Behavior Of Autonomous Systems Research Articles

Failing parametrizations: what can go wrong when approximating spectral submanifolds

Invariant manifolds provide useful insights into the behavior of nonlinear dynamical systems. For conservative vibration problems, Lyapunov subcenter manifolds constitute the nonlinear extension of spectral subspaces consisting of one or more modes of the linearized system. Conversely, spectral submanifolds represent the spectral dynamics of non-conservative, nonlinear problems. While finding global invariant manifolds remains a challenge, approximations thereof can be simple to acquire and still provide an effective framework for analyzing a wide variety of problems near equilibrium solutions. This approach has been successfully employed to study both the behavior of autonomous systems and the effects of non-autonomous forcing. The current computation strategies rely on a parametrization of the invariant manifold and the reduced dynamics thereon via truncated power series. While this leads to efficient recursive algorithms, the problem itself is ambiguous, since it permits the use of various approaches for constructing the reduced system to which the invariant manifold is conjugated. Although this ambiguity is well known, it is rarely discussed and usually resolved by an ad hoc choice of method, the effects of which are mostly neglected. In this contribution, we first analyze the performance of three popular approaches for constructing the conjugate system: the graph style parametrization, the normal form parametrization, and the normal form parametrization for “near resonances.” We then show that none of them is always superior to the others and discuss the potential benefits of tailoring the parametrization to the analyzed system. As a means for illustrating the latter, we introduce an alternative strategy for constructing the reduced dynamics and apply it to two examples from the literature, which results in a significantly improved approximation quality.

Value elicitation on a scenario of autonomous weapon system deployment: a qualitative study based on the value deliberation process

Ethical concerns on autonomous weapon systems (AWS) call for a process of human oversight to ensure accountability over targeting decisions and the use of force. To align the behavior of autonomous systems with human values and norms, the Design for Values approach can be used to consciously embody values in the deployment of AWS. One instrument for the elicitation of values during the design is participative deliberation. In this paper, we describe a participative deliberation method and results of a value elicitation by means of the value deliberation process for which we organized two panels each consisting of a mixture of experts in the field of AWS working in military operations, foreign policy, NGO’s and industry. The results of our qualitative study indicate not only that value discussion leads to changes in perception of the acceptability of alternatives, or options, in a scenario of AWS deployment, it also gives insight in to which values are deemed important and highlights that trust in the decision-making of an AWS is crucial.

Creating a Foundation for Next-Generation Autonomous Systems

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Editor’s notes:</i> This article advocates the need for a new autonomics foundation with a focus on decision-making logic and its processes for building trustworthy autonomous systems. — <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Selma Saidi, TU Dortmund</i>

Covid 19 as a factor damping globalization trends - structural analysis of local extrema at the level of EU countries

Research background: The authors participate in the creation of a model for monitoring and predicting the behavior of autonomous systems on a selected infrastructure for the analysis of current phenomena. Covid 19 dampens globalization trends and processes, especially free movement. The primary research aim was to identify changes in Covid19 indicators in area. The secondary aim was to find agreement in the behavior of selected globalization factors. Purpose of the article: For the presented analysis, a research question was expressed how the EU states reacted to the change of local extremes of the pandemic. The paper presents spatial changes in the number of infected and dead in EU countries over time and compares these changes with selected changes in population movements and changes selected economic indicators. Methods: Notably daily, monthly and quarterly data from Eurostat, OECD, ECDC and WHO at the level of EU countries were used for the analysis. Local extremes were identified by comparison, precedence analysis, structural analysis and simulation. Findings &amp; Value added: The added value of the paper lies in the chosen method, which identifies local extremes using structural analysis in a geospatial context. In most cases, global analyzes fail to take into account the links between the analyzed factors and the geopolitical location of the region. The work presents the possibilities of analysis using precedent modeling, through which analyzes can be performed with respect to geographical links. The output is the identification of EU countries according to responses to changes in pandemic factors.

An approach for combining ethical principles with public opinion to guide public policy

We propose a framework for incorporating public opinion into policy making in situations where values are in conflict. This framework advocates creating vignettes representing value choices, eliciting the public's opinion on these choices, and using machine learning to extract principles that can serve as succinct statements of the policies implied by these choices and rules to guide the behavior of autonomous systems.

