Related papers: Toward a Science of Autonomy for Physical Systems:…
Robotic systems are complex and safety-critical software systems. As such, they need to be tested thoroughly. Unfortunately, robot software is intrinsically hard to test compared to traditional software, mainly since the software needs to…
Assistive robotic devices can increase the independence of individuals with motor impairments. However, each person is unique in their level of injury, preferences, and skills, which moreover can change over time. Further, the amount of…
Formal Methods are mathematically-based techniques for software design and engineering, which enable the unambiguous description of and reasoning about a system's behaviour. Autonomous systems use software to make decisions without human…
Autonomy is fundamental for artificial agents acting in complex real-world scenarios. The acquisition of many different skills is pivotal to foster versatile autonomous behaviour and thus a main objective for robotics and machine learning.…
We discuss challenges to control systems engineering arising from the advent of cyber-physical systems (CPS). After discussing the terminology, general, IT-related issues are treated which need cooperation with computer science, in…
Simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) is the problem of autonomous robots to construct or update a map of an undetermined unstructured environment while simultaneously estimate the pose in it. The current trend towards self-driving…
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) integrate digital technologies with physical processes and are common in different domains and industries, such as robotic systems, autonomous vehicles or satellites. Debugging and verification of CPS software…
Cyber Physical Systems have been going into a transition phase from individual systems to a collecttives of systems that collaborate in order to achieve a highly complex cause, realizing a system of systems approach. The automotive domain…
Cyber-physical systems, also known as CPS, is an emerging field of technology that combines the physical and digital worlds by allowing for seamless interaction and communication between the two. One of the key characteristics of a CPS is…
This discussion paper aims to support the argument process for the need to develop a comprehensive science of resilient robotic autonomy. Resilience and its key characteristics relating to robustness, redundancy, and resourcefulness are…
Deep learning's success in perception, natural language processing, etc. inspires hopes for advancements in autonomous robotics. However, real-world robotics face challenges like variability, high-dimensional state spaces, non-linear…
In the context of surgery, robots can provide substantial assistance by performing small, repetitive tasks such as suturing, needle exchange, and tissue retraction, thereby enabling surgeons to concentrate on more complex aspects of the…
Active Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is the problem of planning and controlling the motion of a robot to build the most accurate and complete model of the surrounding environment. Since the first foundational work in active…
Existing Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS) independently make driving decisions, but they face two significant limitations. First, in complex scenarios, ADS may misinterpret the environment and make inappropriate driving decisions. Second,…
Motion planning is a fundamental problem in autonomous robotics that requires finding a path to a specified goal that avoids obstacles and takes into account a robot's limitations and constraints. It is often desirable for this path to also…
Robots and artificial machines have been captivating the public for centuries, depicted first as threats to humanity, then as subordinates and helpers. In the last decade, the booming exposure of humans to robots has fostered an increasing…
Autonomous robotic surgery requires deliberation, i.e. the ability to plan and execute a task adapting to uncertain and dynamic environments. Uncertainty in the surgical domain is mainly related to the partial pre-operative knowledge about…
In the near future, autonomous space systems will compose many of the deployed spacecraft. Their tasks will involve autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations with large structures, such as inspections, assembly, and maintenance of…
The automated assembly of complex products requires a system that can automatically plan a physically feasible sequence of actions for assembling many parts together. In this paper, we present ASAP, a physics-based planning approach for…
The concept of autonomy is key to the IoT vision promising increasing integration of smart services and systems minimizing human intervention. This vision challenges our capability to build complex open trustworthy autonomous systems. We…