Proceedings of SPIE present the original research papers presented at SPIE conferences and other high-quality conferences in the broad-ranging fields of optics and photonics. These books provide prompt access to the latest innovations in research and technology in their respective fields. Proceedings of SPIE are among the most cited references in patent literature.

The principal goal of the LANdroids program (2007-2010) was to validate the concept that mobile tactical radio relay platforms can provide improved communications connectivity in non-line-of-sight communications environments such as urban terrain. The first phase of the program demonstrated that intelligent mobile relays can provide improved system performance in network configuration, optimization, and self-healing, and the second phase added additional capabilities including intruder detection and situational awareness, and included a real-world demonstration to potential users.

The functional software components of an autonomous robotic system express behavior via commands to its actuators, based on processed inputs from its sensors; we propose an additional set of "cognitive" capabilities for robotic systems of all types, based on the comprehensive logging of all available data, including sensor inputs, behavioral states, and outputs sent to actuators. A robot should maintain a "sense" of its own (piecewise) continuous existence through time and space; it should in some sense "get a life," providing a level of self-awareness and self-knowledge. Self-awareness includes the ability to survive and work through unexpected power glitches while executing a task or mission. Self-knowledge includes an extensive world model including a model of self and the purpose context in which it is operating (deontics). Our system must support proactive self-test, monitoring, and calibration, and maintain a "personal" health/repair history, supporting system test and evaluation by continuously measuring performance throughout the entire product lifecycle. It will include episodic memory, and a system "lifelog," and will also participate in multiple modes of Human Robotic interaction (HRI).

Robots and other unmanned systems will play many critical roles in support of a human presence on Mars, including surveying candidate landing sites, locating ice and mineral resources, establishing power and other infrastructure, performing construction tasks, and transporting equipment and supplies. Many of these systems will require much more strength and power than exploration rovers. The presence of humans on Mars will permit proactive maintenance and repair, and allow teleoperation and operator intervention, supporting multiple dynamic levels of autonomy, so the critical challenges to the use of unmanned systems will occur before humans arrive on Mars. Nevertheless, installed communications and navigation infrastructure should be able to support structured and/or repetitive operations (such as excavation, drilling, or construction) within a "familiar" area with an acceptable level of remote operator intervention. This paper discusses some of the factors involved in developing and deploying unmanned systems to make humans' time on Mars safer and more productive, efficient, and enjoyable.

This paper presents our solution for enabling a quadrotor helicopter to autonomously navigate unstructured and unknown indoor environments. We compare two sensor suites, specifically a laser rangefinder and a stereo camera. Laser and camera sensors are both well-suited for recovering the helicopter’s relative motion and velocity. Because they use different cues from the environment, each sensor has its own set of advantages and limitations that are complimentary to the other sensor. Our eventual goal is to integrate both sensors on-board a single helicopter platform, leading to the development of an autonomous helicopter system that is robust to generic indoor environmental conditions. In this paper, we present results in this direction, describing the key components for autonomous navigation using either of the two sensors separately.

The goal of the DARPA LANdroids program is to enhance tactical communications in urban environments by developing inexpensive pocket-sized intelligent autonomous robotic radio relay nodes. LANdroids will move to establish and maintain mesh networks that support voice and data traffic between dismounted warfighters and higher command. Through autonomous movement and intelligent control algorithms, LANdroids will mitigate the serious communications problems inherent in urban settings, e.g., relaying signals into shadows and making small adjustments to reduce multi-path effects. This presentation presents an overview of the LANdroids program and describes the progress made during Phase I, including the results of the early 2009 end-of-Phase testing program.

The Multipurpose Surveillance and Security Mission Platform (MSSMP) is a distributed network of remote sensing packages and control stations, designed to provide a rapidly deployable, extended-range surveillance capability for a wide variety of military security operations and other tactical missions. The baseline MSSMP sensor suite consists of a pan/tilt unit with video and FLIR cameras and laser rangefinder. With an additional radio transceiver, MSSMP can also function as a gateway between existing security/surveillance sensor systems such as TASS, TRSS, and IREMBASS, and IP-based networks, to support the timely distribution of both threat detection and threat assessment information.

Abstract : The Multipurpose Security and Surveillance Mission Platform (MSSMP) system is a distributed network of remote sensors mounted on vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) mobility platforms plus portable control stations. The system is designed to provide a rapidly deployable extended-range surveillance capability for a wide variety of security operations and other tactical missions. While MSSMP sensor packages can be deployed on many types of mobility platforms, initial system demonstrations have used a Sikorsky Cypher VTOL unmanned aircraft as well as a portable sensor unit In January 1997 the MSSMP system was demonstrated at the Military Operations in Urban Terrain facility at Ft. Benning GA flying down city streets looking through lower- and upper-story windows ahead of advancing troops and performing observations after landing on the roof of a two story building. The MSSMP system makes maximum use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) subsystem- level components for sensing processing and communications and of both established and emerging standard communications networking protocols and system integration techniques. This paper will (1) discuss the technical issues involved in focusing these elements to produce a system architecture that can flexibly support the range of configurations needed to address a wide variety of applications while facilitating the ongoing integration of new technology COTS components and (2) present the results of recent user evaluations.

