FA864924P0268

Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase I

Skyla: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Enabled System to Control Multiple Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)

Future wars with massive, well-equipped adversaries requires the US to maximize our military strength using autonomous systems to augment our human resources. Lauretta proposes developing, testing, and integrating an embedded Artificial Intelligence (AI) software agent, called Skyla, to enable automated tasking and re-tasking of swarmed Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) to support the Air Force s use of autonomous systems, at scale. Lauretta's system allows multiple UAS to cooperate on a central set of objectives with minimal operator intervention. The system comprises 3 components: A specialized AI-enabled interface that allows operators to communicate using objectives which will then be decomposed into an entire scenario tree 10-ounce on-board device that combines a telemetric digital twin of the UAS with a command and control system and vision processing component to evaluate objectives. Communication protocol and objective framework to allow UASs to autonomously cooperate to fulfill the high-level objectives of the operations. Skyla s capability to automate task generation and execution is crucial to reduce the number of humans in harm s way on a battlefield, while executing large-scale UAS deployment. Its user-friendly interface for mission statement input and task monitoring will further enhance scalability and reduce training efforts.

The goal of phase I is to establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of proposed R&D efforts and determine the quality of performance of the small business awardee organization.

AFX237-PCSO1

FX237-PCSO1-0730

X23.7

Meghan Scott