572622

WE WILL KICK OFF OUR WORK ON THE DISTRIBUTED AND COLLABORATIVE INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY (DCIST) COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ALLIANCE (CRA) TO REALIZE THE VISION OF AN AUTONOMOUS, RESILIENT, COGNITIVE, HETEROGENEOUS SWARM THAT ALLOW US TO RETHINK THE CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS IN COMPLEX AND CONTESTED ENVIRONMENTS. WE WILL INVESTIGATE FORCE MULTIPLICATION SCENARIOS IN WHICH THE SWARM SUPPORTS A TACTICAL SQUAD OF SOLDIERS BY RESPONDING TO A DISASTER OR ATTACK, ENTERING AND SEARCHING SEVERAL CITY BLOCKS OR A TOWN, INCLUDING BUILDINGS OR RUBBLE, SEARCHING THE AREA FOR IEDS AND HUMAN VICTIMS, POSSIBLY SECURING THE AREA. THIS CAN HAPPEN WITHIN A MATTER OF SEVERAL MINUTES EITHER BEFORE THE SQUAD IS ABLE TO GET TO THE SCENE, OR IN COLLABORATION WITH ONE OR MORE MEMBERS OF THE SQUAD. WE WILL ALSO CONSIDER FORCE PROTECTION SCENARIOS IN WHICH THE SWARM FORMS A PROTECTIVE BUBBLE AROUND A SPECIAL FORCES TEAM PROVIDING SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND A TACTICAL CLOUD WITHOUT EXTERNAL INFRASTRUCTURE (GPS OR SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS) EVEN AS THE TEAM SPREADS OUT ACROSS A FEW CITY BLOCKS, A TOWN, OR A CITY, ANTICIPATING THE NEEDS OF THE HUMAN TEAM MEMBERS, DETECTING, LOCALIZING, AND TRACKING POTENTIAL SOURCES OF THREATS. THE GOAL OF OUR RESEARCH IS TO GET HETEROGENEOUS TEAMS OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS TO ALLOW FOR FORCE MULTIPLICATION, THE ABILITY OF A TEAM OF AUTONOMOUS, HETEROGENEOUS MOBILE AGENTS TO GREATLY EXTEND THE CAPABILITIES AND THE REACH OF SOLDIERS, IN YET-TO-BE-IMAGINED WAYS. THEY CAN PROVIDE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS LEADING TO FORCE PROTECTION, THE FORMATION OF A PROTECTIVE BUBBLE AROUND THE SOLDIERS, AGAINST DYNAMIC THREATS. FINALLY, COLLABORATIVE HETEROGENEOUS HUMAN-MACHINE TEAMS CAN ACHIEVE UNPRECEDENTED OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND SUPERIORITY THROUGH FAST, INTELLIGENT AND RESILIENT BEHAVIORS. OUR PRIMARY WORK ON THIS INITIAL PROGRAM STAGE IS TO COLLABORATE WITH GOVERNMENT SPONSORS TO ESTABLISH THE INITIAL PROGRAM PLAN. THIS INVOLVES ATTENDING MEETINGS AND WORKING TO INCORPORATE FEEDBACK AND DEFINE COLLABORATIONS.

San Diego University Of California

$500,000.00

June 4, 2021

Lajolla, California 92093-5004 United States

Trustees Of The University Of Pennsylvania

W911NF1720181

Arches: Autonomous resilient cognitive heterogeneous swarms.

12.630 - Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering

ACC Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) [DoD - USA - AMC - ACC]

Cooperative Agreement

Multi-State United States