Dependable autonomous systems

Today, we expect that all consumer technologies such as computers, ipods and motor vehicles all operate with the highest levels of performance, reliability and integrity. For robotics and automation technologies to successfully deployed into everyday situations, the general public quite rightly expect automation systems to be fully operational 100% of the time. People expect autonomous technologies to operate at higher levels of performance and safety than people themselves exhibit. For example smart car technologies are expected to cause ZERO accidents while human errors kill more 150,000 people on our roads world-wide every year!