APPLICATION OF ROBOTIC VISION IN A WEAPON SYSTEM-FEASIBILITY STUDY

THIS STUDY WILL EXAMINE THE CONCEPTS INVOLVED IN USING VISION TO ENHANCE THE OPERATION OF A ROBOTIC AMMUNITION HANDLING SYSTEM (INTEGRATED SMART ARTILLERY SYNETHSIS, OR ISAS), AND WILL DEFINE THE TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT SUCH A SYSTEM. THE VISION SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE REAL-TIME INFORMATION TO AN ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT ON SYSTEM STATUS DATA (PRESENTLY SENSED BY SWITCHES OR NOT SENSED AT ALL) AND CLOSED-LOOP CONTROL PARAMETERS. THIS COULD REPLACE A MULTITUDE OF SYSTEM SENSORS NECESSARY TO INCORPORATE A HIGHER LEVEL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND AUTONOMOUS OPERATION. PRESENT LARGE DATABASES WOULD BE REPLACED BY REAL-TIME INFORMATION ACQUISITION ALONG WITH GENERIC CLOSED-LOOP CONTROL ROUTINES AND AUTOMATIC SWITCHING LOGIC TO CONTROL AMMUNITION HANDLING IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT.