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Introduction to Unmanned Vehicle SystemsFall 2014

Dr. Brian Huff, IMSE Dept.Why Offer This Course?Offer at true Multi-Disciplinary Educational ExperienceIntroduce students to the exciting field of Unmanned Vehicle Systems Development.To have a good reason to learn about cool technology from the perspective of multiple engineering disciplines.To provide a foundation for both the Undergraduate and Graduate Unmanned Vehicle Systems Certificates.

What Course Is This?CSE 4378EE 4378IE 4378MAE 4378AE 5378CSE 5383EE 6321IE 5378ME 5378Introduction to Unmanned Vehicle SystemsWho will be teaching the Course?Dr. Atilla Dogan, MAE Dr. Brian Huff, IMSE Dr. Manfred Huber, CSE Dr. Kamesh Subbarao, MAE Dr. Dan Popa, EE

Lecture OverviewClass Syllabus (Highlights)UVS Certificate ProgramsUVS HistoryTypes of UVSUVS Component Technologies

Syllabus Learning ObjectiveProvide students with a general overview of technologies and engineering methods used to develop and deploy Unmanned Vehicle Systems. Provide a team-taught class experience.Present materials that would typically fall outside the students main area of study.Challenge the student to explore the inherently multi-disciplinary nature of todays complex engineered systems.This course is the first course of a common two course sequence that forms the foundation of an Undergraduate and Graduate UVS Certificate program.Syllabus Course ContentIntroduction to UVS (Unmanned Vehicle Systems):UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems)UGS (Unmanned Ground System)UMS (Unmanned Maritime System)Their history, missions, and capabilitiesUVS types, configurations and subsystems The disciplines needed for UVS development and operation. By the end of the course, you should be able to:Describe the common types, missions and roles of Unmanned Vehicle SystemsIdentify and list the common subsystems and technologies deployed in UVSUse the Matlab/Simulink toolsets to model unmanned systemsDiscuss the various types of sensors used within UVS and describe suitable sensor fusion methodsDescribe the common methods used by UVS to perform Guidance, Navigation, & Control functionsDescribe the approaches and technologies used to create UVS man/machine interfaces

Syllabus Textbooks & Course MaterialsThe is no required Text for this course. Notes and supplemental materials will be provided by the course instructors.Syllabus Major Assignments, Tests, & GradingFive Homework Assignments25%Test 1 In class test20%Take-Home Project15%Test 2 In class test30%Class Participation/Pop Quizzes10%

The following scale will be used to assign class grades:A 90% - 100%B 80% - 89%C 70% - 79%D 60% - 69%F less than 60%

Syllabus Emergency Exit ProceduresExit out of the back of the AuditoriumTurn right as you enter the hallway At the end of the hallway turn leftDoorway out of the building is on the left Exiting ARCH 204UVS Certificate ProgramsOffered at both the Undergraduate and Graduate levelsOffered by the CSE, EE, IMSE, & MAE Departments Certificate program requires a total of 15 hours of course work:Six hours of core curriculum that is common across all programsNine hours chosen from a portfolio of classes identified in each program UVS Certificate ProgramsCommon CoursesIntroductory course provides students with a background in UVS and prepares them for the eventual teamwork necessary for the final course projectFinal course in program is a 3-hour project-based course that involves the design and construction of a functional UVS system or component involving teamwork and collaborative effort between students from participating departments

Why have Autonomous/Unmanned Systems become so popular?Technological ReasonsThe rapid increase in computing powerSignificant miniaturization of enabling technologiesSignificant cost reductions in enabling system components Sociological / Economic Drivers The reduction in risk and cost associated with using humans to perform Dull, Dirty, and Dangerous JobsA reduction in tolerance for the loss of life in Military OperationsPotential to do productive workFuture Computing PowerMoores Law2019 $1000 computer has power of human brain2029 $1000 computer has power of 1000 human brains2049 $1000 computer has power of human race

Low Cost, High Power Computing is not a BottleneckIEEE Spectrum, Richard D. Jones - Boeing Phantom WorksFuture CommunicationBy 2020 We will have Ubiquitous High Bandwidth CommunicationToday - WiFi (vehicle to vehicle)Soon - WiMax (30 km range) above metropolitan areas

