Trusted Autonomous Systems

完全自主的系统就在这里。在过去的50年里，我们已经迅速从控制系统，其中操作员对系统的动作有完全的控制（例如，挖掘机），到遵循人类指令的受监督系统（例如，自动化缝纫机），到执行一系列复杂操作而无需人控制的自动系统（例如，今天的机器人汽车装配线），到自主系统。自治系统（AS）是一种高度适应性的系统，它能够感知环境并学会对自己的行为做出决策，在达到某个目标时表现出高度的主动性。它们是自主的，在这个意义上，他们不需要一个人的存在来操作，虽然他们可能会沟通，合作，并与他们或其他自治系统进行谈判，以达到他们的目标。这个奖学金的目标是发展自治系统的科学和工程基础，成为我们日常生活的一部分。如果由机器执行重复性或危险的任务，对社会有明显的好处。然而，媒体和广大公众对协助我们生活关键方面的日益复杂的技术存在明显的抵制。这些担忧是有道理的。大多数人都有软件和自动化设备不能正常运行的第一手经验;为什么他们愿意把他们需求的关键方面委托给他们呢？皇家工程院于2009年8月发表了一份有影响力的报告，并在媒体上广泛讨论，该报告认为，除非解决有关法律的、伦理、社会和监管影响的紧迫问题，否则这些技术将不会投入使用，这是一个真实的危险。例如，该报告强调了自动无人驾驶汽车之间发生碰撞时的责任问题。谁该负责？乘客？软件？老板？汽车的制造商？很明显，社会和政府需要就其中的几个问题进行成熟的辩论。然而，该报告确定了一个更根本的问题："谁将负责自治系统的认证？[皇家学会，自治系统，2009年8月，第4页]虽然这个问题有复杂的监管方面，但其潜在的科学含义是，作为计算机科学家和工程师，我们迫切需要向社会提供技术，以便能够验证和证明自治系统的行为符合其预期。为了实现这一目标，确定了四个研究目标：1）制定基于逻辑的语言的原则规范的AS，包括关键属性，如容错性，可诊断性，弹性等。2）开发有效的模型检测技术，包括基于AS的抽象，参数和并行模型检测，验证AS。3)构建和开源发布用于用例认证的最先进的自动系统模型检查器。4）在三个具有即时和中期社会重要性的关键领域验证这些技术：自动驾驶汽车，服务和电子健康。该奖学金旨在追求计算逻辑中的新技术，以应对上述技术挑战。这些领域的成功将为AS的验证开辟道路，从而为其在社会中的主流应用提供认证。

Fully autonomous systems are here. In the past 50 years we have quickly moved from controlled systems, where the operator has full control on the actions of the system (e.g., a digger), to supervised systems that follow human instructions (e.g., automated sewing machines), to automatic systems performing a series of sophisticated operations without human control (e.g., today's robotic car assembly lines), to autonomous systems. Autonomous systems (AS) are highly adaptive systems that sense the environment and learn to make decisions on their actions displaying a high degree of pro-activeness in reaching a certain objective. They are autonomous in the sense that they do not need the presence of a human to operate, although they may communicate, cooperate, and negotiate with them or fellow autonomous systems to reach their goals.The objective of this fellowship is to develop the scientific and engineering underpinnings for autonomous systems to become part of our every-day's life. There is a clear benefit for society if repetitive or dangerous tasks are performed by machines. Yet, there is a perceived resistance in the media and the public at large to increasingly sophisticated technology assisting key aspects of our lives. These concerns are justified. Most people have first hand experience of software and automatic devices not performing as they should; why should they be willing to delegate to them crucial aspects of their needs?In a recent influential report published by the Royal Academy of Engineering in August 2009 and widely discussed in the media it is argued that there is a real danger that these technologies will not be put into use unless urgent questions about the legal, ethical, social, and regulatory implications are addressed. For instance, the report highlights the issue of liability in case of collisions between autonomous driverless cars. Who should be held responsible? The passenger? The software? The owner? The maker of the vehicle? Quite clearly society and the government need to engage in a maturedebate on several of these issues. However, the report identifies an even more fundamental point:``Who will be responsible for certification of autonomous systems? [Royal Society, Autonomous Systems, August 2009, page 4]While there are complex regulatory aspects to this question, its underlying scientific implication is that we, as computer scientists and engineers, urgently need to offer society techniques to be able to verify and certify that autonomous systems behave as they are intended to. To achieve this, four research objectives are identified:1) The formulation of logic-based languages for the principled specification of AS, including key properties such as fault-tolerance, diagnosability, resilience, etc.2) The development of efficient model checking techniques, including AS-based abstraction, parametric and parallel model checking, for the verification of AS. 3) The construction and open source release of a state-of-the-art model checker for autonomous systems to be used for use-cases certifications.4) The validation of these techniques in three key areas of immediate and mid-term societal importance: autonomous vehicles, services, and e-health.This fellowship intends to pursue novel techniques in computational logic to answer the technical challenges above. A success in these areas will open the way for the verification of AS, thereby opening the way to their certification for mainstream use in society.