Michael Wills, Donny Ciccimaro, See Yee, Thomas Denewiler, Nicholas Stroumtsos, John Messamore, Rodney Brown, Brian Skibba, Daniel Clapp, Jeff Wit, Randy Shirts, Gary Dion, Gary Anselmo
Use of unmanned systems is rapidly growing within the military and civilian sectors in a variety of roles including
reconnaissance, surveillance, explosive ordinance disposal (EOD), and force-protection and perimeter security. As
utilization of these systems grows at an ever increasing rate, the need for unmanned systems teaming and inter-system
collaboration becomes apparent. Collaboration provides a means of enhancing individual system capabilities through
relevant data exchange that contributes to cooperative behaviors between systems and enables new capabilities not
possible if the systems operate independently. A collaborative networked approach to development holds the promise of
adding mission capability while simultaneously reducing the workload of system operators. The Joint Collaborative
Technology Experiment (JCTE) joins individual technology development efforts within the Air Force, Navy, and Army
to demonstrate the potential benefits of interoperable multiple system collaboration in a force-protection application.
JCTE participants are the Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Airbase
Technologies Division, Force Protection Branch (AFRL/RXQF); the Army Aviation and Missile Research,
Development, and Engineering Center Software Engineering Directorate (AMRDEC SED); and the Space and Naval
Warfare Systems Center - Pacific (SSC Pacific) Unmanned Systems Branch operating with funding provided by the
Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise (JGRE). This paper will describe the efforts to date in system development by the
three partner organizations, development of collaborative behaviors and experimentation in the force-protection
application, results and lessons learned at a technical demonstration, simulation results, and a path forward for future
work.
This paper describes the latest efforts to develop an Automated UAV Mission System (AUMS) for small vertical takeoff
and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). In certain applications such as force protection, perimeter security,
and urban surveillance a VTOL UAV can provide far greater utility than fixed-wing UAVs or ground-based sensors. The
VTOL UAV can operate much closer to an object of interest and can provide a hover-and-stare capability to keep its
sensors trained on an object, while the fixed wing UAV would be forced into a higher altitude loitering pattern where its
sensors would be subject to intermittent blockage by obstacles and terrain.
The most significant disadvantage of a VTOL UAV when compared to a fixed-wing UAV is its reduced flight
endurance. AUMS addresses this disadvantage by providing forward staging, refueling, and recovery capabilities for the
VTOL UAV through a host unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), which serves as a launch/recovery platform and service
station. The UGV has sufficient payload capacity to carry UAV fuel for multiple launch, recovery, and refuel iterations.
The UGV also provides a highly mobile means of forward deploying a small UAV into hazardous areas unsafe for
personnel, such as chemically or biologically contaminated areas. Teaming small UAVs with large UGVs can decrease
risk to personnel and expand mission capabilities and effectiveness.
There are numerous technical challenges being addressed by these development efforts. Among the challenges is the
development and integration of a precision landing system compact and light enough to allow it to be mounted on a
small VTOL UAV while providing repeatable landing accuracy to safely land on the AUMS. Another challenge is the
design of a UGV-transportable, expandable, self-centering landing pad that contains hardware and safety devices for
automatically refueling the UAV. A third challenge is making the design flexible enough to accommodate different types
of VTOL UAVs, such as the AAI iSTAR ducted-fan vehicle and small helicopter UAVs. Finally, a common command-and-control architecture which supports the UAV, UGV, and AUMS must be developed and interfaced with these
systems to allow fully autonomous collaborative behaviors.
Funded by the Joint Robotics Program, AUMS is part of a joint effort with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the
Army Missile Research Development and Engineering Command. The objective is to develop and demonstrate UGVUAV
teaming concepts and work with the warfighter to ensure that future upgrades are focused on operational
requirements.
This paper describes the latest achievements in AUMS development and some of the military program and first
responder situations that could benefit from this system.
Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are hindered by their limited payload and duration. Consequently, UAVs spend little time in their area of operation, returning frequently to base for refueling. The effective payload and duration of small UAVs is increased by moving the support base closer to the operating area; however this increases risk to personnel. Performing the refueling operations autonomously allows the support base to be located closer to the operating area without increasing risk to personnel. Engineers at SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego (SSC San Diego) are working to develop technologies for automated launch, recovery, refueling, rearming, and re-launching of small UAVs. These technologies are intended to provide forward-refueling capabilities by teaming small UAVs with large unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). The UGVs have larger payload capacities so they can easily carry fuel for the UAVs in addition to their own fuel and mission payloads. This paper describes a prototype system that launched and recovered a remotely-piloted UAV from a UGV and performed automated refueling of a UAV mockup.
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