AvantGuard: An Instrument to Explore Issues of Autonomy

Abstract

AvantGuard is an instrument with which researchers can study the interplay of human direction and autonomous behavior in conducting a simulated mission where a human supervises multiple autonomous Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV). AvantGuard is a computer game in which UAVs are used to protect a convoy moving through unsecured urban terrain under conditions of asymmetric conflict. Adversaries hide among the residents and prepare an ambush. The operator directs small UAVs and studies the resulting sensor stream to find the ambush before the convoy arrives in the trap. Autonomy is decomposed into four cognitive phases: look. see, decide, act. Each is matched to an exemplary task: sensor location, image analysis, threat assessment, and convoy rerouting. Each of these is independently assigned a Level of autonomy, or an adaptive strategy. Using sophisticated game techniques, a high-performance UAV simulation game prototype was developed , as well as the design for the experimenter interface.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA437691

Entities

People

  • Dov Jacobson

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Aircrafts
  • Algorithms
  • Autonomy
  • Computers
  • Control Systems
  • Databases
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Reliability
  • Simulations
  • Site Selection
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Target Recognition
  • Threat Evaluation
  • Three Dimensional
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Aerial Unmanned Vehicle Swarm Micro Periodontal Dentistry.
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - Human-Robot Interaction
  • Autonomy - UAVs