Patrick Ulam

About

Patrick Ulam is a pioneering researcher in the ethics and coordination of autonomous robotic systems. His work spans two critical domains: the moral decision-making of lethal autonomous systems and the efficient task allocation of multi-robot teams. His most influential paper, "Moral Decision Making in Autonomous Systems" (2011, 178 citations), explores how robots can enforce ethical standards—addressing moral emotions, dignity, trust, and deception—as humans are pushed out of the decision loop. This foundational work is complemented by "Overriding Ethical Constraints in Lethal Autonomous Systems" (2012, 30 citations), which designs operator override mechanisms for lethal robots, grappling with profound responsibility assignment issues. On the technical side, Ulam developed integrated mission specification and task allocation architectures using case-based reasoning and contract net protocols, as seen in his 2007 paper (36 citations). He also innovatively applied biological models—such as lek behavior from bird mating systems (2009, 16 citations) and optimal foraging theory (2004, 11 citations)—to guide robot team formation and foraging tasks. His work on communications recovery for multi-robot teams (2004, 18 citations) addresses practical network failures. With over 300 total citations, Ulam’s research bridges the gap between ethical theory and practical multi-robot coordination, making him a key figure in ensuring autonomous systems are both effective and morally responsible.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Moral Decision Making in Autonomous Systems: Enforcement, Moral Emotions, Dignity, Trust, and Deception

   178 citations · 2011
2. 2
   Integrated Mission Specification and Task Allocation for Robot Teams - Design and Implementation

   36 citations · 2007
3. 3
   Overriding Ethical Constraints in Lethal Autonomous Systems

   30 citations · 2012
4. 4
   When Good Comms Go Bad: Communications Recovery for Multi-Robot Teams

   18 citations · 2004
5. 5
   Lek behavior as a model for multi-robot systems

   16 citations · 2009
6. 6
   When good communication go bad: communications recovery for multi-robot teams

   14 citations · 2004
7. 7
   Multi-robot User Interface Modeling

   13 citations · 2007
8. 8
   Niche Selection for Foraging Tasks in Multi-Robot Teams Using Reinforcement Learning

   12 citations · 2003
9. 9
   Using Optimal Foraging Models to Evaluate Learned Robotic Foraging Behavior

   11 citations · 2004
10. 10
    Integrated Mission Specification and Task Allocation for Robot Teams - Part 2: Testing and Evaluation

    9 citations · 2006

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links