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PointCom: Semi-Autonomous UGV Control with Intuitive Interface

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Army
Contract: W56HZV-06-C-0056
Agency Tracking Number: A052-219-2672
Amount: $119,860.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: A05-219
Solicitation Number: 2005.2
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2005
Award Year: 2005
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2005-11-18
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2006-05-18
Small Business Information
3741 Plaza Drive, Suite 1
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
United States
DUNS: 119094493
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Mitchell Rohde
 Chief Operating Officer
 (734) 994-0028
 rohde@quantumsignal.com
Business Contact
 Mitchell Rohde
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Phone: (734) 994-0028
Email: rohde@quantumsignal.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) will play an important role in the nation's next-generation ground forces. Unmanned systems will perform a wide variety of roles, including robotic mule applications, unarmed/armed reconnaissance, and EOD/IED (improvised explosive device) inspection and disposal. While the future vision for UGVs is one of fully autonomous navigation and control, current-generation UGVs are controlled manually. Manual teleoperation requires substantial attention of one or more soldiers, which is a significant burden. A desirable near-term approach to UGV control is semi-autonomy, which leverages the planning, reasoning, and situational awareness skills of a human operator while taking advantage of a UGV's ability to reliably perform low-level control tasks. Quantum Signal LLC proposes to develop PointCom (Point-and-Go Command): a semi-autonomous command system for one or multiple UGVs. The system will be easy to operate, and will enable significant reduction in operator workload by: 1) Developing an innovative, intuitive image-based control framework for UGV navigation; 2) Allowing a single operator to command formations of multiple UGVs. This system will leverage technology and expertise in robotics, signal/image processing, control, navigation, and commercial video game interfaces. Phase I will focus on research and design of the PointCom system, including tradeoff and feasibility analysis.

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

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