Description: SSCI and MIT propose to design, implement and test a comprehensive Integrated Mission Planning \& Autonomous Control Technology (IMPACT) for Autonomous ISR missions employing collaborating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The main feature of the IMPACT system for Autonomous ISR is that it is based on robust real-time learning about dynamic and stochastic environments, and on a capability to autonomously react to contingencies while satisfying the mission objectives and the overall flight safety. The project will leverage a number of technologies recently developed by SSCI and MIT, and integrate various system modules within a flexible and user-friendly framework. In order to achieve the project objectives, the following tasks will be carried out: (i) Problem Statement & Test Scenario Selection jointly with NASA; (ii) Develop, Implement & Test Vehicle-level Subsystems; (iii) Develop, Implement & Test Mission-level Subsystems; and (iii) Carry out Integration & Initial Testing of the overall IMPACT System for an Autonomous ISR mission. Phase II of the project will be focused on the enhancements and full implementation of the IMPACT system, prototype system development, and demonstration of its features through hardware-in-the-loop simulations and flight tests at MIT.

Benefits: Autonomous UAV ISR & science missions offer great potential for improving the productivity of NASA airborne science research, and applications such as fire monitoring. The related autonomous missions will include high altitude atmospheric composition measurements of specific chemical or physical conditions that contribute to climate change. A mission in which the instrument measurements guide the flight path requires real-time analysis and a high degree of autonomy. Other relevant missions include detection and monitoring of wildfires, and communication of the location and imagery to fire crews on the ground. In such missions, the sensor system must be automated to search for fires in designated areas, revise plans when fire detection task takes longer than expected, track satellite passes to ensure transmission of data, and monitor fuel state to ensure safe return of the vehicle. Fully autonomous UAVs, capable of performing such missions, are envisioned as a part of future NASA's Sensorweb - a networked set of instruments in which information from one sensor is automatically used to redirect or reconfigure other components of the web.

There are a variety of current and proposed applications of UAVs for US Homeland Security. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol tested UAVs in its Arizona Border Patrol Initiative, aimed at minimizing illegal and dangerous border crossings. According to the CBP, the advantages of UAVs include advanced image recognition systems in both day and night-time monitoring, longer dwell time (in comparison to manned Blackhawk helicopters) resulting in more sustained coverage, decreased need for human resources and the ability to work in dangerous conditions, which results in increased safety for ground agents. In addition to land border patrol, UAVs have application in search and rescue missions; maritime, harbor and littoral patrol and monitoring critical infrastructure such as dams and aqueducts; energy and water pipelines; and assets in the national power grid, which may span many miles and require long, tedious but essential monitoring. There is also a great potential for utilization of fully autonomous UAVs in a variety of military applications.