News

Satellites and satellites around the earth.

The Problem With GPS

Jan. 29, 2021
WNCG professor Todd Humphreys, an expert in GPS spoofing, is featured in a recent New York Times opinion piece on the nation's need for a GPS backup. Although the system is essential, it's also vulnerable. Read the full piece by Kate Murphy in The New York Times. 
Nasa's dragon spacecraft in space.

Todd Humphreys and Peter Iannucci Research to Improve Navigation using SpaceX Satellites

Sept. 29, 2020
WNCG professor Todd Humphreys and postdoctoral fellow Peter Iannucci of the Radionavigation Laboratory have developed a system using the constellation of SpaceX satellites to potentially deliver a low-cost, more accurate, and highly secure alternative to GPS. Their work was recently featured in the MIT Technology Review:
Satellites and satellites around the earth.

How Vulnerable is GPS?

Aug. 13, 2020
The New Yorker feature "How Vulnerable is GPS?" discusses WNCG professor Todd Humphreys' journey uncovering and demonstrating security weaknesses in the Global Positioning System. Humphreys is a pioneer in the the study of Global Navigation Satellite Systems. His research group was the first to demonstrate cm-accurate RTK positioning through a smartphone antenna, and in 2012 they demonstrated the first successful spoofing of UAVs. Since then, Humphreys has examined real-world instances of spoofing and jamming that raise serious concerns about the ubiquitous technology.
A group of people posing for a picture in front of a robot.

UT Austin Takes 3rd Place at RoboCup@Home 2017 Competition in Japan

Aug. 28, 2017
The UT Austin Villa team won 3rd prize at the RoboCup@Home 2017 competition in Nagoya, in the category of Domestic Standard Platform League.
A group of people posing with a robot.

UT Robotics Team Wins Third at International RoboCup@Home

Aug. 16, 2017
The UT Austin Villa Robotics Team recently won third place at the RoboCup@Home 2017 competition, in the category of Domestic Standard Platform League. The competition was held in Nagoya, Japan. Robocup was originally founded by Japanese researchers to develop robots that could play soccer well enough to eventually defeat world champion players. The idea was playfully implemented in order to fuse robot engineering with artificial intelligence and development. Now the original goal of the competition has expanded to include other areas and goals of robotics.