Regulations of autonomous systems
University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (UZG)
Reference Teacher: Fausto Ferreira
Teacher(s): Fausto Ferreira
The course provides an overview of the current regulatory issues and efforts related to autonomous systems (robotics and Artificial Intelligence) through a technology-informed viewpoint. Students will learn about existing regulations, discuss their limitations, and about non-legal approaches such as codes of conduct and guidelines. The course will teach how to devise/adapt regulations based on both existing laws/regulations and the technological state of the art.
Master program
– Summarize the novel regulatory issues raised by autonomous systems
– Identify the scope and limits of legal regulation of autonomous systems, and appreciate the non-legal approaches such as industrial standards, self-regulation and insurance regimes
Analyze specific applications of robots and Artificial Intelligence, and identify any regulatory concerns they may raise including liability and safety issues
– Assemble in-depth knowledge of the state of the art in regulating robot technology and Artificial Intelligence and feel confident to suggest improvements and revisions.
– Develop a technology-informed perspective on regulation of robotics
Mastering (both in terms of comprehension and correct usage) the disciplinary glossary to argue in scientific/professionally correct ways on the issues of the course.
Develop skills that will facilitate the widening of disciplinary and inter-disciplinary knowledge both through group activities, as well as by inferring them from case studies.
While not mandatory, students should have previous knowledge in Robotics and/or Artificial Intelligence or have special interest in those subjects.
Room lectures and two seminars that include research, preparation and presentation.
Written examination and seminars.
A mid-term exam and a final exam correspond to 70% of the grade (35% each). Alternatively, a final exam including all material (corresponding to 70%) can be taken. The mid-term and final exams consist of:
– multiple-choice questions regarding the topics addressed in classes
– a short essay regarding practical cases.
Two seminars correspond to 30% of the grade (15% each). Students will be divided into groups to analyze case studies, propose solutions and present them to other groups of students through a public presentation.
The course addresses legal issues such as liability and environmental impact regulations contributing to the awareness of the Sustainable development goals.
The “Regulations of autonomous systems” course is part of all Master students programs at UZG (both English and Croatian) as a transversal course and it is accessible to all students enrolled in Master studies and all Erasmus incoming students.
More information at the following link:
https://www.fer.unizg.hr/en/studies/master
Weekly Schedule:
In this module, an introduction to the main topics of the course and motivation on the need for regulations is given based on practical examples.
This module presents a short history of robotics and of robotics regulations and introduces the different types of regulatory approaches that can be followed.
This module discusses the most important regulatory issues and how these exist in different examples of robotic and autonomous systems.
This module dissects in detail both EU and other international efforts in the regulation of robotics and Artificial Intelligence. While special attention is paid to EU efforts, an overview of other countries/institutions’ efforts and regulations is given.
This module introduces industrial robots, their regulatory issues and solutions for those issues, current standards, regulations and new trends/problems in industrial robots.
This module introduces service robots, their regulatory issues and solutions for those issues, current standards, regulations and new trends/problems in service robots.
This module presents autonomous cars, their regulatory issues and solutions for those issues, current standards, regulations and new trends/problems.
This module presents maritime robots, their regulatory issues and solutions for those issues, current regulations and new trends/problems as well as a technological-informed approach example for the regulation of maritime robots.
This module presents aerial drones, their regulatory issues and solutions for those issues, current standards, regulations and new trends/problems as well as a practical example of Croatian regulation.
This module recaps the current trends and sheds light on the future regulatory efforts and different approaches.
- Ryan Calo, A. M. Froomkin & Ian Kerr, Robot Law, (2016). (selected chapters) Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-books/20.
- Jacob Turner, Robot Rules (2019). (selected chapters) Available at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-96235-1.
- European Parliament resolution of 16 February 2017 with recommendations to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics (2015/2103(INL)), http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+TA+P8-TA-2017-0051+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN;
- European Commission, Proposal for a Regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence, https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/75788;
- Palmerini, E., Bertolini, A., Battaglia, F., Koops, B. J., Carnevale, A., & Salvini, P. (2016). RoboLaw: Towards a European framework for robotics regulation. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 86, 78-85, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921889016305437;
- Salvini, P. (2015). On ethical, legal and social issues of care robots. In Intelligent Assistive Robots, Springer, Cham, 431-445, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-12922-8_17;
- Asaro, P. (2007). Robots and responsibility from a legal perspective. Proceedings of the IEEE, 20-24, http://www.peterasaro.org/writing/asaro%20legal%20perspective.pdf.