AUTONOMY AND UNMANNED SYSTEMS

Autonomy, governed.

Autonomy is bounded by what is lawful and safe in the jurisdiction of operation. The governing framework is established before a system is proposed, because it determines what may be deployed at all.

Capability

Autonomy, governed.

Regulatory Position

Airspace, roadway, maritime and sector rules identified by jurisdiction before any deployment is designed.

Levels of Autonomy

What the system decides and what a person decides, defined explicitly and recorded.

Human Oversight

The supervising role, its authority to intervene and the conditions requiring intervention.

Safety Case

Hazard analysis, failure modes and mitigations documented to the standard the sector expects.

Security

Command, control and data links secured, since a compromised autonomous system is a safety matter.

Privacy

Data captured incidentally by sensing systems governed under the applicable regime.

What a credible use case includes
  • The task, described as it is performed today
  • Volume and cycle time
  • Environment and constraints
  • Current cost and headcount
  • Safety and regulatory context
  • Integration points
  • Payback expectation
DISCLAIMER

Autonomous and unmanned systems are subject to safety, privacy, airspace, cybersecurity, export-control and sector-specific requirements. Deployment is assessed by jurisdiction and intended use.

Describe the task.

Volume and variability decide whether automation returns value.