Object Avoidance for Unmanned Surface Vehicles (OAUSV)

In Phase II Daniel H. Wagner Associates, Inc. will develop a full-scale prototype Object Avoidance for Unmanned Surface Vehicles (OAUSV) system that processes all available USV object avoidance data, dynamically generates a Fused Tactical Picture (FTP) and generates optimal routes to minimize the probability of a USV near-miss or collision. A key capability provided by OAUSV will be the ability to fuse data obtained by off-board systems with UV sensor data in real-time. As shown in our Phase I work, the ability to utilize off-board data significantly improves the ability of the UV to maneuver around potentially threatening objects and dramatically reduces the number of false alarms. The primary algorithmic techniques that are utilized in OAUSV are non-Gaussian and multiple hypothesis data registration and fusion, Bayesian inferential reasoning, and non-Gaussian route optimization.