Dynamic Assurance of Autonomous Systems through Ground Control Software∗

Assurance cases are being increasingly acknowledged as a way to build trust in complex systems with autonomous
capabilities [1]. An assurance case is a comprehensive, defensible, and valid justification that a system will function
as intended for the specific mission and operating environment. Such justifications for systems with autonomous
capabilities are often based on various probabilistic quantifications [2]. Due to the dynamic nature of the environmental
conditions in which these systems operate, as well as the changing nature of the autonomous systems themselves, these
probabilistic quantifications cannot be simply estimated once during design time. Rather, they need to be continually
evaluated during systems operations to ensure that the assurance case justifications are valid. We refer to the assurance
case that combines both the static and dynamic elements as a Dynamic Assurance Case (DAC).