Terrain Analysis for Human-Robot Interaction (TAH-RI)

Military decision-making for ground forces is driven by tactical constraints and opportunities based on terrain. Future Force Warrior (FFW)and Future Combat Systems (FCS) are developing advanced functional capabilities, but soldiers still have to take and hold tactically significant terrain. Adding robotic vehicles, sensors, and weapons systems creates a planning and coordination challenge for the human commander. Results must be in a form useful for efficient storage and processing for `understanding' by robots as well as humans. Coordinating all these assets is not easy, even at the FCS Cell level. Terrain Analysis for Human-Robot Interaction (TAH-RI) is intended to ensure that any human or robot who needs to understand the integrated tactical importance of terrain, intelligence, and CROP can understand it, along with the commander's intent. The proposed effort builds on experience of the team in all these areas, including fielded terrain analysis in USMC C2PC and robots that worked the WTC site.