Recent testing at Fort Hood, TX showed state-of-the-art autonomy for critically needed applications for the US Army.
Unmanned operations in snow and rain.
Owners Karl Murphy (L) and Alberto Lacaze (R) in front of an unmanned Stryker vehicle.
Operator-Aided Recovery System (OARS)
Robotic Research, LLC (RR), in an exclusive partnership with General Dynamics Robotic Systems (GDRS), is developing the Operator-aided Autonomous Recovery System (OARS), a standard control system for recovery of USVs and manned OOVs from an Littoral Combat Ship. OARS will make use of an established Hierarchical Control Architecture and Tactical Control Unit that have been effectively used for the control of several successful Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and USVs. This is a Phase II SBIR that began in 2009 sponsored by the Naval Sea Systems Command.
A tracking system sensor on the LCS will estimate USV states using the sensor images. Using this data, an Operator Control Unit (OCU) will display the information in real time so that a user may teleoperate the USV. The OCU will display at least three views of the USV: the view from behind-the-USV, the point of view from the bow, and an overhead view. The water geometry will be estimated and displayed as well. In the OCU display, red highlighted regions will be created as warning indicators to show areas that may cause the USV to violate some safety constraint and should be avoided.
OARS addresses shortcomings of conventional teleoperation techniques and the unique problems that exist in recovering unmanned surface vehicles back to a ship. One conventional solution is to send sensor data over a communications link from the unmanned vehicle (UV) to the operator control unit (OCU). This solution provides the operator with a natural, first-person view for controlling the vehicle. However, the low frame-rate, high-latency, and limited field-of-view (restrictions imposed by communications limitations) of the sensor severely impairs the operator's ability to control the vehicle. Additionally, in the maritime environment, the sensors may be severely affected by environmental conditions, such as sea spray or high sea states. An alternative to first-person teleoperation is to utilize third-person views from the host ship. Directly viewing the UV allows the operator to better understand the scene, but often it is impractical due to safety concerns and equipment location. Raw ship-based sensor feeds provide high-bandwidth data, but provide non-intuitive, reverse-perspective views that make precision control difficult. OARS is designed to resolve these shortcomings in order to provide the operator with the best information available, enabling precision control during the recovery process.
Robotic Research will utilize their two research boats to collect data and conduct on-water trials of OARS solutions in real-life conditions.
