Related papers: Usable-by-Construction: a formal framework
The paper presents a new formal way of modeling and designing reconfigurable robots, in which case the robots are allowed to reconfigure not only structurally but also functionally. We call such kind of robots "self-evolvable", which have…
Despite recent major advances in robotics research, massive injections of capital into robotics startups, and significant market appetite for robotic solutions, large-scale real-world deployments of robotic systems remain relatively scarce…
Formal verification has been successfully developed in computer science for verifying combinatorial classes of models and specifications. In like manner, formal verification methods have been developed for dynamical systems. However, the…
In a Systems Engineering setting, various models are produced using a variety of methods and tools. Focusing on a type of models -- called descriptive models -- which we shall describe, we argue that, while the clarity and precision of…
Modelling qualitative uncertainty in formal argumentation is essential both for practical applications and theoretical understanding. Yet, most of the existing works focus on \textit{abstract} models for arguing with uncertainty. Following…
Usability is a key quality attribute of successful software systems. Unfortunately, there is no common understanding of the factors influencing usability and their interrelations. Hence, the lack of a comprehensive basis for designing,…
Design-by-contract is an important technique for model-based design in which a composite system is specified by a collection of contracts that specify the behavioural assumptions and guarantees of each component. In this paper, we describe…
Probabilistic programming is considered as a framework, in which basic components of cognitive architectures can be represented in unified and elegant fashion. At the same time, necessity of adopting some component of cognitive…
With an increasing degree of automation, automated vehicle systems become more complex in terms of functional components as well as interconnected hardware and software components. Thus, holistic systems engineering becomes a severe…
In systems engineering, accurately decomposing requirements is crucial for creating well-defined and manageable system components, particularly in safety-critical domains. Despite the critical need, rigorous, top-down methodologies for…
Producing a good software design involves not only writing a definition that satisfies the syntax of the chosen language or structural constraints of a design paradigm. It also involves upholding a variety of expectations about the behavior…
Recently, requirements for the explainability of software systems have gained prominence. One of the primary motivators for such requirements is that explainability is expected to facilitate stakeholders' trust in a system. Although this…
Correct-by-construction synthesis is a cornerstone of the confluence of formal methods and control theory towards designing safety-critical systems. Instead of following the time-tested, albeit laborious (re)design-verify-validate loop,…
A description is an entity that can be interpreted as true or false of an object, and using feature structures as descriptions accrues several computational benefits. In this paper, I create an explicit interpretation of a typed feature…
A software architecture describes the structure of a computing system by specifying software components and their interactions. Mapping a software architecture to an implementation is a well known challenge. A key element of this mapping is…
The specification, design, and assurance of safety encompasses various concepts and best practices, subject of reuse in form of patterns. This work summarizes applied research on such concepts and practices with a focus on the last two…
While the exact definition and implementation of accountability depend on the specific context, at its core accountability describes a mechanism that will make decisions transparent and often provides means to sanction "bad" decisions. As…
Software engineering concepts and processes are worthy of formal study; and yet we seldom formalize them. This "research ideas" article explores what a theory of software engineering could and should look like. Software engineering research…
Biometric systems, while offering convenient authentication, often fall short in providing rigorous security assurances. A primary reason is the ad-hoc design of protocols and components, which hinders the establishment of comprehensive…
Quality aspects such as ethics, fairness, and transparency have been proven to be essential for trustworthy software systems. Explainability has been identified not only as a means to achieve all these three aspects in systems, but also as…