The National Science Foundation awarded the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska $454,053 on October 1, 2025, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to conduct fundamental research on diagnosing vehicles using automotive batteries as a physical root-of-trust in cyber-physical systems.
The research addresses cyber anomalies in connected vehicles by developing a battery-enabled diagnostic system that leverages vehicular systems, battery management, data analysis, and graph theory. The approach models dependencies between vehicle operation and battery power using a two-layer graph model to detect, isolate, and classify vehicle anomalies while identifying their root causes and predicting future failures. The diagnostic system is designed to be trustworthy, universally applicable across all vehicle types, and reliable throughout vehicle lifespan, overcoming limitations of existing solutions that cannot address unknown anomalies or account for interactions across physical and cyber domains. The research supports broadening student participation in engineering and computing, particularly from underrepresented groups.
Work is performed in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a period of performance through May 31, 2027. The University of Colorado-Denver serves as a sub-recipient, participating in the vehicle diagnostics research under a sub-award issued August 20, 2026.