Telemaintenance of Future Combat System (FCS) Semi-Autonomous Platforms and Equipment

"Our proposal is to develop a nearly autonomous control methodology for telemaintenance of robotic platforms. At the core of our approach is an expert decision software module that can combine status (or diagnostic) information with possible maintenanceremedies. The expert system executes actions via a vehicular command and control network that can efficiently convey information across the platform as well as communicate with remote operators. This network, referred to as the Local Vehicle Network (LVN),combines sensors, control actions and a high level decision module. Critical vehicle components are connected to nodes on the network, enabling bi-directional communications between the component and the network. Because telemaintenance is a very broadtopic, we will focus our efforts on a system architecture that is modular and open source. The LVN will also be very generic in nature, either leveraged from existing automobile networks or based on our own Linux based network server product. Essentially,we will define the foundation and architecture for a maintenance system that can be tailored to any particular FCS platform. This approach is not only widely applicable to the FCS program, but is also the best approach for future commercializationefforts. Commercial applications include the auto and trucking industry, material handling, and artificial intelligence software."