Vanderbilt · Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University

Networked multi-UAV simulation, Remote ID spoofing detection, and machine-learning anomaly detection for small unmanned aircraft.

Networked UAV simulationRemote ID securityAnomaly detectionRF sensing

Vanderbilt’s team, led by Bryan C. Ward with co-investigator Gautam Biswas, builds the project’s networked simulation platform for small UAS, which models multi-operator urban operations and generates cyberattack datasets. On this platform the team studies Remote ID spoofing attacks and defenses, from signal-based detection and spoofing-aware trajectory planning to an SDR-equipped drone for physical demonstration, and develops learning-based detection of MAVLink cyber anomalies. Vanderbilt collaborates with Collins Aerospace and UT Austin.

Research thrusts

  1. 01

    Networked UAV simulation platform

    An open-source distributed simulator integrating ArduPilot SITL, Gazebo, QGroundControl, and OMNeT++ that models multi-operator operations under the FAA UTM concept of operations, with a library of adversarial scenarios for cyberattack research.

  2. 02

    Remote ID spoofing detection

    Detectors that exploit the physics of the radio signal, from onboard filtering to federated multilateration and learned models, evaluated across 1,920 simulated urban scenarios.

    UC-03

  3. 03

    SDR hardware testbed

    A small UAS testbed with a software-defined radio that adds Doppler shift and angle-of-arrival checks to validate detection in real RF environments.

    UC-03

  4. 04

    Spoofing-aware trajectory planning

    Decentralized planning that treats Remote ID as unverified, localizes a suspected spoofer under uncertainty, and avoids a chance-constrained unsafe region.

    UC-03with UT Austin

  5. 05

    Learning-based anomaly detection

    Graph learning that detects compromised drones under tight communication budgets, and detectors trained on attack datasets generated with the networked simulator.

    UC-05

  6. 06

    Formal security assessment

    Through summer internships at Collins Aerospace, contributes to formalizing attacks in the Lean theorem prover and to explainable assurance cases.

    UC-08with Collins

Figures

From the research

Flow from a system architecture into Lean theorems with LLM assistance, producing a yes or no verdict on attack feasibility.
Collins · VanderbiltSecurity assessment as machine-checked proof. An LLM proposes theorems over the architecture and the Lean theorem prover checks them, giving repeatable evidence of whether an attack is possible.
AADL architecture diagram of a ground station, mission computer, and flight controller with their interfaces.
Collins · VanderbiltRepresentative small UAS architecture modeled in AADL, used both for attack reasoning and to guide deployment on the seL4 microkernel.
Quadcopter with red arms and an onboard computer next to a handheld radio controller.
VanderbiltVanderbilt’s small UAS hardware testbed for validating Remote ID spoofing detection in real radio environments.

Demos

See Vanderbilt's work in action

All demos

VanderbiltUC-03Simulation

Cooperative collision avoidance

Three simulated drones in Gazebo maneuver around one another using their neighbors' broadcast positions. This is the cooperative behavior that Remote ID spoofing targets, and that spoofing-aware planning protects.

VanderbiltUC-05Simulation

Scaling to large fleets

Dozens of simulated vehicles launched in a single experiment, showing how the simulator scales for cyberattack studies.

VanderbiltUC-05Simulation

Multiple operators, separate ground stations

Simulated drones, each linked to its own operator’s ground control station, as in the multi-operator setting of the FAA UTM concept of operations.

VanderbiltUC-05Simulation

Networked UAV simulation over a city

Vanderbilt’s networked simulator flies many drones from multiple operators over a downtown map, each running its own ArduPilot autopilot. It’s the platform used to generate attack datasets and evaluate detectors.

Use cases

Where Vanderbilt contributes

People

Researchers and students

Postdoctoral researchers1

  • Abenezer Taye

PhD students5

  • Bryce Bjorkman
  • Noah Dahle
  • Abel Diaz-Gonzalez
  • Joel Isaacson
  • Cai Lemieux-Mack

Undergraduate researchers5

  • Bennett Davis
  • Samuel Gonzalez
  • Daniil Shatokhin
  • Jeremiah Webb
  • Stanley Zheng

Former members

  • Xenofon KoutsoukosProfessor of Computer Science; now a DARPA program manager
  • Robert CanadyPostdoctoral researcher
  • Austin CourseyPhD student
  • Patryk DobranowskiUndergraduate researcher

Publications

Publications

8 published or accepted papers

  1. A Survey of Security Challenges and Solutions for Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL Aircraft

    M. Ghazanfari, I. Sharifi, A. Taye, P. Wei, B. C. Ward, X. Koutsoukos, G. Biswas, et al.

    AIAA SciTech Forum, 2026

    ConferenceGWUVanderbilt

  2. A Survey of Security Challenges and Solutions for UAS Traffic Management (UTM) and Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS)

    I. Sharifi, M. Ghazanfari, A. Taye, P. Wei, M. Ahmed, H. T. Kim, M. Ghasemi, V. Gupta, B. C. Ward, X. Koutsoukos, G. Biswas, et al.

    AIAA SciTech Forum, 2026

    ConferenceGWUPurdueVanderbilt

  3. Detecting Falsified UAV Telemetry: An SDR Approach to Remote ID Spoofing Detection

    J. Isaacson, B. Bjorkman, S. Zheng, B. C. Ward

    GNU Radio Conference, 2026

    ConferenceVanderbiltUC-03

  4. Detection of Compromised UAVs Using Graph Machine Learning

    N. W. Dahle, R. Canady, A. Coursey, A. Diaz-Gonzalez, C. Lemieux-Mack, B. Bjorkman, A. Taye, B. C. Ward, G. Biswas, X. Koutsoukos

    AIAA SciTech Forum, 2026

    ConferenceVanderbiltUC-05

  5. Networked Simulation for Cybersecurity Evaluation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Dense Urban Environments

    A. Diaz-Gonzalez, A. Coursey, B. Bjorkman, D. Shatokhin, C. Lemieux-Mack, N. W. Dahle, A. Taye, R. E. Canady, X. Koutsoukos, G. Biswas, B. C. Ward

    AIAA SciTech Forum, 2026

    ConferenceVanderbiltUC-05UC-03

  6. Remote ID Spoofing Attacks and Defenses

    B. Bjorkman, S. Zheng, A. Coursey, C. Lemieux-Mack, S. Gonzalez, A. Diaz-Gonzalez, N. W. Dahle, N. Koroma, R. E. Canady, X. Koutsoukos, G. Biswas, A. Taye, B. C. Ward

    AIAA SciTech Forum, 2026

    ConferenceVanderbiltUC-03

  7. Remote ID Spoofing-Aware Trajectory Planning for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

    J. Webb, B. Bjorkman, A. Diaz-Gonzalez, A. Coursey, N. W. Dahle, C. Lemieux-Mack, F. Fotiadis, G. Biswas, B. C. Ward, A. Taye

    AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), 2026

    ConferenceVanderbiltUT AustinUC-03

  8. Towards Automated Design-Time Explainability of Assurance Cases and Trade Spaces

    B. Bjorkman, B. C. Ward, S. Hasan

    International Workshop on Explainability of Real-time Systems and their Analysis (ERSA), IEEE RTSS, 2025

    WorkshopVanderbiltCollinsUC-08