Integrity Checking at the Edge for Operational Decision Support
Project Overview
Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) deployed in humanitarian and defence logistics missions are increasingly dependent on networked sensors and autonomous control systems, making them vulnerable to cyber-physical attacks that could compromise mission integrity. This project, Integrity Checking at the Edge for Operational Decision Support (ICE-ODS), integrates anomaly detection research from the CASPER programme with Thales UK's autonomous logistics platform to support resilient decision making during UGV operations. The approach deploys secondary sensing and edge analytics around UGV systems to detect anomalous behaviour indicative of cyber-physical interference. Visual tooling is developed to help security analysts and business continuity teams collaborate on threat assessment and mitigation strategies while maintaining mission uptime. This research is funded by EPSRC through the PETRAS National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity and conducted in partnership with Thales UK.
By performing integrity checking at the network edge, the system can operate in contested or connectivity-limited environments. Rather than relying on remote cloud infrastructure, timely detection is achieved locally, ensuring that security monitoring continues even when external communications are disrupted or compromised. This edge-first approach is essential for missions in austere operational settings.
The project addresses the challenge of maintaining operational trust in autonomous systems. It provides real-time situational awareness and actionable intelligence to human operators, enabling informed decisions even under adversarial conditions. The combination of secondary sensing, edge analytics, and visual collaboration tools creates a layered defence that supports both immediate threat response and longer-term mission planning.
Team
Funding
