Robust & Safe Mobile Co-operative Autonomous Systems

Národní dofinancování projektu Robust & Safe Mobile Co-operative Autonomous Systems

grant

robotics, embedded systems

Safe and robust autonomous systems are one of the - if not the - most important instantiation of
embedded systems in middle-range future, simply because the application domains are extremely
manifold, from transportation over manufacturing to farming, surveillance (in-door, land, air, and sea)
to care as well as entertainment. Consequently, at the ARTEMIS SummerCamp 2009, the Strategy
Group identified "Autonomous Systems" as one of the targets of the next ARTEMIS SRA.
However, today a large number of different approaches and platforms exist, rendering an economic
realization of such systems currently unrealistic (perhaps besides the manufacturing domain, where
robots are already industrially exploited). Simultaneously, as such systems increasingly share
environment - and even closely cooperate - with humans, there is an urgent need for providing any
possible means and measures to assert and guarantee their dependability, in particular safety and
robustness. While a huge log of analysing and testing strategies and methods for conventional systems
exist, these are of limited value for mobile autonomous systems with complex sensors and behaviour.
Hence, R3-COP will progress autonomous systems in two directions: technology and methodology.
Technology: R3-COP will develop a fault-tolerant high-performance processing platform, based on a
multi-core architecture, as well as innovative system components for robust perception of the
environment including sensor fusion, and for reasoning and reliable action control. Energy-efficient
drivetrains will also be considered.
Methodology: a methodology-based development framework will enable economic development of
reference platforms for various robotic application domains as well as dedicated solutions. A tool
platform will allow for guarded application of the design methodology, including new test strategies
and tools.
The outcomes will be applied in a series of demonstrators from ground-based, airborne and
underwater domains.

Smrž Pavel, doc. RNDr., Ph.D. (UPGM FIT VUT) , research leader
Zemčík Pavel, prof. Dr. Ing. (UPGM FIT VUT) , team leader