Edholms Law (IEEE)

Bandwidth growing Faster then Moores Law (doubling every 12 months)

Soon (2015?) Nomadic (wireless) will Exceed WirelineIEEE Spectrum, Richard D. Jones - Boeing Phantom WorksThe Senate Armed Services Committees Demand for Unmanned SystemsFebruary 2000, Sen. John Warner (R-VA), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, publicly stated his desire to see one-third of military aircraft designed to strike deep within enemy territory would be unmanned by 2010 and one-third of ground combat vehicles would be driverless by 2015. In the Senate Armed Service Committees version of the 2007 Defense budget they state:

The Secretary of Defense shall develop a policy applicable throughout the Department of Defense on research, development, test, and evaluation, procurement, and operation of unmanned systems [which] shall include the preference for joint unmanned systems in acquisition programs for new systems, including a requirement under any such program for the development of a manned system for a certification that an unmanned system is incapable of meeting program requirements

Demand from Commercial Companies

UVS HistoryThe Defeat of the Spanish Armada 1588 The English sent eight burning ships into the crowded harbor at Calais. The panicked Spanish ships were forced to cut their anchors and sail out to sea to avoid catching fire. The disorganized fleet, completely out of formation, was attacked by the English off Gravelines at dawn. In a decisive battle, the superior English guns won the day.

UVS HistoryThe development of unmanned vehicles for military use predates the development of industrial automation.In 1849 unmanned balloons loaded with explosives were used against the city of Venice by Austrian forces.During World War I aerial torpedoes were developed using radio control techniques and early gyroscopes.UVS HistoryThe Kettering Bug was first flown in 1918.Range: 75 milesSpeed: 120 mphPayload: 180 lbs of explosivesProduction: 45 units

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettering_BugUVS HistoryThe Radioplane Company produced nearly fifteen thousand target dones during WWIIRadio Controlled B-17 and B-24 bombers also saw limited combat use during World War IIUVS HistoryGermany developed radio and wire controlled vehicles in World War IIThe vehicles were used for mine clearance, explosive charge carriers, and anti-tank weaponsUVS HistoryThe German Goliath tracked mine, also known as the beetle tank by the Allies.Size: 4x2x1Payload: 165-220 lbs of high explosivesUses: destroying tanks, demolition of buildings and bridges, disrupting dense infantry formations

Classes of UxVsUnmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV)Unmanned (water) Surface Vehicles (USV)Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV)Unmanned Munitions (UM)Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS)Unmanned Orbital Vehicles (UOV)*Unmanned Cyber Vehicles (UCV)*Unmanned Interbody Vehicles (UIV)*

* Bowen, David G., MacKenzie, Scott C., Autonomous Collaborative Unmanned Vehicles: Technical Drivers and Constraints, Defense R&D Canada, Contract Report DRDC CR-2003-003, September 2003UxV Capability Classes

Teleoperated Vehicles(Searcher)