A system comprising a large number of identical and very inexpensive robotic search vehicles may serve as an effective tool in a variety of MCM operations, providing improved mine detection and clearance capabilities while reducing cost and the physical risk to MCM personnel. Moreover, the many-robot approach to addressing MCM applications becomes increasingly viable as continuing technological developments provide needed mine detection and other subsystem capabilities at ever decreasing cost. Real challenges remain, however, at the system design level, and the most effective and cost-effective systems will result from careful attention to actual system requirements. Following a discussion of detection sensor models, a simple analytical framework is employed to demonstrate that the design of a cost-effective many-robot search system can depend sensitively on the interplay of sensor cost and performance levels with mission-specific functional and performance requirements. The issue of how to achieve effectively randomized search strategies that provide uniform search coverage over a specified area is then treated. Finally, the importance of using detailed detection statistics to estimate the independence of successive sensor sweeps and to generate an adequate model of sensor performance is discussed.

: The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief survey of a number of different threads of development that have brought the Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) field to its current state, together with references to allow the interested reader to probe more deeply. In the broadest dictionary sense, a UGV is any piece of mechanized equipment that moves across the surface of the ground and serves as a means of carrying or transporting something, but explicitly does NOT carry a human being. A discussion of such a broad universe of possible UGV systems needs some organizing principle, and in fact a taxonomy of UGV systems could be based upon any of a number of characteristics of each system. To reasonably limit its scope, this survey will focus principally on the large number of systems in which the long pole technological challenge is or has been in the area of navigation and control. Within that context, a teleoperated vehicle system is one in which navigational guidance is transmitted to the vehicle from an externally situated human operator; an autonomous vehicle is one that determines its own course using onboard sensor and processing resources; the term supervisory is often given to the myriad of control schemes that combine inputs from both an external human operator and onboard sensors to determine the UGV's path. (53 refs.)

Rapidly evolving sensor, effector and processing technologies, including micromechanical fabrication techniques, will soon make possible the development of very inexpensive autonomous mobile devices with adequate processing but fairly limited sensor capabilities. One goal which has been proposed is to employ large numbers (more than 100) of these simple robots to achieve real-world military mission goals in the ground, air, and underwater environments, using sensor-based reactive planners to realize desired emergent collective group behaviors. One key prerequisite to realizing this goal is the capability to command and control the system of robots in terms of meaningful mission-oriented system-level parameters. A commander requires an understanding of a system's capabilities, doctrine for employing it, and measures of effectiveness to assess its performance once deployed. It is thus necessary to relate system (ensemble) functionality and performance to the behaviors realized by the individual autonomous elements. This paper describes a program of analysis, modeling, algorithm development, and simulation which has been undertaken to develop, refine, and validate this basic approach to real-world problem solving. The initial thrust has been to develop generic behaviors, such as blanket, barrier, and sweep coverage, and various deployment and recovery modes, which can address a broad spectrum of generic applications such as mine deployment, minesweeping, surveillance, sentry duty, maintenance inspection, ship hull cleaning, and communications relaying. Initial simulation results are presented. 1.0 INTRODUCTION The critical sensor, effector, and processing technologies that are prerequisite to the development of the military mobile robots of the 21st century are evolving rapidly. Moreover, while major thrusts in the development of military mobile robots have been undertaken in the areas of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs), and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), continuing developments in solid-state sensor and effector technologies suggest that unexploited opportunities exist at the lower end of the spectrum of robotic vehicle functionality and performance [1, 2]. In fact, the emerging field of micromachines (also termed microdynamics, mechatronics, or microelectromechanical systems) was selected

: Initial investigations into two different approaches for applying autonomous ground vehicle technology to the vehicle convoying application are described. A minimal capability system that would maintain desired speed and vehicle spacing while a human driver provided steering control could improve convoy performance and provide positive control at night and in inclement weather, but would not reduce driver manpower requirements. Such a system could be implemented in a modular and relatively low cost manner. A more advanced system would eliminate the human driver in following vehicles and reduce manpower requirements for the transportation of supplies. This technology could also be used to aid in the deployment of teleoperated vehicles in a battlefield environment. The needs, requirements, and several proposed solutions for such an Attachable Robotic Convoy Capability (ARCC) System are discussed. Included are a discussion of sensors, actuators, computers, communications, control systems, and safety issues. This advanced robotic convoy system will provide a much greater capability, but will be more difficult and expensive to implement. (KR)