Automated Planning Software For A Dynamic Heterogeneous Collection Of Manned And Unmanned Entities

This proposal is to develop a “Distributed Automated Planning System (DAPS) for a Dynamic Collection of Heterogeneous Manned and Unmanned Entities”. This system will create plans of action that integrate and optimally leverage the diverse range of capabilities provided by manned and unmanned platforms. The main challenge is to devise an innovative planning decision aid system that reduces mission planning time and is scalable to support small teams (platoon or squad) as well as larger units (battalion or brigade). The system must produce an optimal plan as a sequence of actions required to achieve the desired goal by optimally leveraging the functionality of the available entities while assuring the doctrinal requirement and rules are addressed. Furthermore, the system must be sufficiently flexible to easily adapt to new operational uses for unmanned systems. Our proposed approach utilizes an integrated hybrid of automated planning programs that are fitted to handle the specific nature of the robot-human team in the context of projected Future Combat System scenarios and robot capabilities. Our team has already made significant progress toward achieving the project goals, and our proposed approach is based on innovative technology products contributed by our team members.