(2) Adaptive Perception Behaviors (APB)

To be mission-relevant, Navy unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) must perceive and behave like manned ships. Cameras are valuable for supporting human-like perception because their high-resolution detail enables ship classification, tracking, COLREGS determination, and threat characterization. Human watchstanders use a variety of cues and heuristics to scan the surroundings and contacts optimally, but current camera systems do not offer the same intelligent, adaptive perception. To deliver capable, adaptable maritime perception, we propose to design and demonstrate the feasibility of Adaptive Perception Behaviors (APB) for smart maritime cameras. APB enables cameras to behave like human watchstanders, without intervention from external autonomy systems, by intelligently balancing competing perception behaviors, such as examining contacts and scanning the surface for new contacts. APB couples our SeaSaw smart maritime camera with a pan-tilt mount and intelligent behavior optimization to create a self-controlled camera that can detect, classify, and track ships and decide on the best order in which to inspect surface contacts to ensure safe navigation. Beyond simple surface situational awareness, APB provides AIS spoofing detection, threat classification, and COLREGS compliance. By decoupling autonomy and perception, APB simplifies USV design and facilitates perception hardware and behavior upgrades on USVs, making USVs more capable and adaptable.