Characterizing User Responses to Failures in Aerial Autonomous Systems

Users are often the last barrier in the detection and correction of abnormal behavior in autonomous systems, so understanding what can be expected from users in various contexts is crucial to the performance of such systems. This letter presents the first study characterizing a user ability to timely report and correct autonomous system failures in the context of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAVs). The study aims to explore the complex tradespace which designers will encounter when developing effective transitions of control in sUAVs. We have analyzed these tradeoffs in terms of accuracy and response time while manipulating several key contextual elements including subtlety of failure, transitions of control, introduction of noise in autonomous paths, and amount of user training. Results indicate that: 1) increased accuracy is achieved under longer deadlines without large delays in responses, 2) increased noise, user training, and user responsibility for correction lead to increased reporting times, but only increased user responsibility increased accuracy, 3) users, particularly those with additional training, wanted to remain engaged in failure correction even when such interactions were not requested, 4) asking users to fix failures that they did not report resulted in increased response times and reduced accuracy.

Local Extremes of Selected Industry 4.0 Indicators in the European Space—Structure for Autonomous Systems

In the past, the social and economic impacts of industrial revolutions have been clearly identified. The current Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) is characterized by robotization, digitization, and automation. This will transform the production processes, but also the services or financial markets. Specific groups of people and activities may be replaced by new information technologies. Changes represent an extreme risk of economic instability and social change. The authors described available published sources and selected a group of indicators related to Industry 4.0. The indicators were divided into five groups and summarized by negative or positive impact. The indicators were analyzed by precedence analysis. Extremes in the geographical dislocation of factor values were found. Furthermore, spatial dependencies in the distribution of these extremes were found by calculating multiple (long) precedencies. European countries were classified according to individual groups of indicators. The results were compared with the real values of the indicators. The indicated extremes and their distribution will allow to predict changes in the behavior of the population given by changes in the socio-economic environment. The behavior of the population can be described by the behavior of autonomous systems on selected infrastructure. The paper presents research related to the creation of a multiagent model for the prediction of spatial changes in population distribution induced by Industry 4.0.

Can Model Checking Assure, Distributed Autonomous Systems Agree? An Urban Air Mobility Case Study

Advancement in artificial intelligence, internet of things and information technology have enabled the delegation of execution of autonomous services to autonomous systems for civil applications. It is envisioned, that with an increase in the demand for autonomous systems, the decision making associated in the execution of the autonomous services will be distributed, with some of the responsibility in decision making, shifted to the autonomous systems. Thus, it is of utmost importance that we assure the correctness of distributed protocols, that multiple autonomous systems will follow, as they interact with each other in providing the service. Towards this end, we discuss our pro-posed framework to model, analyze and assure the correctness of distributed protocols executed by autonomous systems to provide a service. We demonstrate our approach by formally modeling the behavior of autonomous systems that will be involved in providing services in the Urban Air Mobility framework that enables air taxis to transport passengers.

A Value-Driven Eldercare Robot: Virtual and Physical Instantiations of a Case-Supported Principle-Based Behavior Paradigm

In this paper, a case-supported principle-based behavior paradigm is proposed to help ensure ethical behavior of autonomous machines. We argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems should be guided by explicit ethical principles determined through a consensus of ethicists. Such a consensus is likely to emerge in many areas in which autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they are liable to undertake. We believe that this is the case since we are more likely to agree on how machines ought to treat us than on how human beings ought to treat one another. Given such a consensus, particular cases of ethical dilemmas where ethicists agree on the ethically relevant features and the right course of action can be used to help discover principles that balance these features when they are in conflict. Such principles not only help ensure ethical behavior of complex and dynamic systems but also can serve as a basis for justification of this behavior. The requirements, methods, implementation, and evaluation components of the paradigm are detailed as well as its instantiation in both a simulated and real robot functioning in the domain of eldercare.

GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzer

AbstractWe argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems should be guided by explicit ethical principles determined through a consensus of ethicists. Such a consensus is likely to emerge in many areas in which intelligent autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they are liable to undertake, as we are more likely to agree on how machines ought to treat us than on how human beings ought to treat one another. Given such a consensus, particular cases of ethical dilemmas where ethicists agree on the ethically relevant features and the right course of action can be used to help discover principles needed for ethical guidance of the behavior of autonomous systems. Such principles help ensure the ethical behavior of complex and dynamic systems and further serve as a basis for justification of this behavior. To provide assistance in discovering ethical principles, we have developed GenEth, a general ethical dilemma analyzer that, through a dialog with ethicists, uses inductive logic programming to codify ethical principles in any given domain. GenEth has been used to codify principles in a number of domains pertinent to the behavior of autonomous systems and these principles have been verified using an Ethical Turing Test, a test devised to compare the judgments of codified principles with that of ethicists.

