On April 24, 2023, representatives of NIST and the Republic of Korea’s government agencies – the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and Korea Automotive Technology Institute – signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on research and development (R&D) related to teleoperated and automated vehicles. The signing occurred at NIST’s Gaithersburg, MD campus.
The non-binding memorandum provides a mutual understanding of the proposed collaboration. Specifically, the memorandum says that NIST and Korea Automotive Technology Institute intend to participate in:
Mutually beneficial international joint R&D projects related to teleoperated and automated vehicles
Establishing standards on system architecture for advanced vehicle-to-everything (V2X) supported teleoperated vehicles
Research on advanced V2X communications, using fifth generation (5G) and sixth generation (6G) network technologies for teleoperated vehicles
Research and development of artificial intelligence for advanced support of teleoperated and automated vehicles
Research into cybersecurity for advanced V2X supported teleoperated vehicles
Staff exchanges to conduct joint research at Korea Automotive Technology Institute and NIST facilities
NIST and Korea Automotive Technology Institute also plan to discuss a proposed vehicle teleoperation and 5G communication system.
The standards development organization, Object Management Group (OMG), recently began seeking public comments on a major upgrade to its Systems Modeling Language (SysML), which is widely used to specify requirements, design, and testing of complex systems. The upgrade was enabled by the contributions of NIST's Conrad Bock and Raphael Barbau. Its new capabilities include:
Modeling Time and Spatial Requirements in Complex Systems: This enables spatial requirements to be developed without committing to specific shapes for objects. For example, the SysML 2 upgrade can capture requirements for landing gear to be inside or outside a plane at given periods and then later refined by designs for gear geometries, topologies, and behaviors. These new capabilities were extended from a NIST-developed, four-dimensional framework that addresses time and the three spatial dimensions together, enabling integration of these models.
Simplified Complex Systems Modeling: Prior to the upgrade, modeling a new complex system to be built from existing parts was very laborious, due to the effort of customizing those parts. The upgrade to SysML 2 significantly simplifies customization of existing parts, enabling engineers to focus on how they interact to meet system requirements.
Improved Modeling of Systems Behavior: Before the upgrade, SysML was a comparatively ambiguous modeling language, resulting in less accurate systems models, unless addressed in non-standard ways with considerable mathematical training. The upgraded SysML 2 uses a more precise modeling technique, developed by NIST and inspired by its Process Specification Language. The result is more accurate systems models with less mathematical training.
NIST’s Raphael Barbau recently presented research on modeling logistics aiding design of complex systems to a standards organization, Object Management Group (OMG). Specifically, Barbau proposed a “Logistics Modeling and Analysis” extension for OMG’s Systems Modeling Language (SysML).
System engineers use SysML to create models of complex systems as well as specify their requirements and testing. These models help project engineers understand how their work in other areas – electrical, mechanical, production, etc. – fits into the overall system. However, these other engineers often use their own area analysis models to analyze needs – with differences between system and area analysis models producing inconsistencies that are difficult to resolve.
To address this problem for logistics, Barbau and NIST’s Conrad Bock are developing an extension of SysML that provides logistics modeling for complex systems, called “SysLMA,” as well as mappings between SysLMA logistics models and those of analysis. Barbau developed proof-of-concept software that automatically translates SysLMA’s logistics models into analysis models, based on these mappings.
SysLMA describes logistics systems needed at multiple levels, including multi-commodity flow network optimization and queuing analysis. Barbau’s presentation to OMG added “discrete event simulation” – a widely used technique that predicts how logistics systems will behave over time. The proof-of-concept software demonstrates the viability of SysLMA for these modeling and analyses. It is applicable to logistics systems within facilities – such as in production and warehousing facilities – as well as logistics networks between facilities, like supply chains and distribution networks.
In May 2023, CIMdata sponsored the 2023 PLM Roadmap & PDT conference, which focused on advancing an understanding of the Digital Thread – moving product information to various systems across the manufacturing enterprise – an ongoing quest in industry. The conference included presentations on use cases and their implementations.
