With the development of artificial intelligence, embedded system software engineering, and computer science, autonomous systems and robotics are entering and influencing our work and lives. In robotics engineering, engineers are facing great challenges in software design and development because the software needs for real-time reliability and safety in autonomous systems are different from those of traditional software engineering.

The author provides a big picture view for researchers and engineers who are interested in software engineering of autonomous systems. In this picture, some important sources, which discuss advanced software engineering techniques for autonomous systems software development, are collected and analyzed. The sources cover some world-famous institutes, for example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Robotics Engineering Center, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, and the International Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems. The author also lists some influential university programs, for example MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Maryland Robotics Center. Some important papers are included that address the aspects of self-programming, verifying autonomous systems, and safety strategy. Some related journals and conferences are listed, for example, Journal of Software Engineering for Robotics, IEEE Software Engineering for Robotics and Automation, and the 2015 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Some other valuable resources are included: for example, Robotics Virtual Organization (Robotics VO), Autonomous Undersea Vehicle Applications Center, DIY Drones, VeX Robotics, Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4, and Robot Operating System. Researchers can read and download the resources in which they are interested.

The main contribution of this paper is the presentation of active software engineering research in autonomous systems and robotics. It provides good guidance for the beginner in the research of software engineering in autonomous systems. However, it does not discuss the development trends in this research area.