Experimental Evaluation and Formal Analysis of High‐Level Tasks with Dynamic Obstacle Anticipation on a Full‐Sized Autonomous Vehicle

Certifying the behavior of autonomous systems is essential to the development and deployment of systems in safety‐critical applications. This paper presents an approach to using a correct‐by‐construction controller with the probabilistic results of dynamic obstacle anticipation, and validates the approach with experimental data obtained from Cornell's full‐scale autonomous vehicle. The obstacle anticipation (used to calculate the probability of collision with dynamic obstacles around the vehicle) is abstracted to a set of Boolean observations, which are then used by the synthesized controller (a state machine generated from temporal logic task specifications). The obstacle anticipation, sensor abstraction, and synthesized controller are implemented on a full‐scale autonomous vehicle, and experimental data are collected and compared with a formal analysis of the probabilistic behavior of the system. A comparison of the results shows good agreement between the formal analysis and the experimental results.

Neurodynamics in the Sensorimotor Loop: Representing Behavior Relevant External Situations.

In the context of the dynamical system approach to cognition and supposing that brains or brain-like systems controlling the behavior of autonomous systems are permanently driven by their sensor signals, the paper approaches the question of neurodynamics in the sensorimotor loop in a purely formal way. This is carefully done by addressing the problem in three steps, using the time-discrete dynamics of standard neural networks and a fiber space representation for better clearness. Furthermore, concepts like meta-transients, parametric stability and dynamical forms are introduced, where meta-transients describe the effect of realistic sensor inputs, parametric stability refers to a class of sensor inputs all generating the “same type” of dynamic behavior, and a dynamical form comprises the corresponding class of parametrized dynamical systems. It is argued that dynamical forms are the essential internal representatives of behavior relevant external situations. Consequently, it is suggested that dynamical forms are the basis for a memory of these situations. Finally, based on the observation that not all brain process have a direct effect on the motor activity, a natural splitting of neurodynamics into vertical (internal) and horizontal (effective) parts is introduced.

Toward ensuring ethical behavior from autonomous systems: a case-supported principle-based paradigm

Purpose– This paper aims to propose a paradigm of case-supported principle-based behavior (CPB) to help ensure ethical behavior of autonomous machines. The requirements, methods, implementation and evaluation components of the CPB paradigm are detailed.Design/methodology/approach– The authors argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems can be guided by explicit ethical principles abstracted from a consensus of ethicists. Particular cases of ethical dilemmas where ethicists agree on the ethically relevant features and the right course of action are used to help discover principles needed for ethical guidance of the behavior of autonomous systems.Findings– Such a consensus, along with its corresponding principle, is likely to emerge in many areas in which autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they are liable to undertake, as we are more likely to agree on how machines ought to treat us than on how human beings ought to treat one another.Practical implications– Principles are comprehensive and comprehensible declarative abstractions that succinctly represent this consensus in a centralized, extensible and auditable way. Systems guided by such principles are likely to behave in a more acceptably ethical manner, permitting a richer set of behaviors in a wider range of domains than systems not so guided, and will exhibit the ability to defend this behavior with pointed logical explanations.Social implications– A new threshold has been reached where machines are being asked to make decisions that can have an ethically relevant impact on human beings. It can be argued that such machine ethics ought to be the driving force in determining the manner and extent to which autonomous systems should be permitted to interact with them.Originality/value– Developing and employing principles for this use is a complex process, and new tools and methodologies will be needed by engineers to help contend with this complexity. The authors offer the CPB paradigm as an abstraction to help mitigate this complexity.

GenEth: A General Ethical Dilemma Analyzer

We contend that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems should be guided by explicit ethical principles determined through a consensus of ethicists. To provide assistance in developing these ethical principles, we have developed GenEth, a general ethical dilemma analyzer that, through a dialog with ethicists, codifies ethical principles in any given domain. GenEth has been used to codify principles in a number of domains pertinent to the behavior of autonomous systems and these principles have been verified using an Ethical Turing Test.

On the asymptotic behavior of autonomous systems

The aim of this paper is to present a new and a complete study concerning the asymptotic behavior of autonomous systems in terms of input–output techniques. We characterize the exponential dichotomy of autonomous systems modeled by C0-semigroups in terms of admissibility type conditions, pointing out connections between the dichotomic splitting and the properties of the solutions of some associated control systems in certain function spaces. We deduce the structure and the uniqueness of the dichotomy projection and we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for exponential dichotomy. Next, the main results are applied to the study of the stability and expansiveness of autonomous systems on the half-line. Throughout the paper, we present several examples which motivate the techniques and clarify the relevance of the arguments and the generality of the obtained results.

Comments on "Oscillation criteria of the Aizermann type: Second-order system"

This correspondence is concerned with the steady-state behavior of autonomous systems of any order containing nonlinear elements which lie within the Hurwitz sector for large input magnitudes and outside it for small inputs. It provides an alternative viewpoint to that given in the above paper for second-order systems.