Path Following of Vessels with Collison Avoidance

I have graduated from the faculty of engineering, Cairo University, electrical power and machines department in May 2010 where I work have worked there as research and teaching assistant while doing my master of science. My bachelor thesis was about control and monitoring of wind turbine systems and my master thesis focused on nonlinear control systems with application on the inverted pendulum as a benchmark.

The main research interests for me are Model Predictive Control, Adaptive Control, Intelligent Control like Fuzzy and Neural Networks, Nonlinear Control, and Ship Dynamics, Control and Safety. Based on my background, I was fond of applying control techniques on moving objects like robots, cars and vessels and I found that CSE position at the University Oldenburg, department of computer science, under the supervision of Prof. Axel Hahn and Prof. Martin Fräenzle suitable for me.

The CSE research problem is representation of path following and collision avoidance of vessels as a Multi agent dynamic game with an objective to optimize a coupled payoff function subject to the dynamics of our vessel and the nearby vessels. In order for that collision avoidance system to be efficient, the algorithm must predict other ships states to avoid any future possible collision in a finite predetermined horizon. So, the dynamic game will be modified to include the predicted states in the coupled cost function and solve the optimization problem at every sample in a moving horizon manner. This is called in the literature distributed model predictive control (DMPC). To guarantee Collison avoidance, the time delay in predicting other nearby vessels must be taken into consideration and not neglected.

After my Abitur 2009 (secondary school leaving examination) I studied computer science at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. My bachelor thesis in 2012 deals with the security of the GSM air interface, while my master thesis in 2014 mainly addresses remote attacks on SIM cards.

The main research topics during my study in general dealt with computer networks, especially mobile security regarding communication standards like GSM. Because of this background I started as research assistant within the CSE college at the University Oldenburg, department of computer science with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Axel Hahn as my associated professor and PD Dr. Sibylle Fröschle as my supervisor.

I chose the CSE context to combine my background knowledge of mobile security with subjects of vehicular communication. Within the scope of my PhD thesis the trade-off between safety and privacy regarding vehicular communication will be the main topic. On the one hand safety requires misbehavior detection. On the other hand users shall be protected from one authority, which can easily do tracking and create user profiles. The evaluation of safety impact as well as the consequences for privacy of users of the vehicular infrastructure is one research task out of multiple subtopics of my thesis within CSE.

After spending a couple of years studying Fine Arts abroad I started a bachelor in Biomimetics at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen. In my bachelor thesis I investigated the nitric oxide metabolism of bio-films in respect to their possible usage as role models for efficient energy harvesting. In 2013 I accomplished a master in Engineering Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Magdeburg-Stendal. For my master thesis I optimized the shell of a capsule colonoscope following biomimetic principles.

My research interests are broad and include human centered design, research through design, human-machine interaction, psychology, neurophysiology and biomimetics.

After spending one year in the Human-Machine Systems Engineering Group of the University of Kassel, I started my PhD in February 2015 as part of the CSE college at the University of Oldenburg. Under the supervision of Prof. Andreas Hein I am busy developing objective assessment and enhancement strategies for elderly drivers with the help of neuro-technology. In my PhD-thesis I am able to combine my experience and research interests in psychology, design and medical technology and help to drive forward system development in the CSE sub-project “the car that cares”.