Robots or automated machines in general are becoming more and more important for
a wide spectrum of applications where these machines operate within the vicinity
of humans. Being safe for humans and the environment is thus of paramount
importance. Working in non-deterministic environments, however, requires a high
level of awareness that goes beyond the capacity of classic automation. So, in
addition to being physically safe, it is helpful if these machines have a
high-level of self- and environmental awareness and, as a long-term goal being
able to anticipate risk and act accordingly. The talk will highlight this
overall vision for safe and autonomous machines and detail individual aspects of
safety, self-diagnosis and intelligent control.