IGF::OT::IGF SSCI AND MIT PROPOSE TO FURTHER DEVELOP, IMPLEMENT AND TEST THE INTEGRATED MISSION PLANNING&AU…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF SSCI AND MIT PROPOSE TO FURTHER DEVELOP, IMPLEMENT AND TEST THE INTEGRATED MISSION PLANNING&AUTONOMOUS CONTROL TECHNOLOGY (IMPACT) SYSTEM SOFTWARE FOR AUTONOMOUS ISR MISSIONS EMPLOYING COLLABORATING UAVS. IMPACT SYSTEM IS BASED ON REAL-TIME LEARNING ABOUT DYNAMIC AND STOCHASTIC ENVIRONMENTS, AND ON A CAPABILITY TO AUTONOMOUSLY REACT TO CONTINGENCIES WHILE SATISFYING THE MISSION OBJECTIVES AND THE OVERALL FLIGHT SAFETY. PHASE II FOCUS WILL BE ON REAL-TIME VEHICLE ASSIGNMENT&TRAJECTORY PLANNING TECHNOLOGIES FOR FOREST FIRE MONITORING, OVERALL SYSTEM INTEGRATION, AND EVALUATION OF ITS PERFORMANCE THROUGH COMPUTER AND HARDWARE-INTHE- LOOP SIMULATIONS AND FLIGHT TESTS AT OLIN COLLEGE OR GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. KEY TECHNOLOGIES TO BE FURTHER DEVELOPED&TESTED IN PHASE II INCLUDE: (I) VEHICLE ASSIGNMENT&REAL TIME TRAJECTORY GENERATION FOR COLLABORATIVE ISR FOR FIRE BOUNDARY IDENTIFICATION USING THE MOTOR SYSTEM (MULTI-OBJECTIVE TRAJECTORY OPTIMIZATION&RE-PLANNING); (II) ROBUST ON-LINE LEARNING FOR PREDICTION OF THE FIRE SPREAD USING THE INTELLIGENT COOPERATIVE CONTROL ARCHITECTURE (ICCA); (III) COLLABORATIVE ASSIGNMENT FOR FIRE PERIMETER TRACKING WITH REACTIVE TRAJECTORY PLANNING BASED ON PREDICTED FIRE SPREAD USING MOTOR AND ICCA; (IV) CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING THE LOSS OF VEHICLE, VEHICLE REPLACEMENT&MITIGATION OF LOST COMMUNICATION LINK; AND (V) PREDICTIVE CAMERA POINTING CONTROL BASED ON PREDICTED FIRE SPREAD. THE PROJECT WILL LEVERAGE A NUMBER OF TECHNOLOGIES RECENTLY DEVELOPED BY SSCI AND MIT, AND INTEGRATE VARIOUS SYSTEM MODULES WITHIN A FLEXIBLE AND USER-FRIENDLY SOFTWARE PRODUCT. PHASE II DELIVERABLES WILL INCLUDE THE IMPACT SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION, WHILE PHASE III WILL BE FOCUSED ON COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE IMPACT SOFTWARE.