-recognized experts and leaders from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL); National Science Foundation (NSF); U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT); The Ohio State University (OSU); University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); Santa Clara University (SCU); and Top Flight Technologies.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation in a Special Session at the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC) 2018
April 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "Pseudorange and Multipath Analysis of Positioning with LTE Secondary Synchronization Signals" at a Special Session on Localization in Current and Emerging Networks at the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC) 2018.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of Washington
April 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington (UW) titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of Colorado Boulder
March 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of California, Santa Barbara
March 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation."
Prof. Kassas Teaches Invited Course in the Master of Embedded and Cyber-Physical Systems Program at University of California, Irvine
February 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas taught an invited course titled "ECPS 209: CPS Case Studies: Applied Optimal Estimation" for students enrolled in the Master of Embedded and Cyber-Physical Systems (MECPS) program at the University of California, Irvine. The program emphasizes embedded systems hardware and software, sensor networks, real-time systems, security and control.
GPS World Magazine Recaps Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Workshop 2018
February 2018 -- The February 2018 issue of GPS World Magazine featured an article recapping the Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Workshop 2018, which Prof. Zak Kassas organized. CASSCA 2018 featured well-recognized experts and leaders from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL); National Science Foundation (NSF); U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT); The Ohio State University (OSU); University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); Santa Clara University (SCU); and Top Flight Technologies.
Prof. Kassas Organizes and Chairs Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Workshop
January 2018 -- Prof. Zak Kassas organized and served as the General Chair of the inaugural Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Workshop, sponsored by the Institute of Navigation (ION). The CASSCA Workshop discussed the opportunities and challenges (technical, commercial, ethical, and legal) associated with developing fully autonomous systems that are cognizant and trustworthy for safety critical applications (e.g., self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and marine vehicles). The CASSCA Workshop featured presenters and panelists who are well-recognized experts and leaders from government, industry, and academia.
Joshua Morales Wins US Department of Transportation Graduate Student of the Year Award
January 2018 -- Joshua Morales received the prestigious US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Graduate Student of the Year award. This annual award honors the most outstanding graduate students for their achievements and promise for future contributions to the transportation field. The selection underwent a competitive review process by a committee composed of faculty and advisers. The award is based on accomplishments in such areas as technical merit and research, academic performance, professionalism, and leadership. Joshua was nominated via the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST), which is composed of the following universities: University of California, Davis; University of California, Riverside; University of Southern California; California State University Long Beach; Georgia Institute of Technology; and University of Vermont. The NCST is one of five national centers funded by USDOT Office of the Secretary for Research and Technology under the University Transportation Centers (UTC) program.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of California, San Diego
December 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation."
GPS World Magazine: Prof. Kassas Talks about Safety Issues Raised by Increasing Air and Ground Autonomous Traffic
December 2017 -- The December 2017 issue of GPS World Magazine featured an interview with Prof. Zak Kassas on how safety issues raised by increasing air and ground autonomous traffic will affect the GNSS industry. The interview appeared in the Expert Opinions column.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at Stanford University
November 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Stanford Center for Position, Navigation and Time (SCPNT) Symposium 2017 at Stanford University titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Prof. Kassas Invited as Speaker and Panelist at the Texas Wireless Summit 2017
November 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was invited to be a speaker and panelist in a panel on Visual Processing and Navigation at the Texas Wireless Summit 2017, hosted by the Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG) at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at The University of Texas at Austin
November 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin, titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division
October 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Mind Stretchers Seminar Series at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division (NSWC-Corona) titled "No GPS, No Problem: Exploiting Signals of Opportunity for Autonomous Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments."
Joshua Morales and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2017 Conference
September 2017 -- The paper by Joshua Morales and Prof. Kassas titled "Distributed Signals of Opportunity Aided Inertial Navigation with Intermittent Communication" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Robust Autonomy Innovations for Robotic Vehicles" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2017) Conference.
Kimia Shamaei, Joe Khalife, Souradeep Bhattacharya, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2017 Conference
September 2017 -- The paper by Kimia Shamaei, Joe Khalife, Souradeep Bhattacharya, and Prof. Kassas titled "Computationally Efficient Receiver Design for Mitigating Multipath for Positioning with LTE Signals" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "GNSS Receiver Processing and Navigation Algorithms 2" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2017) Conference.
IEEE Signal Processing Magazine Features Invited Article by ASPIN Laboratory
September 2017 -- The September 2017 issue of the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine featured an article by Prof. Kassas, Joe Khalife, Kimia Shamaei, and Joshua Morales, titled “I hear, therefore I know where I am: compensating for GNSS limitations with cellular signals.” This special issue of the magazine featured invited articles highlighting advances in signal processing for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation in a Special Session at the European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO) 2017
September 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "Ranging Precision Analysis of LTE Signals" at a Special Session on Positioning In Challenging Environments at the European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO) 2017.
