Natarajan Shankar

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About

Natarajan Shankar is a leading researcher in the design and verification of high-assurance cyber-physical systems (CPS) and robotics. His work focuses on creating formal frameworks that ensure safety and reliability in complex, autonomous systems, particularly those integrating machine learning and third-party components. Shankar’s major contributions include pioneering the concept of quasi-synchronous systems, where he developed a rigorous model of computation (MoC) for networks of sensors, controllers, and actuators, enabling provably correct interactions in distributed CPS. His 2014 paper on this framework has garnered over 10 citations, establishing foundational principles for high-assurance design. More recently, Shankar introduced SOTER, a runtime assurance framework that allows safe integration of complex, untrusted components—such as deep neural networks—into robotic systems without sacrificing strong design-time guarantees. This 2019 work, with 6 citations, addresses a critical challenge in modern robotics. Shankar’s research bridges formal methods and practical engineering, making him a key figure in advancing safe autonomy. His achievements are recognized for enabling robust, verifiable systems in safety-critical domains like autonomous driving and industrial robotics.