Semiautonomous Preceder/Follower (Donkey)Platform-Centric Autonomous Vehicle (Wingman)Network-Centric Autonomous Vehicle (Hunter-Killer Teams)Searcher UxV CharacteristicsTeleoperated Vehicles Human operator controls the vehicle at a distanceOperators information about the vehicles environment and state depends critically on: sensors that acquire information, communications links, and display technologies to allow the operator visualize the environment and access the performance of the vehicle.Human operator is responsible for the command and tasking functions of the vehicleHave no onboard terrain reasoning or military maneuvering capabilityApplications:Mine detection/clearing, soldier-portable reconnaissance/surveillance, UXO/IED, Search and RescueWhats over hill or around the corner?Donkey UxV CharacteristicsSemiautonomous Preceder/Follower Vehicles Characterized by limits on the scope of autonomous mobilityDesigned to follow markers (breadcrumbs) left by a leaderWould use some cognitive process to select best route from marker to marker through a known environment previously traversed by the leaderSensor suite is more complex than found on the SearcherPreceder Donkey must: have sufficient autonomy to move in advance of its controller, support complex terrain reasoning to select the best routeApplications:Carry supplies, support road-traversing convoy mode, support forward reconnaissance, surveillance and target assessment (RSTA) 1 5 km in advance of controller, support supply prepositioning, a Preceder could lead less capable followersBe the soldiers muleWingman UxV CharacteristicsPlatform-Centric Autonomous Vehicles The UxV, once given orders for a complex mission, can accomplish them without being told how. Can transverse between two waypoints (a few kilometers to a hundred kilometers apart) with no help along the way by a human operator (A-to-B autonomy). Must include same environmental conditions (terrain, weather, etc.) as would be operated in by manned vehicles. Must be able to carry out its mission in a hostile environment with the same survivability and self-defense as manned systems. Capable of identifying friends, foes, and noncombatants (IFFN)Must carry adequate self-defense systems suitable for its operational environment and anticipated threats.Capable of refueling itself from unmanned prepositioned fuel supplies or rendezvous with a fuel supply vehicle (manned or unmanned).Wingman UxV Characteristics (continued) Platform-Centric Autonomous Vehicles Have sufficient reliability and robustness to withstand the common hazards and mishaps encountered in the course of typical operations.Have the cognitive processing capabilities to support tactical maneuver and self-protection/self-defense behavior. Applications:Support the conventional work as a team model based on the roles of Section Leader and Wingman. The Section Leader tells the Wingman (or Wingmen) what to do, but not how to do it. A Section Leader and a Wingman would then interact to faction as a team. This model would require the autonomous Wingman UxV to have the cognitive processes and mission knowledge required to perform tasks without instruction or support from the Section Leader.Cover my back little buddyHunter-Killer UxV Team CharacteristicsTeams of Network-Centric Autonomous Vehicles Must be competent as independent nodes in a network-centric hierarchical, non-deterministic, command and control environment. The Network-Centric UxV can have many masters and must have the ability to arbitrate conflicting requests for service. Must support the coordination between ten to one hundred UxV team members to accomplish a complex mission. Must have the ability to request and verify go / no-go authorization from higher-level command and control entities.

Tell us what to do and get out of the wayUVS Technology Areas

UVS Enabling TechnologiesHuman-Robot Interaction (HRI)Covers issues of how intelligent agents work together in a system.Extends beyond conventional human-computer interface (HCI) issues.Attempts to address how humans will interact with multiple robots (especially under stressful conditions).Considers the dynamic allocation of tasks between humans and robots based on situational context in an effort avoid information overload and improve workload balance.Support for Teaming has a large impact on HRI RequirementsTeamwork Architectures optimal organization of teamsTask Allocation the allocation of tasks between human and robot agents based on the non-homogeneous capabilities of the team resources

UVS Enabling TechnologiesMobilityThe ability of the vehicle to move about in a given operational environment. Accessed in terms of the size and class of obstacle (both positive and negative) a vehicle can negotiate and still continue along its specific path and/or the modes of motion supported by the platform (e.g. vertical takeoff for UAV)Increased mobility reduces the perception burden and lowers the potential need for human intervention.Mobility Requirements must be driven by the application scenarios associated with a given UVS.UVS Enabling TechnologiesCommunicationsThe ability to communicate with an UVS will be required unless it will be totally autonomous and accept no input from the outside world. (This is not a realistic or desirable characteristic)UVS communication systems have a complex set of interdependent issues: Frequency, Bandwidth, Transmission Range, Interference, Power Consumption, Broadcast Power Constraints, Protocols, Encryption, Ontology, etc.Not all communications modalities will work for all classes of UVS. UUV communications technologies are very different from those used in an air medium.For some classes of UVS, particularly the Teleoperated platforms, the loss of a communications link can result in a mission critical failure resulting in the loss of the vehicle.

UVS Enabling TechnologiesPower/EnergyThis is critical issue, particularly for small UVS platforms, systems and applications that require long endurance, (a key advantage of using unmanned technologies), or in domains where fuel weight and volume have a significant impact on vehicle performance (e.g. UAV systems).There are safety, cost, and compatibility issues.Mission characteristics may directly impact power/energy related system requirements (e.g. the need for stealth operation)A very large selection of power and energy options exist, each with a unique set of tradeoffs.

