Tier-scalable reconnaissance: The future in autonomous C4ISR systems has arrived: Progress towards an outdoor testbed

Wolfgang Fink, Alexander J.W. Brooks, Mark A. Tarbell, James M. Dohm

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Autonomous reconnaissance missions are called for in extreme environments, as well as in potentially hazardous (e.g., the theatre, disaster-stricken areas, etc.) or inaccessible operational areas (e.g., planetary surfaces, space). Such future missions will require increasing degrees of operational autonomy, especially when following up on transient events. Operational autonomy encompasses: (1) Automatic characterization of operational areas from different vantages (i.e., spaceborne, airborne, surface, subsurface); (2) automatic sensor deployment and data gathering; (3) automatic feature extraction including anomaly detection and region-of-interest identification; (4) automatic target prediction and prioritization; (5) and subsequent automatic (re-)deployment and navigation of robotic agents. This paper reports on progress towards several aspects of autonomous C4ISR systems, including: Caltech-patented and NASA award-winning multi-tiered mission paradigm, robotic platform development (air, ground, water-based), robotic behavior motifs as the building blocks for autonomous tele-commanding, and autonomous decision making based on a Caltech-patented framework comprising sensor-data-fusion (feature-vectors), anomaly detection (clustering and principal component analysis), and target prioritization (hypothetical probing).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMicro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications IX
EditorsAchyut K. Dutta, M. Saif Islam, Thomas George
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781510608894
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes
EventMicro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications IX 2017 - Anaheim, United States
Duration: Apr 9 2017Apr 13 2017

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume10194
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Other

OtherMicro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications IX 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAnaheim
Period4/9/174/13/17

Keywords

  • Autonomous C4ISR systems
  • multi-tiered architectures
  • navigational behavior motifs
  • objective anomaly detection
  • robotic agents
  • sensor-data-fusion framework
  • smart service systems
  • target prioritization

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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