ASD 2024

Workshop of the Autonomous Systems Design Initiative at DATE 2024
https://www.date-conference.com/asd
Tuesday, March 26, 2024: 14h – 18h00

Abstract: Autonomous functions have been proposed for pretty much all transport systems, vehicles, aircraft, or rail systems. Such transport systems and their design are governed by safety standards that are developed by large groups in public bodies or standardization organizations. At the core of such safety standards are certification or homologation processes that govern the regulatory approval of an autonomous system. A major challenge for this approval is the coexistence of traditional transport systems and transport systems with different levels of autonomy. This coexistence is a necessity, as there will be no exclusive space for autonomous transport systems, neither in the air nor on the ground, especially in densely populated areas. There are many related projects and initiatives addressing this challenge with different requirements and rules, in part a result of the specific form of potential system interference, in part based on the tradition of safety guarantees in the respective domain. The European U-space initiative is a very good example regulating the coexistence of traditional and unmanned aircrafts and drones and the related design processes and protection mechanisms.

Workshop Organization:  After an introduction, the workshop will start with a first session of introductory talks by experts from industry and public authorities in the different domains. In the second session, a panel of experts will discuss the implications for Autonomous Systems Design and research in the field.

ASD6.1: Introductory Talks (14h00-16h00)

Talk 1: “ISO PAS 8800: An AI safety standard for automotive applications”,
Simon Burton, Independent Consultant and Honorary Visiting Professor, University of York

Talk 2: “Certifying Autonomy in Railway Systems”,
Mario Trapp, Director Fraunhofer Institute Cognitive Systems

Talk 3: “AI Assurance and Challenges”,
Huafeng Yu, Highly Automated Systems Safety Center of Excellence (HASS COE), US Department of Transportation

Talk 4: “Autonomous Systems: Management Oversight of Certification and Homologation”,
William Widen, School of Law, University of Miami 

ASD6.2: Panel  (16h30-18h00)

Confirmed Panelists: 

• Huafeng Yu, HASS COE, US Department of Transportation
• Simon Burton, Independent Consultant & University of York
• Bill Widen, University of Miami
• Mario Trapp, Fraunhofer IKS
• Matthieu Gallas, Airbus
• Benjamin Lesage, ONERA

https://www.date-conference.com/asd
25-27 March 2024
Valencia, Spain

PDF Version of this Call for Contributions

Fueled by the progress of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems become more and more integral parts of many Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) applications, such as automated driving, robotics, avionics, industrial automation and smart systems in general. Autonomous systems are self-governed and self-adaptive systems that are designed to operate in an open and evolving environment which is not completely defined at design time. This poses a unique challenge to the design and verification of dependable autonomous systems. Following the successful editions from previous years, DATE is again hosting the Initiative on Autonomous Systems Design. The initiative will include peer-reviewed papers, invited contributions and interactive sessions.

Areas of Interest

We welcome your contributions within the scope of the event. The main areas of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Concepts, Algorithms and Formal Methods for Autonomy
• Platforms for Autonomous Systems
  • Architectures (from Chip Level to System Level) for Autonomous Systems
  • Middleware and Frameworks (e.g., ROS) for Autonomous Systems
  • Models and HW/SW Mechanisms for Self-Awareness and Self-Adaptation
• Design of Autonomous Systems
  • Mastering Emergent and Evolving Behavior (Goals, Constraints, …)
  • Design, Verification and Test of High-Assurance Learning-Enabled Systems
  • Design Automation and Methodologies for Autonomous Systems
• Dependability and Trustworthy Autonomy
  • Functional Safety and Assurance Cases for Evolving and Learning-Enabled Systems
  • HW/SW Mechanisms for Resilient Systems
  • Autonomous Systems Security
• Applications and Case Studies of Autonomous Systems

Types of Contributions

Conference Papers:
The special initiative features regular sessions for presenting novel technical contributions. Submitted papers will undergo a peer-review process and accepted papers will appear in the DATE conference proceedings. All manuscripts should be submitted in pdf format not exceeding 6 pages, following the DATE submission instructions.

• Abstract Submission: 04 November 2023 AoE
• Full Paper Submission: 11 November 2023 AoE
• Acceptance Notification: 17 December 2023 AoE

Special Sessions / Panels / Interactive Sessions:
We additionally solicit proposals for special sessions, panel discussions, interactive sessions and invited talks, targeting emerging challenges in the field of autonomous systems, especially that are of interest to the DATE conference participants. Sessions on industrial perspectives, prototypes and demos are also highly welcome. Proposals must consist of an extended summary of up to 1,500 words in a PDF file, describing the topic, the authors/speakers, and the intended format. Submission deadline is 11 November 2023.

Submission Instructions

All submissions should follow the DATE proceedings submission instructions. Please submit your contribution at https://softconf.com/date24/special_ASD/

Organizing Committee

• Rolf Ernst, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany
• Dirk Ziegenbein, Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany
• Selma Saidi, Technical University Dortmund, Germany
• Sebastian Steinhorst, Technical University Munich, Germany