California state university, northridge (csun) proposes to establish the autonomy research center for stem (arcs), a financially self-sustaining multidisciplinary university center of excellence…

The University Corporation, a non-profit organization affiliated with California State University, Northridge (CSUN), was awarded a $4,749,945 Cooperative Agreement (Contract ID: 80NSSC19M0200) by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to establish the Autonomy Research Center for STEM (ARCS). This multidisciplinary university center of excellence will contribute to NASA's research in autonomy for civil aviation and space exploration. The ARCS will execute a convergence research agenda consisting of 12 interdisciplinary projects in three synergistic thrusts: (1) Assured and Trusted Increasingly Autonomous (IA) Systems, (2) Human Autonomy Teaming with Explainable AI, and (3) Societal and Organizational Impact, Barriers, and Acceptance of IA Systems. These thrusts will be explored in the context of two NASA concepts of operations: Urban Air Mobility and Space Construction. This contract is not a set-aside and has a period of performance through September 30, 2025.

California state university, northridge (csun) proposes to establish the autonomy research center for stem (arcs), a financially self-sustaining multidisciplinary university center of excellence that will significantly contribute to NASA s research in autonomy for civil aviation and space exploration, while substantially increasing institutional research capacity, developing a stem workforce, and commercializing research results to address pressing societal needs. In collaboration with NASA armstrong flight research center (afrc) and jet propulsion lab (JPL), arcs will execute a convergence research (deep integration of approaches from different fields) agenda consisting of 12 interdisciplinary projects in 3 synergistic thrusts: (1) assured and trusted increasingly autonomous (IA) systems; (2) human autonomy teaming with explainable AI; and (3) societal and organizational impact, barriers, and acceptance of IA systems. These thrusts will be explored in the context of two NASA concepts of operations: urban air mobility and space construction. Through these projects, arcs will contribute to NASA capabilities for assuring real-time trustworthiness of IA systems; methods and technologies that support human-IA teaming; and models and guidelines for taking into account technologyrelated and social/cultural factors on public acceptance of IA systems.