| Unmanned vehicles have the capability to transform military operations. One relatively unexplored application involves cooperative unmanned vehicle systems called sensor swarms. We propose a conceptual unmanned vehicle swarm: a Host of Armed Reconnaissance Vehicles Enabling Surveillance and Targeting (HARVEST). A HARVEST swarm is theoretically capable of autonomous refueling, cooperative search, information fusion, and munitions employment. To enable cooperative swarm capabilities, we identify a set of individual unmanned vehicle services, e.g., localization, querying, and routing.
The HARVEST concept, swarm capabilities, and unmanned vehicle services are embodied in our sensor swarm co-simulation environment. The goal is to improve simulation fidelity by integrating existing simulators used within the Department of Defense (DoD). The process of integrating multiple simulations is known as co-simulation; our design uses OPNET’s External System Definition (ESD) to achieve co-simulation. This is the same interface OPNET provides to enable co-simulations based on the High-Level Architecture (HLA) defined by the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO).
The simulators in the first sensor swarm co-simulation prototype are based on the technology behind NETWARS (OPNET) and the Java programming language. To integrate with OPNET, Java wraps the ESD C-based method calls. This co-simulation is known as a Java, OPNET, and C-Based Co-Simulation (JOCosim). The implementation details of and lessons learned from the first JOCosim prototype are described in this paper.
We also briefly discuss the second JOCosim prototype currently under development. The newer version places all simulation control within Java versus just receiving data from OPNET. This capability is crucial to achieving the goal of the second prototype — integrating additional simulation tools such as MATLAB, FalconView, and Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED). |
| Capt Chris Augeri is a doctoral student at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Wright Patterson AFB, OH. His research is focused on unmanned vehicle swarms and sensor networks. In particular, he is developing novel methods of compressing data and determining critical nodes within a sensor network. These techniques are based on an algorithm he developed for deciding graph isomorphism. Determining if two communications networks are identical is one instance of a graph isomorphism problem.
Previous research projects include the design and development of a sensor network co-simulation environment and implementation of a UAV communications protocol. Additional research has centered on computer science education topics, XML-specific compression techniques, and graph partitioning. He is a trained operator of the FPASS (Desert Hawk) UAV system.
During his tour as an assistant professor with the United States Air Force Academy’s Computer Science Department, he directed the computer architecture course, instructed over 300 cadets, and integrated UAV material in the classroom. He also served as the chief of information systems support for the 21st Air Force and the executive officer for the 305th Support Group.
Captain Augeri enlisted in the Air Force in 1989 as an imagery analyst and received a commission by way of a Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He has supported a variety of missions in the Pacific Air Forces, Air Combat Command, and Air Mobility Command. His previous academic degrees include an A.A.S. in Intelligence Analysis, B.G.S. in Mathematics, and an M.A. in Computer Science. He is currently enrolled in Air Command and Staff College. |