STOTTLER HENKE ASSOCIATES, INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: Accurate, rapid interpretation of sensor data is critical to modern anti-submarine warfare

Description

Accurate, rapid interpretation of sensor data is critical to modern anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The Navy's push towards integrated multi-platform, multi-sensor ASW operations has the potential to significantly increase situational awareness; however, due to expected shortages in sensor operator staffing, this improvement will most likely be coupled with an increase in individual sensor operator workload, an issue that could easily lead to cognitive overload and an undermining of the tactical decision-making process. To address this problem, Stottler Henke proposes the Extensible Platform for Automated Tactical Sensor Screening (ExPATSS) to provide real-time, automated analysis for multiple simultaneous sensor video streams. ExPATTS will process incoming data to discriminate, identify, and track events of interest, directing the sensor operator's attention to the most salient. Identification will be carried out by a flexible collection of"recognition modules"built on an established computer vision framework, allowing the set of event types to be customized on a per-mission basis. Computer vision algorithms will be fully GPGPU accelerated in order to support a large number of simultaneous video streams. ExPATSS will ship with a set of recognition modules validated by ASW sensor operator SMEs but will also be"trainable"for new contact types to improve long-term efficacy.