Ariadne: Building safe autonomy with unproven algorithms
With the advent of increasingly intelligent algorithms, robots are capable of planning and performing increasingly challenging and creative tasks. Safety, however, remains an essential requirement on robotic behaviors. It is also a property that is hard or impossible to prove for virtually all intelligent algorithms of practical value. Ariadne is a model-based paradigm that enables the safe operation of many robotic systems, even though the algorithms involved with the operation may not be verifiable. Ariadne, or "plan B" engineering, will be illustrated in various current Robotics contexts derived from Ariadne's own Greek mythology, railroad systems, nuclear energy production, air transportation, and others.
Overview
Abstract
With the advent of increasingly intelligent algorithms, robots are capable of planning and performing increasingly challenging and creative tasks. Safety, however, remains an essential requirement on robotic behaviors. It is also a property that is hard or impossible to prove for virtually all intelligent algorithms of practical value.
Ariadne is a model-based paradigm that enables the safe operation of many robotic systems, even though the algorithms involved with the operation may not be verifiable. Ariadne, or "plan B" engineering, will be illustrated in various current Robotics contexts derived from Ariadne's own Greek mythology, railroad systems, nuclear energy production, air transportation, and others.
Brief Biography
Eric Feron is Professor of Electrical Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Prior to leaving Georgia Tech where he taught for a while, Feron was a tenured faculty at MIT’s department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Eric Feron’s interests are using fundamental concepts of control systems, optimization and computer science to address important problems in aerospace and transportation engineering, such as air transportation, aerial robotics, software and system certification, and human-machine interaction. Feron holds licenses to operate vehicles in the air, on the ground, on water, and underwater.ext.
