Students delve into computer security
SLIPPERY ROCK — The influx of artificial intelligence and internet-connected devices to our daily lives is the new normal. From doorbell cameras helping protect our homes to robots checking inventory at local grocery stores, every day inches us closer to having our own WALL-E, like the one in the Pixar classic, picking up after us.
But as technology advances, so do trappings such as hacking.
How can we better protect the technology we count on today and will continue counting on in the future?
That’s a question fit for Slippery Rock University students working with a software engineer to secure their robot operating systems. The joint venture is in response to companies rushing to stay ahead of the demand for AI-driven products.
“Everybody’s using these devices that rely on artificial intelligence, but the security of those devices is not at the top of a lot of people’s minds as companies are rushing to get their products out into the market,” said Sam Thangiah, SRU professor of computer science. “They’re now saying, ‘Hey, we need to start securing these devices because they can get hacked into.’”
Thangiah recently established a partnership between a team of SRU students and Sid Faber, a software engineer from Canonical, a computer-software company headquartered in London. Before joining Canonical last fall, Faber was chief information security officer at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh. He also serves on an advisory board to the SRU Computer Science Department.
Canonical produces Ubuntu, an open-source software operating system that runs “internet connected things,” which includes robots that run on an open source robot operating system, known as ROS. Faber said that ROS has been around for more than a decade and has been used previously in an academic setting, but only recently has it been used commercially, thereby increasing the demand for security.
Recognizing SRU’s eagerness to expose students to problems they will face once they enter the workforce, Faber saw a mutual benefit to collaborating with Thangiah and his students to address ROS security.
“There’s a lot going on in robotics right now and a lot of ways that we can address problems that need to be solved with robotics,” Faber said.
While Thangiah originally recruited only students from his Artificial Intelligence class, as many as 35 from the computing major have expressed interest in working with Faber, who visits campus every other week during the spring.
“I can teach the academic part of it but to have somebody come in from the industry side and give that kind of exposure is a very big asset for our us and our students,” Thangiah said. “The mere fact of knowing how to work with ROS in a practical setting is such a very big deal (for career development).”
SRU students are working with ROS using two robotic arms and at least four TurtleBots, which are robot kits that use open source software. The TurtleBots use AI to map floor plans, similar to how robots stock grocery store shelves, and, on a much larger scale, driverless cars and other autonomous vehicles navigate cities.
In addition to working with the software and operating the robots, the students are writing computer code that intercepts the messages from the ROS that give commands to the robot. The students are also encrypting messages to prevent someone intercepting messages meant for the robots or hacking into the ROS.
“I’ve always enjoyed taking things apart and trying to put them back together to figure out how they work,” said Jacob McMahon, a senior computing major. “When we found out that we could work on robots and potentially hack into them, I said, ‘I have got to work on this project.’”
Justin Zackal is a communications specialist with Slippery Rock University.