Prof. Kassas Joins IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society Navigation Systems Panel
August 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was invited to join the newly established IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society Navigation Systems Panel. The panel will address navigation systems for aircraft, spacecraft, ground and marine vehicles, and pedestrians as well as history of navigation systems and navigation education. The panel is composed of members who have demonstrated leadership and the desire to advance navigation technology and system capabilities. The panelists span industry, government laboratories, educational institutions, and professional societies.
Prof. Kassas and Collaborators Receive a Nearly $2M Grant from NIST
June 2017 -- The team of Prof. Andrei Shkel, Prof. Solmaz Kia, and Prof. Zak Kassas received a $1,960,613 award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for their proposal titled "Ultimate Navigation Chip (uNavChip): Chip-Scale Personal Navigation System Integrating Deterministic Localization and Probabilistic Signals of Opportunity." This grant will fund research to develop an innovative framework for location-based services to localize emergency responders, assets and equipment, and other people (e.g., patients and trapped persons) indoors and in covered outdoor environments, where GPS signals are unusable. The project will integrate (1) state-of-the-art micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMUs) on the same chip with micro-machined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs), (2) exploitation of cellular signals of opportunity as external aiding sources, and (3) cooperative localization among mobile agents with relative measurements.
IEEE Signal Processing Magazine: Prof. Kassas Talks about New Directions in Navigation and Positioning
May 2017 -- The May 2017 issue of the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine featured an interview with Prof. Zak Kassas on new directions in navigation and positioning and how signal processing-enabled technologies are playing a key role in pinpointing people, places, and things. The interview appeared in the Special Reports column by John Edwards, titled "New Directions in Navigation and Positioning."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Webinar for GPS World Magazine on UAVs
April 2017 -- Prof. Kassas gave an invited webinar hosted by GPS World Magazine titled "UAVs: From Flying Drones to Doing Business." Other webinar speakers were Gustavo Lopez (Product Manager GNSS Solutions for UAV Applications, Septentrio), Jan Leyssens (Managing Director of Sales and Business Development, Airobot), and Francois Gervaix (Product Manager of Surveying, senseFly).
GPS World Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in UAV and Ground Vehicle Navigation with Cellular Signals of Opportunity
April 2017 -- The cover of the April 2017 issue of GPS World magazine featured an article by Prof. Kassas, Joshua Morales, Kimia Shamaei, and Joe Khalife, titled “LTE Steers UAV.” The article discusses how cellular CDMA and LTE signals could be exploited for navigation and presents a specialized navigation software-defined receiver (SDR) called MATRIX developed at the ASPIN Laboratory. The article shows simulation and experimental results of ground vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) navigating exclusively with cellular CDMA and LTE signals via the MATRIX SDR. Moreover, the article presents a radio simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) approach for autonomous vehicle navigation via a tightly-coupled cellular-aided inertial navigation system (INS) framework, achieving GPS-like performance in the absence of GPS signals.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at UCR Annual ECE Day
April 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "Academia Versus Industry" at UCR's Annual Event "Electrical and Computer Engineering Day," which is organized by UCR IEEE Student Branch and UCR Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) Chapter. The event featured invited guest speakers, entrepreneurs panel, and project design fair.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at Illinois Institute of Technology
March 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of California, Los Angeles
March 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at The Ohio State University
February 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the The Ohio State University, Columbus, titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Electronic Products Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Next-Generation Navigation Systems to Support Autonomous Vehicles
February 2017 -- The February 2017 issue of Electronic Products magazine featured an article about ASPIN Laboratory's research titled "Next-Gen Navigation Systems Will Use Existing Cellular Signals to Support Autonomous Vehicles."
Joe Khalife Wins National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Award for UCR
February 2017 -- Joe Khalife received the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year award for the UCR campus. This annual award honors the most outstanding graduate students for their achievements and promise for future contributions to the transportation field. The NCST is one of five national centers funded by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Office of the Secretary for Research and Technology under the University Transportation Centers (UTC) program. The NCST is composed of the following universities: University of California, Davis; University of California, Riverside; University of Southern California; California State University Long Beach; Georgia Institute of Technology; and University of Vermont. Each campus member nominates their graduate student of the year, from which one student is selected and subsequently nominated to the USDOT for their annual Graduate Student of the Year competition.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at Carnegie Mellon University
February 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Silicon Valley, titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of California, Irvine
January 2017 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine, titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
UCR Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Non-GPS Navigation
January 2017 -- The Winter 2017 issue of the University of California, Riverside (UCR) Magazine featured ASPIN Laboratory's latest research in non-GPS navigation.
