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UAV Guidance on GPUs by Nominal Belief-State Optimization

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
Air Force 		Award ID:
94952 		Program Year/Program:
2010 / STTR
Agency Tracking Number:
F09B-T06-0329 		Solicitation Year:
N/A 		Solicitation Topic Code:
AF 09TT06 		Solicitation Number:
N/A
Small Business Information
Apolent Corporation
3333 Bowers Avenue, Suite 130 Santa Clara, CA 95054
View profile »
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: Yes
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 1
Fiscal Year: 2010
Title: UAV Guidance on GPUs by Nominal Belief-State Optimization
Agency / Branch: DOD / USAF
Contract: FA9550-10-C-0135
Award Amount: $99,950.00
 

Abstract:

We apply the theory of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) to the design of guidance algorithms for controlling the motion of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with on-board sensors for tracking multiple ground targets. While POMDPs are intractable to optimize exactly, principled approximation methods can be devised based on Bellman's principle. We introduce a new approximation method called nominal belief-state optimization (NBO). We show that NBO, combined with other application-specific approximations and techniques within the POMDP framework, produces a practical design that coordinates the UAVs to achieve good long-term mean-squared-error tracking performance in the presence of occlusions and dynamic constraints. Although the POMDP/NBO combination exemplifies increased tracking performance, this performance gain can be hindered by computational complexity. Implementing computationally intense subroutines intrinsic to the POMDP/NBO approach in highly parallel graphics processing units (GPUs) will allow the realization of our approach on complex systems in near real time. BENEFIT: Improved UAV surveillance technique, Optimal sensor resource management, High Performance GPU library

Principal Investigator:

Sanjay Rajopadhye
Associate Professor
9704917323
Sanjay.Rajopadhye@colostate.edu

Business Contact:

Brijendra Sharma
Managing Partner
4082036828
bsharma@apolent.com
Small Business Information at Submission:

Apolent Corporation
3333 Bowers Avenue, Suite 130 Santa Clara, CA 95054

EIN/Tax ID: 201194051
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
Research Institution Information:
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Colorado State University
Engineering Room B104
Fort Collins, CO 80523
Contact: Edwin Chong
Contact Phone: 9704916600