NIST’s Rosemary Astheimer provided a different perspective – how to achieve the Digital Thread. Astheimer began by describing how three-dimensional digital models of parts could contribute to the Digital Thread. Specifically, Astheimer focused on how a Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) could use a methodology called “Model-Based Definition” to capture engineering design data and criteria about a part and create a 3D representation of it. The CAD data could then transfer this 3D digital data to systems which can be used to automate manufacturing and inspection of the part and many other activities.
Such a 3D digital model, read by systems, represents a significant advance over 2D drawings of parts, which require human interpretations. This use of 3D digital models eliminates risk of errors associated with human interpretations of 2D drawings, providing an unambiguous definition that speeds manufacturing and makes it more competitive.
Astheimer also pointed out that the Digital Thread depends on setting standards which will enable systems to exchange and read digital data. Astheimer addressed ongoing initiatives to standardize industrial data exchange; these include efforts by ISO’s Technical Committee 184/SC4, and groups such as the MBx Implementor Forum, which accelerates translator development through definition standards.
Lastly, Astheimer stated that Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) processes and Product Data Management (PDM) software are key to managing data and enabling the exchange of information in a repeatable, efficient, and secure way. And equally important, robust data are required to reap the benefits of the Digital Thread.
Companies increasingly seek to use the Model-Based Definition methodology, which enables Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) files to not only capture a part’s geometric representation, but also engineering requirements, and to transfer it to automated systems which manufacture and inspect it. Such a practice promises faster and less error prone results than using 2D drawings of parts.
But the use of Model-Based Definition and creation of 3D digital models of parts faces challenges; these were the subjects of panel discussions at the recent PTC LiveWorx 2023 conference. On the panel, Model-Based Definition: Principles and Practices, NIST’s Rosemary Astheimer described one major challenge and how NIST tools can help to address it.
Astheimer stated that vendors do not implement Model Based Definition functionality at the same rate. Consequently, the information that is exchanged may not be fully synchronized, which can create gaps between the information being shared.
NIST tools can help determine where the problem might be, said Astheimer. They include:
Test CAD models: These are CAD Models with annotated Product Manufacturing Information (PMI), authored per American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standards, which CAD vendors can use to test transfer of data to other systems in a manufacturing enterprise.
Derivative File Exchanging: This is done with the MBE PMI Validation and Conformance Testing Project. It uses Computer-Aided Design test models to support round-robin, verification testing to ensure that the native CAD model’s exports are as equivalent and complete as possible, from a geometry and PMI standpoint.
Large systems, such as telecommunication networks and electric power grids, are becoming more complex. They often consist of subsystems that use different technologies and may be controlled autonomously or by different entities. The challenge is optimizing these distributed subsystems – improving their performance. Their software processes – or controlling agents – have built-in global constraints, making it difficult to update the overall network. For example, these subsystems may have global constraints to meet end-to-end quality assurance requirements. Thus, network optimization will likely mean considering the global constraints of many controlling agents.
To help address this challenge, NIST and University of Maryland researchers developed an algorithm for Distributed Optimization with Global Constraints Using Noisy Measurements, to be published in IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. Researchers propose software control agents adopting this algorithm. Basically, the algorithm will enable distributed subsystems or agents to optimize their local performance and, in the process, the overall system performance.
Specifically, to optimize their performances, control agents need information about those control agents they interact with, but many often are not willing to share specifics. The algorithm would require the control agents to maintain a local dynamic estimate of the global constraint functions and only share the estimate with their neighbors. The algorithm would allow these control agents to perform a local optimization process, based on their private “noisy” observations and local estimate of global constraints, thus enabling distributed optimization.
Large cyber-physical systems (CPS), in which operational technology systems monitor and control the physical environment, such as through services deployed for smart cities, typically consist of many independent subsystems that must interoperate. These CPS, or equivalently, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, rely on communications networks to relay timely messages across the system, thus allowing sensing and responding to changing situations. Ensuring such CPS work as intended requires accurately simulating their performance; this involves integrating various models associated with CPS subsystems, or “co-simulation.” Yet, such CPS modeling has been challenging due to network simulation complexity and customization needed for specific domains.
