In spring 2014, both the business and technology news pages excitedly announced Facebook’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, the maker of a virtual reality gaming headset called Oculus Rift. CS Professor Steve LaValle, an Illinois alumnus (PhD EE ’95), has a special insight into the development of VR technology. Since taking leave from the university in September 2012, LaValle helped lead Oculus’ R&D efforts as its head scientist.

At the beginning of this academic year, Professor M. Tamer Başar was named director of the Center for Advanced Study (CAS). He was initiated as a permanent member of the Center in 2005 following a rigorous nomination and election process.

A team of Illinois students are developing a prosthetic hand that can return both motor and sensory function to its user.

A group of CSL Professor Tim Bretl's Illinois students have developed a 3D printed prosthetic hand that is helping amputees at a much more afforadable price.

When Hurricane Sandy struck the east coast in late October 2012, the “superstorm” disrupted traffic in New York City for more than five days, but the evacuation proceeded relatively efficiently with only minor delays, according to transportation researchers at the University of Illinois.

Over the past few decades, information systems have increasingly replaced human operators and processes, with technology assisting in everything from flying aircraft to regulating heartbeats. As the movement toward more autonomous systems continues, there is a growing need to ensure that these systems are safe and reliable before they are deployed – especially in fields where failure could be fatal.

A new paradigm has emerged for control systems. During the past 20 years, engineers and theorists have shifted away from control systems that are centralized, where one agent, the leader or control center, broadcasts commands and information to every other agent. Increasingly, researchers are realizing that many control systems – from decentralized power distribution systems to auction systems – can be configured as a collection of interacting autonomous agents.

On March 25, both the business and technology news pages excitedly announced Facebook’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, the maker of a virtual reality gaming headset called Oculus Rift.

CSL researchers are part of a team that received $950K from NSF to study cyber-physical-human systems and explore how humans need to be part of the equation of automation.

CSL Professor Tamer Başar (ECE) has been awarded the 2014 IEEE Control Systems Award for his prolific and innovative career.