METRON INCORPORATED — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N193-A02

Description

The US Navy has embarked on an effort to diversify its fleet to include fully unmanned surface platforms. As theendurance of these unmanned systems extends from days to months, pre-mission planning will be insufficient to handle uncertainty in operations. Nowhere is the resultant need for adaptive planning more pressing than in weather avoidance, where the dynamics of nature limits practical forecasting to no more than ten days of validity. To account for changing and uncertain conditions, advanced planning and re-planning methods need to be developed to allow for robust and safe extended duration operations that incorporates machine forethought, where the platform avoids entering situations that dangerously restrict possible future actions. For example, while following the edge of a reef may appear to be the shortest path around it, a mis-prediction as to the seakeeping ability of the platform in the face of adverse winds could be devastating.