A GENERIC METHODOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT FOR SENSOR BASE CONTROL APPLIED TO MILITARY LOGISTICS

IN ORDER FOR ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY TO MOVE INTO THE NEXT GENERATION, IT MUST EVOLVE FROM STANDALONE COMPONENT OPERATION TO THE CONCEPT OF TOTALLY INTEGRATED SYSTEMS OF MANY CONCURRENTLY EXECUTING SUBSYSTEMS THAT ARE CONSTANTLY EVOLVING. FURTHER, THIS TECHNOLOGY MUST SUPPORT ADDITIONAL SYSTEM ACTIVITIES SUCH AS REAL-TIME DIAGNOSTICS, DECISION AID SUPPORT, BUILT-IN TRAINING, AND REAL-TIME RECONFIGURATION IN THE EVENT OF PARTIAL FAILURE. THIS TECHNOLOGY IS ESPECIALLY APPROPRIATE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPLEX ROBOTIC SUPPORT OPERATIONS FOR BATTLEFIELD LOGISTICS OPERATIONS WHERE INTEGRATED, COORDINATED SYSTEM OPERATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL. TOTAL SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT REQUIRES AN ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH THAT SUPPORTS EVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM GROWTH. THE REAL-TIME CONTROL SYSTEM (RCS) METHODOLOGY IS A PARADIGM FOR THE DESIGN OF COMPLEX REAL-TIME SYSTEMS THAT PROVIDES AN OPEN ARCHITECTURE OF MODULAR, HIERARCHICALLY STRUCTURED COMPONENTS. THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CREATE A DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS ENVIRONMENT FOR THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ADVANCED COMPLEX CONTROL SYSTEMS, BASED ON THE RCS PARADIGM, AND TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES OF INCORPORATING REAL-TIME DIAGNOSTICS, DECISION AIDING, AND BUILT-IN TRAINING INTO THE PARADIGM. THE PROPOSED ENVIRONMENT WILL SUPPORT THE ANALYSIS, EVALUATIONS, AND TESTING OF VARIOUS CONTROL LOGIC AND PROCESSING ALGORITHMS DIRECTED AT MATERIEL HANDLING AND ASSEMBLY OPERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH PROJECTILE AND FUZE DEPALLETIZING, INVENTORY MANAGEMENT, FUZING OPERATIONS, AND TRANSPORT.