GCN: Prof. Kassas Talks about Enhancing GPS with Signals of Opportunity
January 2017 -- GCN.com featured an interview with Prof. Zak Kassas on navigation with signals of opportunity in an article titled "Enhancing GPS with Signals of Opportunity."
Prof. Kassas Appointed an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems
November 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas was appointed an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at Ohio University
November 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Ohio University (OU), Athens, titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at the Air Force Institute of Technology
November 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at The Ohio State University
November 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the The Ohio State University, Columbus, titled "Resilient and Accurate Autonomous Vehicle Navigation via Signals of Opportunity."
Dozens of National and International Media Outlets Feature ASPIN Laboratory Breakthrough Research in Non-GPS Navigation
October 2016 -- ASPIN Laboratory’s latest breakthrough research article “No GPS, No Problem: Next Generation Navigation” was featured in dozens of national and international media outlets, including Phys.org, ACM.org, Science Magazine, Singularity Hub, CNet.com, Eurekalert.org, Yahoo, GPS World, Science Daily, Homeland Security News Wire, Military Embedded Systems, India TV, The Indian Express, EuropaPress, Scientias.nl, Ingenieur.de, Scinexx.de, Tiscali.it, Autopista.es, SpatialSource.com.au, PaceToday.com.au, RoboticsChina.com, Cuatro.com, InsightsSuccess.com, TrafficTechnologyToday.com, FutureCar.com, GeoITHub.com, NewAtlas.com, Crazyengineers.com, GlobalNewsConnect.com, LiveMint.com, TheStack.com, R&D Magazine, NetworkWorld.com, Electronics360.com, ElectronicProducts.com, New Delhi TV, The Register, Green Car Congress, The Economic Times, GIS User, The Drone News, among others. The article first appeared on the main webpage of the University of California, Riverside (UCR). This research breakthrough shows for the first time (1) an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) accurately navigating with cellular LTE signals exclusively and (2) a UAV aiding its inertial navigation system (INS) with cellular CDMA signals in the absence of GPS signals, achieving a comparable navigation solution to that of a traditional tightly-coupled GPS-INS system.
Prof. Kassas Receives $750K Grant from ONR
September 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received a three-year $750,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The grant will fund developing an integrated research and training program in resilient navigation and communication systems in contested electromagnetic environments. This program aims to (1) analyze ambient signals in the environment, (2) detect and localize signals transmitted with a malicious intent, (3) design algorithms for opportunistic and collaborative extraction of relevant information from these signals, (4) build software-defined radio (SDR), cognitive radio (CR), and hardware prototypes to fuse the extracted information with GPS signals (when available) and with onboard sensors with multiple modalities, detecting multimode signals and using opportunistic spectrum for networking, and (5) build mesh wireless networks that are reliable, broadband, and with low-latency.
Joshua Morales and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2016 Conference
September 2016 -- The paper by Joshua Morales and Prof. Kassas titled "Signals of Opportunity Aided Inertial Navigation" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "UAV Navigation" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2016) Conference.
Kimia Shamaei, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Presentation Award at ION GNSS+ 2016 Conference
September 2016 -- The paper by Kimia Shamaei, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas titled "Performance Characterization of Positioning in LTE Systems" won the Best Paper Presentation award in the "Complementary Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT)" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2016) Conference.
Joshua Morales Receives National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) Graduate Fellowship
July 2016 -- Joshua Morales received the prestigious National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) Graduate Fellowship. The NCST Fellowship is awarded by the National University Transportation Center, which is funded by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and other state agencies.
Prof. Kassas Receives $225K Grant from ONR
June 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received a three-year $225,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Prof. Kassas is the PI on this grant and Prof. Jay Farrell is the Co-PI. The grant will fund research in unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) navigation, specifically developing optimal, real-time, collaborative simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)-type algorithms for navigation via geomagnetic fields.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of Washington
June 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, titled "A Collaborative Opportunistic Framework for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation in GNSS-Challenged Environments."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at UCR Society of Women Engineers Research Networking Night
May 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation at the Research Networking Night, organized by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at the University of California, Riverside (UCR).
Prof. Kassas Receives $175K Grant for the NSF CRII Award
May 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received a two-year, single PI $175,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This grant was awarded under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) program to fund research in optimal information gathering in unknown stochastic environments, specifically developing a coherent analytical foundation and a suite of algorithms and tools for autonomous systems deployed in unknown, dynamic stochastic environments to optimally gather sufficient information to successfully accomplish their mission. The research specifically considers autonomous systems with limited sensing, computation, actuation, and communication capabilities.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at UCR Science Meets Business Event
April 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation titled "Accurate and Secure Navigation for Autonomous Vehicles" at the Science Meets Business Event, organized by the Office of Research and Economic Development (RED) at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). The event was attended by entrepreneurs, investors, corporate representatives, and economic development professionals.