Vanderbilt University and NIST researchers offered a novel approach to meeting this need in their paper, Reusable Network Simulation for CPS Co-Simulations, presented at the CPS-IoT Week '23. The researchers propose rapidly synthesizing large-scale, integrated simulations using a model-based framework. The framework transforms models and their information exchanges into code that complies in alignment with IEEE’s High-Level Architecture, which enables the models to work together as something called a co-simulation. The framework implementation also includes a reusable network component, which allows the co-simulation to be configured for use in different domains and scenarios.
The researchers also updated their reusable cyber-attack library, which they integrated with the co-simulation to allow testing of a CPS under various attack scenarios. The paper includes a case study which involves simulating the effects of attacks on the networking infrastructure of smart cities. Specifically, in this case study, malicious actors attack traffic light operations with the city’s command and control conducting counter operations.
In the future, researchers plan to focus on multiple network simulations, scalability of simulation, and adding cyber-defense to the cyberattack library, thus allowing experimentation with cyber-gaming scenarios.
To help reduce electricity consumption and its costs, university and NIST researchers proposed a strategy for controlling residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), in Comparing Economic Benefits of HVAC Control Strategies in Grid-Interactive Residential Buildings, published in Energy and Buildings. The lead author, Brian Woo-Shem of Santa Clara University, was a 2021 recipient of a NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF).
This HVAC control strategy considers:
The range of comfortable indoor temperatures – or the “the adaptive comfort model”
Adjusting temperatures based on probability of occupants in the residence
Real-time energy prices which vary throughout the day
Optimizing the HVAC schedule to:
Reduce cost
Maintain thermal comfort
Respond to renewable energy availability
To validate this strategy, researchers developed a simulation framework; this involved a building energy simulation and advanced building controls simulations – all connected with NIST’s Universal CPS Environment for Federation (UCEF) co-simulation platform. Researchers used the resulting co-simulation to model this HVAC strategy applied to a single-family residence in Sacramento, CA during a typical summer week.
Results showed that the strategy’s emphasis on probability of occupancy, adaptive thermal comfort, and HVAC schedule optimization reduced costs by 50.1 %, electricity consumption by 52.9 %, and discomfort by 56.2 %, compared to just relying on thermostat settings. Results also suggested that energy consumption could be shifted away from peak times if:
The proposed HVAC control strategy is implemented across the grid
The strategy emphasizes occupancy probability and optimized HVAC scheduling
Demand-based pricing occurs
In the future, researchers seek to develop more diverse building, appliance, and occupancy models, and expand this simulation framework for use with multiple buildings.
On 25 April 2023, NIST and city leaders of the NIST Global Community Technology Challenge (GCTC) led a discussion of smart technologies and best practices at the Smart City Foundations Workshop, the opening event of the Cities Summit of the Americas (CSOA) in Denver, CO. The CSOA was convened by the U.S. Department of State to bring together local and regional leaders from communities across the Western Hemisphere, including government officials, civic and business leaders, academia and student representatives, and members of the arts, indigenous communities, and cultures. Workshop participants included smart city practitioners from across the Americas who wanted to learn from each other about the foundation elements of implementing smart city solutions.
The opening panel of the workshop was led by NIST’s Michael Dunaway, leader of NIST’s smart cities and communities program, and included three city executives of GCTC member cities: Emily Royall, Smart City Administrator, San Antonio TX; Jennifer Tifft, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Syracuse NY; and Raimundo Rodulfo, Chief Technology Officer, Coral Gables FL. Each of the city representatives spoke on the planning, objectives, and process for integrating advanced technologies to achieve their individual community’s vision as a smart city.
Dunaway described the GCTC as a network of communities, industries, academia, and government partners, which jointly develops and deploys Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things applications. The GCTC has twelve major working groups that coordinate city innovations in technology sectors, such as city services, transportation, energy, public safety and more. The GCTC facilitates community participation in public-private partnerships that improve the cost-effectiveness of improvements to infrastructures, services, and quality of life through information sharing and economies of scale in acquisition of advanced technologies.
Many factors driving Smart Community initiatives and adoption of CPS and IoT were common across the cities represented at the workshop and among those attending the broader CSOA:
Common organization-wide challenges across city departments, such as need for reliable data, systems interoperability, and ability to effectively reach residents.
