STO-Activities: (no title)
Activity title:
Interoperability for Cooperating Unmanned Ground Vehicles
Activity Reference:
IST-206
Panel:
IST
Security Classification:
NATO UNCLASSIFIED
Status:
Active
Activity type:
RTG
Start date:
2023-11-06T00:00:00Z
Actual End date:
2026-11-06T00:00:00Z
Keywords:
C2, CIMIC, Interoperability, Military robotics, Standards, UGV
Background:
The domain of military Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) is evolving fast. Many industrial and COTS/MOTS solutions are becoming mission capable. However, most of these solutions are stand-alone systems, not utilizing the possibilities of network centric warfare and ignoring the need for multi-national deployments. The current systems are lacking a unified view on the appropriate architecture with respect to data models and middleware solutions. This group will look into these challenges, and build upon the activities of the IST-179 Interoperability for Semi-Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles. It will continue the successful cooperation with NAAG LCG/LE Team of Experts UGV. In addition, the group will attune these topics with the EDA project Combat Unmanned Ground Systems and the European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection.
Objectives:
The group will investigate standards to facilitate interoperability between UGVs and possible C2 systems. This includes open standards / middleware solutions such as JAUS and ROS 1/ ROS 2, where the latter two are the de facto standard in civilian robotics research. The investigation will also include military standards such as BML, IOP, and other relevant NATO STANAGs as well as applicable civilian standards.
The group will investigate how a group of UGVs can be controlled, from tele-operated control to multi-robot collaboration through mission-oriented orders. This will include centralized as well as decentralized control. Another aspect is how to team unmanned assets with manned units, and how the unmanned units should be controlled most efficiently. Additionally, the group will examine how the UGVs can contribute to the situational awareness with regards to mobility. This may include sharing maps, sensor data, and tactical information. All these challenges require the single UGV and the system of UGVs to have a unified architecture. Discussing possible characteristics of this architecture may also be a part of the group’s work.
The group will select a subset of the possible solutions and try to implement them. The resulting capability concept demonstrator will be tested in field experiments where the solutions are evaluated. After the experiments a final report will be written. This will include an account of the work done in the group and the description of the experiments. Limitations and proposed changes or enhancements of the standards will also be reported.
Topics:
• Interoperability for UGV control – This spans from control of a single UGV to control of a system with multiple UGVs. Even if UGVs are becoming more autonomous, tele-operation is still needed as a fallback when the autonomy fails. For multi-robot systems one would like the UGVs to cooperate, and one would need to define a mission, rather than giving individual orders, either using a centralized or decentralized paradigm for control.
• Interoperability for UGV information sharing – In order for the UGVs to cooperate, they need to share information between themselves. One potential beneficial solution is to share maps, obstacles or other features to augment the map that each individual UGV creates. For mission cooperation, tactical information should be shared among the UGVs, such as own and enemy positions and interest points.
• Architecture for UGV systems – A multi-robot system consists of many modules and submodules. Each of these modules have specific interfaces and data models. In order to achieve interoperability for UGVs, several different standards are needed at different levels of the system.
• Interoperability for CIMIC – The appropriate use of harmonisation and standardisation mutually increases the effectiveness and efficiency of the civil-military actors respective actions in response to crises. The seamless near real-time common situational picture is the key element to successful coordination of the two very different worlds civil / military.
Contact:
Open2Partners:
Title:
Created at 10/07/2023 16:00 by System Account
Last modified at 16/05/2024 20:00 by System Account
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