CONSCIOUSNESS IN AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS UDT 2020 HANNAH THOMAS | Data - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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CONSCIOUSNESS IN AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS

UDT 2020

HANNAH THOMAS | Data Science Lead EMMA PARKIN | Technical Sales Support Engineer

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Definition of Consciousness

“the state of being aware of and responsive to one's surroundings”

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The Need for Consciousness in Autonomous Systems

• Modern processing power makes consciousness in autonomous systems is practical today
• Current codes of practice expect autonomous vessels (ASVs) to behave like humans
• Even if maritime infrastructure were better developed for ASVs, consciousness would still be required for

emergency response

• Machine reactions are much faster than humans
• It may be critical for ASVs to make conscious decisions without supervision in some scenarios
• Whilst it remains to be seen how human-machine interaction, maritime infrastructure, regulations and resources

will evolve, and the level of consciousness ultimately required in autonomous vessels is unknown, it is clear that some “basic” level of consciousness certainly is required.

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Achieving Consciousness in Autonomy Today

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Formally a data science problem

Raw radar returns Images as pixel arrays Track on collision course Sailing vessel ahead Sailing vessel

• n collision

course Give way

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Receiving Data

Data are facts collected from on-board sensors and other sources, which are unorganised and unprocessed

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CAMERAS RADAR MAPS/CHARTS EXTERNAL DATA FEEDS

(e.g. satellite AIS, web-based feeds)

AIS

(image to come)

LIDAR (image to come)

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Data to Information

Information is data that has been processed in a way that provides useful descriptions for understanding the surrounding environment

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IMAGE RECOGNITION RADAR CLASSIFICATION SEA STATE ESTIMATION

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Information to Situational Awareness

Situational awareness is the result of combining and connecting information and using it to understand the surrounding environment

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RISK LANDSCAPE SENSOR FUSION INTENT RECOGNITION

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Situational Awareness to Decision-Making

Decision making is the process of applying situational awareness to take action

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Challenges to developing Conscious Autonomous Systems

• Data Availability
• Lack of standard services as of yet for autonomy
• Lack of standard sensors as of yet for autonomy
• Future of Charts
• Need for Learning
• Requires big-scale testing
• Requires patience
• Requires trust

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Conclusion

• No doubt achieving consciousness is possible
• Remains to be seen what level of consciousness will ultimately be “enough” as ASVs grow in popularity
• In order for the current challenges to be overcome, a change in common practice and mind sets is required

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