The autonomous research group focuses on ...

Autonomous systems perceive their environment and adapt their own behaviour in order to continuously operate towards their goals. Autonomous Intelligent Systems require more than simple self-adaptation approaches but a deeper understanding of themselves and their environment. As such, we consider both, pure software systems as well as cyber-physical systems, controlled by autonomous software agents, alike. Operating in a dynamic environment and being subject to rapidly unfolding situations, autonomous intelligent systems respond quickly to potentially unknown circumstances.

To accomplish this, such systems bring together several abilities:

• to learn about themselves and their environment,
• to model their states and their environment consistently and identify similarities comparable situations,
• to adjust their behaviour in accordance with their goals and their surroundings,
• to make profound decisions based on their observations and their previous experiences regarding their interactions, own goals, and future behaviour.

Furthermore, to tackle previously unknown situations in the presence of other systems, Autonomous Intelligent Systems will have to

• transfer previous experiences into new situations,
• learn about others, integrate themselves, and establish autonomous collaboration where feasible without being exploited or exploiting others,
• establish and utilise trust to other systems in their environment to achieve goals more efficiently,
• halt and reflect on their experiences, or
• respond quickly based on best approximate solutions, and finally
• be aware of their goals and select them appropriately during runtime.