Embedded and Intelligent Systems Laboratory

The Embedded and Intelligent Systems Laboratory (EIS@Essex) carries out research in the areas of Embedded Systems and System-on-Chip design with focus on security, power, performance and reliability, advanced embedded systems and processor architectures targeted for cyber physical systems, automotive/industrial, robotics, image processing, networked and distributed sensor nodes/Internet of Things and real-time critical systems.

Furthermore, it works in the area of Big Data Analytics, computer vision and embedded AI for real world problems and application areas.

The EIS laboratory has state-of-the-art design and prototyping facilities for embedded systems design and system-processing architectures. Funded through a £140k RCIF investment by the University, it houses, amongst other equipment, several very-high-gate-count top-end FPGA boards, many processor architectures, advanced development kits and IOS/Android devices, sensor and actuators to design real-world prototypes.

Research areas include advanced embedded systems and processor architectures for Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), automotive/industrial, robotics, image processing, sensor network nodes, Internet of Things (IoT) and other real-time critical applications, as well as games hardware and software systems, Low-Power Architectures, Big Data Analytics, computer vision and embedded AI for real world problems and robot control.

We are actively involved in a range of research projects, such as the multi-million pound EPSRC National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR) and the ESRC Human Rights, Big Data and Technology project. Our work has been funded mostly from the EPSRC, ESRC, EU and Innovate UK, and we work with many institutions worldwide including NASA JPL, and the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision.

Our research has also led to the formation of two start-up businesses: UltraSoC Technologies (recently acquired by Siemens), and Metrarc.

Related courses

Our research

The Embedded and Intelligent Systems Laboratory at the University of Essex researches embedded systems and System-on-Chip design with focus on security, power, performance and reliability.

We are actively involved in a range of research projects. Our work has been funded by public bodies and we work with a number of institutions worldwide. Our research has also led to the formation of two start-up businesses: UltraSoC Technologies, and Metrarc.

Infrastructure

ISoC laboratory
Dedicated Embedded and Intelligent Systems Research laboratory
Robotics arena

Our academics

Professor Klaus McDonald-Maier

Head of Laboratory

School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex

Research interests: Robotics, embedded processors for robotics, legged robots, artificial intelligence, embedded systems, System-on-Chips (SoC), Cyber Security, low power computer architectures, SoC performance and reliability, advanced embedded systems and processor architectures, Cyber Physical Systems, Computer Vision, Internet of Things architectures, Emerging Technology for Human Rights