Summit on Trusted Autonomy Research and Technology (START)

Overview of the START Summit

Held: June 28 at 29, 2022 at Purdue University

Objective: Convene stakeholders and experts from academia, DOD and commercialization sectors to define a multi-year R&D; and investment roadmap to enable trusted autonomy for OPTIMA and for broader societal applications.

Attendees participated by

Defining appropriate notions and baseline attributes for operational trusted autonomy
Identifying end-state goals
Characterizing current state-of-the-art and gaps in knowledge
Shaping requirements for future investments
Identifying effective strategies for transitioning ideas from the lab into practice through commercialization and workforce development

Organizing Committee

Host: Purdue Center for Innovation in Control, Optimization, and Networks (ICON)

Prof. Shreyas Sundaram, Prof. Shaoshuai Mou, Prof. Neera Jain, Prof. Brandon Pitts, Prof. Richard Voyles, Prof. Hubo Cai, Prof. Mahsa Ghasemi, Dr. Abhijit Karve

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

Dr. Jaret Riddick, Mr. Dana Franz, Mr. Michael DiPaolo

Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy

Dr. Cara LaPointe, Dr. Sarah Rigsbee, Ms. Alexis Basantis

National Security Innovation Network (NSIN)

Mr. Kedar Pavgi, Ms. Aly Gregg

Attendees

68 academics:

Arizona State University, Carnegie Mellon University, Clemson University, Cornell University, Drexel University, Duke University, George Mason University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Northeastern University, Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of California Santa Cruz, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of Kansas, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Louisville, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin - Madison, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University

23 Department of Defense:

AFRL, ARL, AFOSR, CDAO, DARPA, Defense Innovation Unit, DEVCOM ARL, GVSC, NAVSEA, NSIN, OSD, OUSD(R&E;), TRMC, USAF, US Navy

12 Venture:

AIN Ventures, America's Frontier Fund, Beacon Global Strategies, Decisive Point, Dioltas, gener8tor, IEDC, Pine Grove Holdings, Squadra

15 Other (Small business, etc.):

ARCUAS, Boeing, Codex Labs LLC., Edge Case Research, HRL, Lewis-Burke, M-Vision Inc., Mile Two LLC., MITRE, Nasa, Nusura, Ubicept

Opening and Closing Remarks

Dr. Jaret Riddick (PD Autonomy, OUSD (R&E)) and Dr. David Honey (Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering)

Dr. Jaret Riddick (OUSD (R&E)) explains the Operational Trust in Mission Autonomy (OPTIMA) initiative and the importance of trusted autonomy for the Department of Defense.

Dr. Theresa Mayer (Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships, Purdue)

Dr. Theresa Mayer describes how the unique facilities at Purdue will enable it to be a key research partner for the Department of Defense.

Dr. Mung Chiang (Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Incoming President, Purdue)

Dr. Mung Chiang provides an overview of Purdue's strategic initiatives and technical strengths in the area of autonomous systems..

Outline of Summit Agenda

Summit organized along three themes: human-centric, machine-centric, human-machine integration

Each theme featured a visioning statement (DoD), a panel, and a breakout session

Banquet keynotes:

Dr. Cara LaPointe (JHU IAA), Dr. Darcy Bullock (Purdue), Dr. Richard Voyles (Purdue)

Summit concluded with a showcase of three early stage companies in trusted autonomy:

Ubicept, MVision, Pierce Aerospace

START Themes

Human-Centric Metrics and Methods

Visioning speaker: Mr. Robert Walker (NSWC Crane)
Panel: Dr. Brandon Pitts (Moderator, Purdue), Dr. Joe Lyons (AFRL), Dr. Robert Proctor (Purdue), Mr. Tommy Hendrix (Decisive Point)

Machine-Centric Metrics and Methods

Visioning speaker: Mr. Paul Decker (U.S. Army CCDC Ground Vehicle Systems Center)
Panel: Dr. Shaoshuai Mou (Moderator, Purdue), Dr. Kristin Schaefer-Lay (ARL), Dr. Shreyas Sundaram (Purdue), Mr. Mike Dodd (NSTXL)

Integration-Centric Metrics and Methods

Visioning speaker: Dr. Laura Steckman (AFOSR)
Panel: Dr. Neera Jain (Moderator, Purdue), Dr. Sandeep Neema (DARPA), Dr. Phil Smith (OSU), Ms. Lauren Bedula (Beacon Global Strategies)

Generative Brainstorming Sessions

Over 2000 thoughts and ideas were captured throughout the three generative brainstorming sessions!

The summit was organized around a set of generative brainstorming sessions where all of the participants contributed ideas towards enabling trusted autonomous systems.

START: Building a Community to Realize the Vision of Trusted Autonomy

A group photo of some of the attendees at the summit.