Designing Secure, Predictable, Reliable, and Interoperable Autonomous Systems by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Steinhorst

Abstract

In this talk, Prof. Steinhorst will present his group’s recent research on the design of autonomous systems. As such systems operate in unknown environments without human oversight, cybersecurity threats can directly become safety hazards. At the same time, privacy-enhancing technologies are essential to ensure data sovereignty and provenance. Predictable communication is another key enabler of connected autonomy, and recent advances in Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) have significantly improved scalability for real-world applications. Another cornerstone of autonomous system design is reliability — system and software architectures must support run-time adaptability to handle unforeseen faults. Finally, interoperability among autonomous agents is increasingly crucial for the successful integration of autonomy into industrial environments. For these topics, Prof. Steinhorst will provide an overview of recent contributions, highlighting current research advancements and the challenges that lie ahead.

Biography

Sebastian Steinhorst is Professor of Embedded Systems and Internet of Things in the Department of Computer Engineering of the School of Computation, Information and Technology at Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany. His research focuses on advancing the cybersecurity, predictability, reliability, and interoperability of smart, connected, and autonomous systems in complex cyber-physical scenarios for use in the Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, and automotive applications. He is associate editor of the ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems (TECS), has co-authored more than 150 publications, and regularly takes leading roles in the organization of scientific conferences.