University of Texas at Austin
Center for Autonomy

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 LabVisual Informatics GroupCLeAR 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

https://autonomy.oden.utexas.edu/

Directors

Ufuk Topcu
Ufuk Topcu
Artificial Intelligence Autonomy Optimization

Faculty and Research Staff

David Fridovich-Keil
David Fridovich-Keil
Machine Learning Game Theory Control Theory Optimization
Richard Tsai
Richard Tsai
Machine Learning Numerical Analysis Scientific Computing Partial Differential Equations
Atlas Wang
Atlas Wang
Machine Learning Optimization Computer Vision
Renato Zanetti
Renato Zanetti
Autonomy Inverse Problems Scientific Machine Learning
Neel Bhatt
Neel Bhatt
Artificial Intelligence Autonomy Algorithm Design
Pranay Samineni
Pranay Samineni
Artificial Intelligence Autonomy Robotics
William Ward
William Ward
Autonomy

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

The Peter O’Donnell Jr. Postdoctoral Research Fellows: 2025-2026

News

Sept. 3, 2025

The Peter O’Donnell Jr. Postdoctoral Research Fellows: 2025-2026

Meet the new cohort of Peter O’Donnell, Jr. Postdoctoral Research Fellows!

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Robotics, AI and Programming: The Center for Autonomy Summer Research Internship Programs

News

Aug. 21, 2025

Robotics, AI and Programming: The Center for Autonomy Summer Research Internship Programs

The Center for Autonomy hosted four summer research programs.

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Cyrus Neary Wins 2025 Oden Institute Outstanding Dissertation Award

News

April 23, 2025

Cyrus Neary Wins 2025 Oden Institute Outstanding Dissertation Award

Cyrus Neary is the recipient of the 2025 Oden Institute Outstanding Dissertation Award for his work on engineering trustworthy, data-efficient AI systems for real-world robotics. 

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