Center for Autonomy
The Center for Autonomy brings together several research groups that address fundamental challenges in developing autonomous systems through contributions in controls, machine learning, game theory, information theory, and formal methods. Its primary objective is to create a unified front in attracting the best researchers to UT Austin and empowering them to solve the pressing problems toward developing autonomous systems that can make a net positive impact.
Other groups included in the Center are: Networked Control Systems Lab, Visual Informatics Group, CLeAR group, and the Nonlinear Estimation and Autonomy Research Group.
The Center's work is supported by the NSF, NASA, Army, Air Force, Navy, DARPA and Sandia National Laboratories.
Website
Directors
Ufuk Topcu
Faculty and Research Staff
David Fridovich-Keil
Richard Tsai
Atlas Wang
Renato Zanetti
Neel Bhatt
Jingqi Li
Pranay Samineni
William Ward
Postdocs
Students
Staff
Projects
The Center's work is supported by the NSF, NASA, Army, Air Force, Navy, DARPA and Sandia National Laboratories.
News in brief
News
April 24, 2026
David Fridovich-Keil Receives O’Donnell Distinguished Research Award
David Fridovich-Keil, an Oden Institute core faculty member and assistant professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Peter O'Donnell, Jr. Distinguished Research Award for his innovative work in computational science and engineering, with applications in game and control theory.
News
April 20, 2026
Del Valle High School Students Visit Oden Institute for Hands-on Robotics Experience
Del Valle High School students visited UT campus for a hands-on robotics field trip with the Center for Autonomy, touring labs as part of their year-long AutoDriveLab Internship. The growing partnership is turning classroom concepts into real research experience and a concrete pathway from high school into university-level STEM.
Feature
April 14, 2026
Ufuk Topcu on the Future of Trustworthy Autonomy
Ufuk Topcu leads the Center for Autonomy, which focuses on human interaction with AI and robotics, expanding community outreach and pioneering new concepts in safety, trustworthiness and accountability as autonomous systems evolve.