Foundations of Cyber Physical Systems Course | IIT Kharagpur | Prof. Soumyajit Dey
Course Details
| Exam Registration | 630 |
|---|---|
| Course Status | Ongoing |
| Course Type | Elective |
| Language | English |
| Duration | 12 weeks |
| Categories | Computer Science and Engineering |
| Credit Points | 3 |
| Level | Undergraduate/Postgraduate |
| Start Date | 19 Jan 2026 |
| End Date | 10 Apr 2026 |
| Enrollment Ends | 02 Feb 2026 |
| Exam Registration Ends | 20 Feb 2026 |
| Exam Date | 25 Apr 2026 IST |
| NCrF Level | 4.5 — 8.0 |
Foundations of Cyber Physical Systems: A Comprehensive 12-Week Course Guide
In an increasingly interconnected world, the boundary between the physical and digital realms continues to blur, giving rise to complex systems that integrate computation, networking, and physical processes. These are Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), and they form the backbone of modern critical infrastructure. A new 12-week course, Foundations of Cyber Physical Systems, offered by Prof. Soumyajit Dey of IIT Kharagpur, provides a deep dive into this fascinating and vital field.
About the Course Instructor: Prof. Soumyajit Dey
Prof. Soumyajit Dey brings a wealth of academic and research experience to this course. He joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur in May 2013, following a tenure as an Assistant Professor at IIT Patna.
His academic journey includes:
- B.E. in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata (2004).
- M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from IIT Kharagpur (2007 and 2011, respectively).
Prof. Dey's research is pivotal to the course content, focusing on:
- Synthesis and Verification of Safe, Secure, and Intelligent Cyber-Physical Systems.
- Runtime Systems for Heterogeneous Platforms, including GPGPU scheduling for embedded real-time applications and cluster workloads.
He is also known for his popular course “High Performance Parallel Programming” at IIT KGP, ensuring that this CPS course is built on a foundation of practical, high-performance computing principles.
Course Overview and Objectives
Duration: 12 Weeks
Level: Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Category: Computer Science and Engineering
Cyber-physical systems are integral to safety-critical domains like automotive, avionics, healthcare, and industrial automation. This course aims to bridge the gap between computational theory and physical control systems.
The primary objectives are:
- To expose the unique design and implementation challenges of CPS, stemming from the tight integration of real-valued, dense-time physical systems with discrete, software-based control.
- To provide a balanced perspective, equally rooted in computational principles and automated control theory.
- To walk students through real-world design and validation problems.
- To introduce the integration of Artificial Intelligence (specifically Neural Networks) into CPS while emphasizing the paramount importance of guaranteed safety and stability using control-theoretic methods.
Who Should Take This Course?
Intended Audience: UG/PG students of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), and Electrical Engineering (EE).
Prerequisites:
- Basic Programming Knowledge
- Engineering Mathematics
Industry Support: The course content is highly relevant to major industries, including:
- Tier 1 Automotive Companies (e.g., Robert Bosch Engineering)
- OEM Automotive Companies (e.g., Tata Motors, BMW, Daimler, Mahindra)
- Government Labs (e.g., DRDO, HAL)
Detailed 12-Week Course Layout
| Week | Topic |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | CPS: Motivational Examples and Compute Platforms |
| Week 2 | Real-Time Sensing and Communication for CPS |
| Week 3 | Real-Time Task Scheduling for CPS |
| Week 4 | Dynamical System Modeling, Stability, Controller Design |
| Week 5 | Delay-aware Design; Platform Effect on Stability/Performance |
| Week 6 | Hybrid Automata Based Modeling of CPS |
| Week 7 | Reachability Analysis |
| Week 8 | Lyapunov Stability, Barrier Functions |
| Week 9 | Quadratic Program Based Safe Controller Design |
| Week 10 | Neural Network (NN) Based Controllers in CPS |
| Week 11 | State Estimation using Kalman Filters (KF) |
| Week 12 | Attack Detection and Mitigation in CPS |
The curriculum progresses logically from fundamental concepts (modeling, real-time systems) to core control theory (stability, controller design), then to advanced formal methods for verification (reachability, barrier functions), and finally to cutting-edge topics like AI integration and security.
Essential Reading Material
To complement the lectures, the course recommends two foundational textbooks:
- “Principles of Cyber-Physical Systems” by Rajeev Alur
- “Introduction to Embedded Systems — A Cyber-Physical Systems Approach” by E. A. Lee and Sanjit Seshia
These texts provide the theoretical bedrock for the principles discussed throughout the 12 weeks.
Why This Course Matters
The Foundations of Cyber Physical Systems course is more than an academic pursuit; it's training for the future. As CPS become more autonomous and intelligent, the need for engineers who can design systems that are not only high-performing but also provably safe and secure is critical. This course, designed and delivered by an expert like Prof. Soumyajit Dey at a premier institution like IIT Kharagpur, offers a unique opportunity to build a strong, applicable foundation in one of the most important engineering disciplines of the 21st century.
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