Software-based Realtime Recovery from Sensor Attacks on Robotic Vehicles

We present a novel technique to recover robotic vehicles (RVs) from various sensor attacks with so-called software sensors. Specifically, our technique builds a predictive statespace model based on the generic system identification technique. Sensor measurement prediction based on the statespace model runs as a software backup of the corresponding physical sensor. When physical sensors are under attacks, the corresponding software sensors can isolate and recover the compromised sensors individually to prevent further damage. We apply our prototype to various sensor attacks on six RV systems, including a real quadrotor and a rover. Our evaluation results demonstrate that our technique can practically and safely recover the vehicle from various attacks on multiple sensors under different maneuvers, preventing crashes.