Southampton to lead £12 million platform for Trustworthy Autonomous Systems

Autonomous systems such as driverless cars, drones and robots will become trusted and trustworthy through a collaborative £12 million research platform based at the University of Southampton.

The Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (TAS), led by Electronics and Computer Science’s Professor Sarvapali Ramchurn, will deliver world-leading best practices for the design, regulation and operation of autonomous systems that are socially beneficial.

A team from the Universities of Southampton, Nottingham, and King's College London will engage with over 60 project partners in areas ranging from computing and robotics to social sciences and the humanities.

"Whether it's a self-driving car doing the school runs or a virus tracing app alerting us to potential infections, autonomous systems of all types will increasingly test our trust in their design, regulation, and operation," Sarvapali says.

"We will need to work across disciplines and sectors, and take an inclusive approach, to ensure that autonomous systems are trustworthy by design and trusted by individuals and the wider society. Our international partnerships will also ensure that the programme will have a global impact and position the UK as a world leader in this area."

The Hub will include a Skills Programme, led by Professor Dame Wendy Hall as Skills Director, and a TAS Doctoral Training Network. Training the next generation of TAS experts is a central objective of TAS.

The Hub is the first element of a £33 million investment from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Trustworthy Autonomous Systems programme, which originated through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s (EPSRC) Big Ideas initiative. Read the full story on the main University news page.