CURVE (Coordinated UAV Routing in Variable Environments)

The objective is to determine the best algorithmic approach to optimally select unmanned vehicle flight paths that maximize mission success for attached sensors. That involves trade-offs between a) active emissions and passive collections, b) high and low altitudes, c) high and low speeds, d) day and night operations, e) rough and smooth terrain, f) accuracy and efficiency, etc. The solutions will optimize altitude and speed, accounting for the tradeoff between mission success, sensor performance, fuel efficiency, and vulnerability. The solution will involve a strategy for active emissions that considers target reaction. Optimal emission strategies (in space and time) will be evaluated that cause desired threat behavior (i.e., herding), so that passive sensor performance will be enhanced. The solution will represent a blend of accuracy and efficiency, and the operator will have control over this trade-off. Quick calculations (with loss in accuracy) are required in order to plan over large areas or to consider and choose between many reasonable plans. A layered, iterative approach will be followed so that intermediate solutions can be considered automatically. Physical assumptions and constraints will be relaxed, in an objective controlled way, in order to achieve the correct blend of accuracy and efficiency.