Research Poster by Joe Khalife, Kimia Shamaei, and Prof. Kassas Selected as Best Research Poster Finalist at Southern California Robotics Symposium 2016
April 2016 -- The research poster by Joe Khalife, Kimia Shamaei, and Prof. Kassas titled "Navigation with Cellular CDMA Signals" was selected among the three finalists for the Best Research Poster award at the Southern California Robotics Symposium (SCR 2016). The symposium was attended by major Southern California academic institutions (CalTech, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCR, USC, CSULB, San Diego State University, Harvey Mudd College, and Pomona College) and major government and industrial institutions (Qualcomm, NASA/JPL, SPAWAR, SpaceX, Walt Disney, iRobot, Brain Corporation, etc.).
Joe Khalife, Kimia Shamaei, and Prof. Kassas Win Best Student Paper Award at IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) 2016 Conference
April 2016 -- The paper by Joe Khalife, Kimia Shamaei, and Prof. Kassas titled "A Software-Defined Receiver Architecture for Cellular CDMA-Based Navigation" won the Best Student Paper award at the IEEE/ION Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS 2016) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Receives $510K Grant from ONR
April 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas received a three-year, single PI $510,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The grant will fund research in resilient and accurate navigation in GPS-challenged environments, specifically developing a coherent analytical foundation, a suite of algorithms and tools, and software and hardware prototypes for a new navigation framework that is called collaborative opportunistic navigation (COpNav). In COpNav, specialized radios draw positioning and timing information from an environment's ambient signals that are not intended for navigation such as cellular, audio, and television signals and shares them among multiple radios over available communication networks. The COpNav framework assumes minimal prior knowledge of the signal environment and relies on learning the signals on the fly. COpNav formulates the problem as that of simultaneous signal landscape mapping and radio spatio-temporal localization.
GPS World Magazine Features ASPIN Laboratory Research in Reducing Vertical Dilution of Precision by Exploiting Signals of Opportunity
March 2016 -- The cover of the March 2016 issue of GPS World magazine featured an article by Joshua Morales, Joe Khalife, and Prof. Kassas titled “Opportunity for Accuracy.” The article demonstrated how exploiting ambient cellular signals in an environment via the MATRIX SDR yielded a significant improvement in localization accuracy. By fusing cellular signal observables produced by MATRIX with GPS signal observables, the uncertainty in the vertical localization (measured by the vertical dilution of precision) was reduced by 64 percent. These results will be particularly useful for future unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Presentation at ION Southern California Section
March 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited presentation at the Institute of Navigation (ION) Southern California Section, hosted by NavCom (John Deere), titled "A Collaborative Opportunistic Framework for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation in GNSS-Challenged Environments."
Prof. Kassas Serves as Judge at Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) Science and Engineering Fair
February 2016 -- Prof. Zak Kassas served as a judge at the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) Science and Engineering Fair to determine winning research projects from students in grades 9-12. The fair was organized by the University of California, Riverside (UCR).
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at Stanford University
December 2015 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the GPS Laboratory at the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University titled "A Collaborative Opportunistic Framework for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation in GNSS-Challenged Environments."
Joshua Morales and Prof. Kassas Win Best Paper Award at ION GNSS+ 2015 Conference
September 2015 -- The paper by Joshua Morales and Prof. Kassas titled "Optimal Receiver Placement for Collaborative Mapping of Signals of Opportunity" won the Best Paper Award in the "Enhancing GNSS with Sensors, Mapping and Cooperation" Session at the Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System (ION GNSS+ 2015) Conference.
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of South Florida
September 2015 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave a seminar in the Electrical Engineering Graduate Seminar Series at the University of South Florida (USF), Tampa, titled "Resilient and Accurate Navigation for Autonomous Vehicles."
Joe Khalife Receives National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) Graduate Fellowship
September 2015 -- Joe Khalife received the prestigious National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) Graduate Fellowship. The NCST Fellowship is awarded by the National University Transportation Center, which is funded by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and other state agencies.
Press Enterprise: Prof. Kassas Talks about Drone Security
July 2015 -- The Press Enterprise featured an interview with Prof. Zak Kassas on drones security in an article titled "DRONES: Experts Say They Represent Real Threat to Aircraft."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of California, Santa Barbara
April 2015 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Center for Control, Dynamical-Systems, and Computation (CCDC) Seminar Series at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) titled "Resilient and Accurate Navigation for Autonomous Vehicles."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at University of California, Riverside
April 2015 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Colloquium Series at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) titled "Resilient and Accurate Navigation for Autonomous Vehicles."
Prof. Kassas Gives Invited Seminar at Naval Research Laboratory
March 2015 -- Prof. Zak Kassas gave an invited seminar in the Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence (NCARAI) & Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research (LASR) Seminar Series at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, DC titled "Resilient and Accurate Navigation for Autonomous Vehicles."