Widespread use of data and new Internet of Things devices that pose opportunities and risks and, thus, require critical evaluation from the perspective of both public safety and public trust, before integration into public services.
The need for cities to address real-world problems, rather than “looking for problems to solve.”
Development of knowledgeable and receptive city staff who can lead the digital transformation of city service delivery essential to smart city goals.
After the global experience of COVID-19, community priorities have shifted towards customer service, inclusiveness, and equity, in addition to technology development and integration.
NIST’s Global Community Technology Challenge (GCTC) is a collaboration platform that brings together cities, communities, industry, academic, and government stakeholders to advance emerging technologies for smart cities and communities. The GCTC’s working groups are dedicated to implementing smart city and community projects. The GCTC’s transportation working group is pursuing the following initiatives to make transportation more efficient and sustainable.
Enhanced Trip Planner: TriMet, the public transit agency for the Tri-County Metropolitan area in Oregon, launched an upgraded online tool that enables commuters to choose sustainable alternatives to using private vehicles, to include public transit, ride-sharing, bike rentals, pedestrian routes and more. The planner develops an efficient and cohesive commuting plan for using these transportation modes.
Electric Buses: With help from a Federal grant and Portland General Electric, the TriMet public transit agency has procured five electric buses for rigorous testing. The agency will subject the buses to challenging, real-world conditions to evaluate their performance and determine optimal maintenance schedules. The initiative is a major step towards using electric buses for sustainable public transportation, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.
Electric Island for Charging Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks: Located in Portland, OR, this initiative represents a major milestone for the West Coast Clean Transit Corridor Initiative, which is a collaborative effort between nine electric utilities and two government agencies. The initiative seeks to electrify 1,300 miles of Interstate 5 across three West Coast states. The Electric Island provides the charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, enabling their transition to clean and sustainable energy.
The Active Street™ Concept will connect the TriMet MAX line in Hillsboro, OR to the Banks-Vernonia State Trail. The concept calls for combining walking, cycling, and low-speed electric vehicles (below 35 mph) into an integrated and environmentally-friendly transportation network. Their zero-emissions nature and reliance on clean electricity align with the goal of creating sustainable communities.
The City of Coral Gables is a significant participant in NIST’s Global Community Technology Challenge (GCTC), which helps cities, communities, industry, academic, and government stakeholders pursue emerging technologies for smart cities and communities. The City of Coral Gables has implemented Internet of Things applications to make local transportation systems more efficient and beneficial to its residents’ quality of life.
The City of Coral Gables operates a smart connected Public Transportation Fleet, consisting of trolleys and electric vehicles, termed “Freebees,” both providing free shuttle service in the downtown area. At Trolley stop signs, citizens can use a QR code to open a mobile app to determine the closest trolley and when it will arrive. Free Trolleys pass approximately every 10 minutes.
The city owns 70 electric vehicles – Nissan Leafs, Chevy Bolts, GEMs, Teslas, not including the Freebee electric vehicles in its public transportation fleet, which is outsourced. The city has one of the largest electric vehicle fleets in the nation and plans to add more vehicles in the coming months. The City of Coral Gables has over 41 charging points on city property and plans to install 145 charging stations and 246 charging points over the next few years.
Traffic is assessed with an intelligent connected infrastructure which is deployed citywide. It consists of:
Artificial Intelligence-powered poles which count pedestrian and vehicle traffic city in areas
Closed Circuit TV cameras with edge analytics and optical traffic sensors
Artificial intelligence-powered, Internet of Things traffic analytics at the edge, in distributed clouds
Aggregation, analysis, and visualization of asset data and metadata
Situational awareness dashboards for traffic density and safety
A traffic digital twin and intelligent signal controllers network for traffic simulation and control
Additionally, the City of Coral Gables and Miami-Dade County’s transportation systems are integrated. This integration resulted from Coral Gables’ Information Technology and Parking Departments working with Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works and industry transportation technology partners. Coral Gables is the first city in Miami-Dade County to integrate with the county’s transit system; this allows residents and visitors across the county to access real-time, trolley routes, vehicle locations, stops, connections, and estimated times of arrival from multiple apps.
