This paper describes a decision-theoretic approach to cooperative sensor planning between multiple autonomous vehicles executing a military mission. For this autonomous vehicle application, intelligent cooperative reasoning must be used to select optimal vehicle viewing locations and select optimal camera pan and tilt angles throughout the mission. Decisions are made in such a way as to maximize the value of information gained by the sensors while maintaining vehicle stealth. Because the mission involves multiple vehicles, cooperation can be used to balance the work load and to increase information gain. This paper presents the theoretical foundations of our cooperative sensor planning research and describes the application of these techniques to ARPA's Unmanned Ground Vehicle program. 1 Introduction Traditionally, research in multi-agent planning and research in image understanding have been pursued independently. The ARPA Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) program is pulling together th...

In this paper, we present and discuss a generic scheme for multi-agent cooperation. It integrates mission planning and task refinement as well as cooperative mechanisms adapted from the Contract Net Protocol framework. The use of this paradigm in a hierarchical manner is also analyzed. In addition, the properties of this cooperative scheme are discussed. Finally, this scheme is illustrated through a simulated system which allows a fleet of robots to perform load transfer tasks in a route network environment.

Members of the NASA and Army rotorcraft research community at Ames Research Center have developed a vision for “Vertical Flight 2025”. This paper describes the development of that vision and the steps being taken to implement it. In an effort to realize the vision, consistent with both NASA and Army Aviation strategic plans, two specific technology development projects have been identified: one focused on a personal transportation system capable of vertical flight (the “Roto-Mobile”) and the other on small autonomous rotorcraft (which is inclusive of vehicles which range in grams of gross weight for “Micro-Rotorcraft ” to thousands of kilograms for rotorcraft uninhabited aerial vehicles). The paper provides a status report on these projects as well as a summary of other revolutionary research thrusts being planned and executed at Ames Research Center.