Development of an Autonomous Coordinated Control System (ACCS) for Multiple Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs)

SSCI proposes to develop an Autonomous Coordinated Control System (ACCS) for multiple USVs, and evaluate its feasibility through simulations. The proposed system will coordinate diverse tasks for USVs such as: (i) Area search with a platoon of USVs; (ii) Vehicle-to-target assignment, and removal of vehicles from the platoon to pursue and inspect suspicious vessels; (iii) Reconfiguration of the remaining vessels to continue the search; (iv) Return of the pursuit & inspection vehicles to the platoon; and (v) Platoon retasking to continue the search with additional vehicles. Phase I tasks include: (i) Problem statement and mission scenario definition; (ii) Simulation development; (iii) Algorithm development and integration; and (iv) Simulation testing. Phase II will focus on further algorithm development, high-fidelity simulation testing, and in-water demonstration of the proposed system. Lockheed Martin Undersea and Security Systems(USS) will provide technical guidance, and in-water testing and commercialization support throughout the project.