Advances in miniaturized surgical instrumentation are key to less demanding and safer medical interventions. In cardiovascular procedures interventionalists turn towards catheter-based interventions, treating patients considered unfit for more invasive approaches. A positive outcome is not guaranteed. The risk for calcium dislodgement, tissue damage or even vessel rupture cannot be eliminated when instruments are maneuvered through fragile and diseased vessels. This paper reports on the progress made in terms of catheter design, vessel reconstruction, catheter shape modeling, surgical skill analysis, decision making and control. These efforts are geared towards the development of the necessary technology to autonomously steer catheters through the vasculature, a target of the EU-funded project Cognitive AutonomouS CAtheters operating in Dynamic Environments (CASCADE). Whereas autonomous placement of an aortic valve implant forms the ultimate and concrete goal, the technology of individual building blocks to reach such ambitious goal is expected to be much sooner impacting and assisting interventionalists in their daily clinical practice.