Decentralized and Autonomous Data Fusion Service (DADFS)

In this SBIR project Daniel H. Wagner Associates will develop a Decentralized and Autonomous Data Fusion Service (DADFS) for heterogeneous Unmanned Vehicles (UVs) that, when incorporated into existing and future UV platforms and UV command and control systems, will (1) create a Common Operational Picture (COP) on each UV node using sensor data from all communicating UV nodes and any other available relevant additional data; (2) synchronize this COP across all UV nodes within the constraints of the available limited and intermittent communications links by making optimal use of available bandwidth; and (3) (when human operators are available) provide alerts, requests for assistance, and the relevant COP information to UV operators in an intuitive and quickly/accurately comprehended manner. We will design and implement DADFS so that it (1) can be easily integrated into existing and future UV platform and command and control architectures, and (2) minimizes the processing and bandwidth necessary to generate and synchronize the COP, and also minimizes the operator time spent interacting with the COP.