Reliable Unmanned Autonomous Systems: Conceptual Framework for Warning Identification during Remote Operations

Abstract

In the offshore industry, unmanned autonomous systems are expected to have a permanent role in future operations. During offshore operations, the unmanned autonomous system needs definite instructions on evaluating the gathered data to make decisions and react in real-time when the situation requires it. We rely on video surveillance and sensor measurements to recognize early warning signals of a failing asset during the autonomous operation. Missing out on the warning signals can lead to a catastrophic impact on the environment and a significant financial loss. This research is helping to solve the issue of trustworthiness of the algorithms that enable autonomy by capturing the rising risks when machine learning unintentionally fails. Previous studies demonstrate that understanding machine learning algorithms, finding patterns in anomalies, and calibrating trust can promote the system’s reliability. Existing approaches focus on improving the machine learning algorithms and understanding the shortcomings in the data collection. However, recollecting the data is often an expensive and extensive task. By transferring knowledge from multiple disciplines, diverse approaches will be observed to capture the risk and calibrate the trust in autonomous systems. This research proposes a conceptual framework that captures the known risks and creates a safety net around the autonomy-enabling algorithms to improve the reliability of the autonomous operations.