Computer Vision Under Strict Security Constraints: Applications for Robotics

Proposed is robotic lawn mower developed and commercialized by the proposing company – Hire Henry. The focus of this Phase I proposal is to quantify the potential impact for fully autonomous, fully electric robotic lawn mowing on United States Air Force Bases. This proposal lays the ground work for future work, which focuses on developing computer vision models for robotic mowing specifically for military bases that prioritizing data sensitivity and security. (1) The product is currently a commercially available product in the private sector with active users, revenue, and past pilots; (2) A defense need is evidence by DAF letter of support, and current testing of similar robotic technologies at Scott Air Force Base; (3) Our innovation is computer vision systems that prioritize data security, current robotic lawn mowers (and mobile robots more broadly) do not have such systems; (4) A team of experts that have led the product’s current private sector commercial success, and conducted a comprehensive study of the industry via a National Science Foundation I-CORPS grant in 2018.