CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Under DARPA's
Offensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics program, Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) BBN
Technologies is developing technology to direct and control swarms
of small, autonomous air and ground vehicles. The technology
includes:
- a visual interface that allows "drag and drop" creation and
manipulation of drone tactics
- a game-based simulator to evaluate those tactics
- a physical swarm testbed to perform live tactics
evaluations
"Operators use speech or gestures to control the swarm. This is
a tremendous advantage during operations," said Shane Clark, Ph.D. and principal investigator on
the program. "The system provides sensor feeds and mission status
indicators for complete situational awareness."
The flexible, scalable programming software and simulation
environment means users can coordinate drone behaviors in teams
composed of different vehicle types that use various sensors.
DARPA is inviting additional organizations to participate in
OFFSET as "sprinters" through an open Broad Agency Announcement.
Sprinters can create their own novel swarm tactics and the Raytheon
BBN team will work with them to evaluate the tactics in simulation,
and possibly field them for live trials.
In 2016, Raytheon, as part of the Office of Naval Research
LOCUST program, conducted demonstrations that successfully netted
together 30 Coyote UAVs in a swarm. Raytheon BBN Technologies is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Company.
About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2017 sales of
$25 billion and 64,000 employees, is
a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil
government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of
innovation spanning 96 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art
electronics, mission systems integration, C5ITM products
and services, sensing, effects, and mission support for customers
in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in
Waltham, Mass. Follow us on
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Media Contact
Joyce
Kuzmin
+1.617.873.8120
joyce.kuzmin@raytheon.com
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SOURCE Raytheon