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Distributed Collaborative Planning and Control for Undersea Surveillance using…

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 		Award ID:
74316 		Program Year/Program:
2005 / SBIR
Agency Tracking Number:
05SB2-0255 		Solicitation Year:
N/A 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N/A 		Solicitation Number:
N/A
Small Business Information
Toyon Research Corporation
6800 Cortona Drive Goleta, CA 93117-3021
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Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 1
Fiscal Year: 2005
Title: Distributed Collaborative Planning and Control for Undersea Surveillance using Swarms of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Agency / Branch: DOD / DARPA
Contract: W31P4Q-06-C-0053
Award Amount: $99,000.00
 

Abstract:

Toyon Research Corporation, together with the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Nautronix MariPro Corporation, proposes to develop autonomy algorithms which will transform a set of independent underwater vehicles (AUVs) into a collaborating swarm of AUVs that work together to respond to underwater threats. The paper describes the autonomy, as demonstrated as part of the Toyon CAATS seedling demonstration, from which swarm behavior emerges as each node contributes and forwards information deemed pertinent to other nodes. We describe the hierarchical autonomy structure and the overall guiding principles for achieving mission success in the dynamic noisy, shallow water environment. We describe the localization algorithm appropriate for swarming agents amid the multi-path acoustic propagation inherent to littoral regions. We present the fusion and tracking algorithms best suited for the sensor measurements (bearings-only, time-of-closest-approach) and noisy environment. We also describe the simulation tool used to develop the autonomy algorithms. Finally, we present preliminary simulation results showing the projected performance of a swarm endowed with the algorithms described herein. Toyon, UCSB, and Nautronix MariPro are ideally suited for this research and development effort and have extensive experience in sensor systems, networking, tracking, localization, and underwater acoustic communications and detection systems.

Principal Investigator:

Patrick A. Toole
Senior Scientist
8059686787
ptoole@toyon.com

Business Contact:

Marcella R. Lindbery
Director of Contracts and Finance
8059686787
mlindbery@toyon.com
Small Business Information at Submission:

TOYON RESEARCH CORP.
Suite A, 75 Aero Camino Goleta, CA 93117

EIN/Tax ID: 953526665
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No