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Motive and Affect-based Robotic Control (MARC)

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Navy
Contract: N00014-07-M-0148
Agency Tracking Number: O063-UM7-4100
Amount: $99,956.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: OSD06-UM7
Solicitation Number: 2006.3
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2006
Award Year: 2007
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2007-03-06
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2008-03-06
Small Business Information
1035 Virginia Drive Suite 300
Fort Washington, PA 19034
United States
DUNS: 161162995
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Wayne Zachary
 Principal Investigator
 (215) 542-1400
 wzachary@chisystems.com
Business Contact
 Phil Rollhauser
Title: Director of Contracts
Phone: (215) 542-1400
Email: prollhauser@chisystems.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Wider use of robotic and uninhabited vehicles is limited by needs for UxVs to be intermittently out of direct operator control and thus operate under relative autonomy, and for a simple and efficient human controller interface. This proposal addresses both issues by using human-human interaction and communication as a metaphor. Specifically, it seeks to achieve UxV control/autonomy through an on-board cognitive architecture that is not merely purposive, but also based on human-understandable motives and affective states. This forms the basis for a more robust UxV autonomy and, in turn, allows a more abstracted form of control from the human controller (in terms of motive and affective states). This concept is called MARC (Motive and Affect-based Robotic Control). Phase I will adapt a motive/affect-based cognitive architecture called PAC to use as MARC. Three key Phase I objectives are: adapting PAC to the UxV control/autonomy problem; defining a realistic interface to the existing (and typically low-level) UxV control mechanisms, and defining a MARC-based human controller interface based on motives, affective states, and lower-level mission goals/objectives. Feasibility is established through an evaluative human-in-the-loop experiment comparing control of MARC-based simulated UxVs with UxVs with more traditional control mechanisms.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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