MONARCH – Marking-relative Optical Navigation for Autonomous Recovery and CHarging

Existing technical capabilities for enhanced situational awareness (SA), such as personnel carried small unmanned air systems (UAS), come with significant costs: 1) teleoperation takes at least one rifle out of the fight and trades increased, persistent long-range SA for decreased short-range SA and decreased mobility; 2) the ground infrastructure required to operate a UAS is often significantly larger than the vehicle and contributes to a lot of additional weight. Simultaneous operation of multiple UAS increases these costs disproportionately compared to the added benefit of more persistent or enhanced SA. To address these issues, Scientific Systems Company Inc. (SSCI) is proposing the MONARCH system, a soldier-carried ground platform with integrated SUAS on-board navigation and control software. The proposed MONARCH system brings two key innovations that will enable reliable autonomous recovery, recharging, and launch capabilities: a robust visual relative navigation and control system that reduces system SWaP by taking advantage of airborne sensing capabilities, and a modular ground station design for flexibility and storage efficiency. The MONARCH system is built on existing, mature technologies developed by SSCI for relative navigation and control, and is being developed by a team with significant experience in SUAS application hardware design, rotorcraft control, and vision systems.