DST Group is inviting Requests for Information from academia on areas of research that will assist in the development and delivery of game-changing autonomous systems and robotics technology.

The establishment of a Defence Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in Trusted Autonomous Systems would provide clear pull and uptake for such technology into deployable defence programs and capabilities.

The DST Group website stated the proposed CRC will comprise a fundamental research program and a functional technology program, together leading to a set of agile capability demonstrators showcasing trusted autonomous systems.

“The capability demonstration program aims to showcase integrated capabilities at a level that is realistic against defence requirements.”

The fundamental research program will focus on areas such as machine cognition, human-autonomy integration, and persistent autonomy. The latter concerns managing uncertainty and unpredictability, persistent perception, multi-modal fusion, self-healing systems and aggressive actuation.

The functional technology program will facilitate and integrate the research outcomes into three areas, namely: perception and sensing; effectors and platforms; and intelligent systems.

Credit: DST Group

The capability demonstration program aims to showcase integrated capabilities at a level that is realistic against defence requirements. It will adopt an agile methodology, aiming to rapidly integrate and demonstrate new ideas, theories and technologies from research and technology programs. A critical focus will be on demonstrating trusted and resilient autonomy. Key capability demonstrator areas identified include: wide-area ocean surveillance; counter insurgency operations; cyber-electronic warfare operations; urban and littoral operations; and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief operations.