UVS Enabling TechnologiesHealth MaintenanceThis is another critical issue in unmanned systems because there is no highly intelligent, omni-sensing, agent onboard to smell the smoke, hear the rattles, feel the vibrations, sense the heat, and realize that it might be a good idea to land the plane.There are many types or sources of potential failure in systems as complex and technologically diverse as autonomous vehicles.Every potential failure mode, symptom, cause, and remedy must be identified for the UxV system.For each failure mode, a set of corresponding failure symptoms must be defined.For each failure symptom and sensing technology must be identified that can reliability detect these symptoms.

UVS Enabling TechnologiesHealth Maintenance (continued)Each sensor technology must be designed into the mechanical, electrical and controls subsystems of the vehicle.For each Failure Mode that is identified, a failure mediation process must be defined.The physical and logical infrastructure for performing these failure mediation processes must also be included in the system design.Decision criteria must be developed to determine what levels of sensor input constitute the detection of a failure.The computational burden associated with constantly checking the sensor inputs and testing them against the failure detection thresholds can potentially detract from the computing resources needed to perform the UxVs primary mission.

UVS Enabling TechnologiesAutonomous Behavior TechnologiesAutonomous Behavior is a key technology enabler because it provides the automated perception and reasoning capabilities need to makeup for the loss of the highly intelligent, omni-sensing, agent (i.e. the human) that has now been excluded from the system design.Autonomous behavior is enabled by the integration of a set of related technologies: Planning, Perception, Behavior & Skills, Navigation, and Learning/Adaptation.These technologies are highly interdependent as is indicated in the following Autonomous Behavior Subsystem block diagram.

Autonomous Behavior Subsystems

Autonomous Behavior SubsystemsPerception SubsystemTakes data from sensors and develops a representation of the world around the UVS.This representation of the UVS operational environment is referred to as the World Map.The perception subsystem controls the sensor performance input parameters to optimize perception performance and can receive requests from the planner or behavior and skills subsystem to focus on a particular subset or region of inputs.

Autonomous Behavior SubsystemsNavigation SubsystemKeeps track of the UVS current position and pose (roll, pitch, yaw) in an absolute coordinate system.It provides a means to convert vehicle-centered sensor readings into an absolute frame of reference.Will generally use a variety of independent means (GPS, IMU, Odometry) to determine location estimates.These sensor inputs are frequently inconsistent and each have their own potential error causes and characteristics.Sensor fusion methods and filtering techniques can then be used to improve the accuracy of our position/pose estimates.Autonomous Behavior SubsystemsPlanning SubsystemDecomposes the high-level general task commands (e.g. move to location B) into a series of subtasks or functions like: determine current location (A), calculate distance and heading for a course from A to B, activate obstacle detection processes, turn onto heading from A to B, begin vehicle movement from A to B, monitor progress along vector between A and B, if vehicle encounters an obstacle or veers off course move around obstacle or turn back towards B, determine current location (C), and the process repeats.More sophisticated planners might use predefined world map information to pre-plan a course from A to B.Lower level controllers can be used to monitor system performance and effect the behavior of the system using performance data as feedback.Autonomous Behavior SubsystemsBehavior and Skills SubsystemA behavior is a combination of sensing and effecting into a atomic action. It can be innate, learned, or strictly a stimulus response.A skill is a collection of behaviors needed to follow a plan or execute a complex task.This Subsystem can combine inputs from Perception, Navigation, and Planning and translates them into motor commands for the UVS to move and accomplish work.Autonomous Behavior SubsystemsLearning/Adaptation SubsystemThis function is frequently distributed within the various components of the autonomous behavior subsystem components.The objective of these learning / adaptation functions is to improve system performance by analyzing historical system performance statistics and adjusting Autonomous Behavior Subsystem control factors.It provides a mechanism for the system to become more robust over time.text

Behaviors & Skills

Navigation

Perception

Planning

Learning / Adaptation

Autonomous Behavior

Human-Robot Interaction

Health Maintenance

Power

Mobility

Communications

UxV Systems

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Behaviors & Skills

Navigation

Perception

Planning

Learning / Adaptation

Autonomous Behavior

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Navigation

Learning

GPSIMUOdometryLandmarks

Learning

Planning

Learning

Mission PlannerNavigatorPilot

Perception

World Map

Behaviors

Learning

Sensors

Human Controller

Motor Commands