Autonomous Platforms in Persistent
Littoral Undersea Surveillance: Scientific
and Systems Engineering Challenges
David L. Martin, Ph.D., CAPT, USN (Ret.)
Associate Director
Applied Physics Laboratory
University of Washington
October 6, 2005
NPS Menneken Lecture Series
MAJOR NAVAL LABORATORIES, WARFARE
CENTERS, AND UNIVERSITY LABORATORIES
Applied Physics Laboratory
University of Washington
Applied Research Laboratory
Pennsylvania State University
Naval Undersea
Warfare Center,
Keyport
Naval Research Laboratory
Naval Undersea
Warfare Center
Applied Physics
Laboratory
Johns Hopkins University
Naval Air
Warfare Center
Naval Surface
Warfare Center
Naval Research Laboratory
Monterey
Naval Command, Control, and
Ocean Surveillance Center
Applied Research Laboratories
University of Texas
Naval Research Laboratory
Stennis Space Center
AT A GLANCE
R&D Program
Ocean Acoustics – MCM, ASW, Acoustical Oceanography
Sonars – Imaging, Mine, Ship
Submarine Acoustic Systems – ACINT
Arctic/Polar Science – Global Climate Change, SHEBA, SEARCH, SUBICEX
Ocean Physics – Turbulent Mixing, Electromagnetic Sensing
Satellite Remote Sensing - air/sea fluxes, aerosols, sea surface height, waves
Medical Ultrasound - Acoustic Hemostasis, Imaging, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, Lithotripsy
R&D Budget
6.2
6.3
6.4
46% Dev
54% Basic
$43M FY04
62% Navy Derived
Personnel
Hourly
Admin
12
57
ONR 6.1
NSF
NASA
NIH
Ph.D.
83
Students
48
Tech Support
10
S&E’s
90
300 Total
Navy ASW CONOPs
•
Near-term, leverage
–
Data collection/sharing
–
Collaborative real-time planning
–
Reachback support
–
Precision engagement
•
Smart planning & precision execution in
Hold at Risk and Secure Friendly
Maneuver Area operations
•
Far term, shift from “platform-intensive” to
“sensor-rich” operations
–
Networks of sensors coupled to standoff
weapons
Themes
Persistence
Pervasive Awareness
Speed & Operational Agility
Technological Agility
Background
32
200 500
30
220 x 330 km
Notional Field
50
28
1000
100
2500
26
5000
24
5000
50
22
50 x 175 km 5000
Notional
Barriers
20
2500
18
5000
50 m
100 m
200 m
500 m
1000 m
2500 m
5000 m
16
116
118
120
122
124
126
128
130
132
• The Navy’s Hold-at-Risk ASW
strategy requires operation in
choke points, port areas, and open
ocean areas.
– Environments are harsh and
changing
– Required areas of coverage are
large
– Time frames of operational
effectiveness are long (weeks
to months)
– Desired effectiveness is high
with low risk to blue forces
• Current systems do not support
this ASW strategy.
Undersea Persistent Surveillance
Provide accurate, persistent submarine surveillance in complex environments
Sea Power 21
Sea Shield
ASW
Constructs
Orange Naval Base
Orange Naval Base
Sea
Base
Ports
Op Area
Blue Base
REF: N74B ASW MCP Presentaion
Reduce the “detect-to-engage” timeline
Undersea Gliders for Navy Applications
• APL-UW Investigators:
– Marc Stewart (mstewart@apl.washington.edu)
– Bob Miyamoto (rtm@apl.washington.edu)
– Jim Luby (jcl@apl.washington.edu)
– Craig Lee (craig@apl.washington.edu)
– Bruce Howe (howe@apl.washington.edu)
• UW School of Oceanography
– Charlie Eriksen (eriksen@u.washington.edu)
• Office of Naval Research
– Tom Swean (sweant@onr.navy.mil)
– Tom Curtin (curtint@onr.navy.mil)
– Theresa Paluszkiewicz (theresa_paluszkiewicz@navy.mil)
– Mike Traweek (mike_traweek@onr.navy.mil)
•
•
•
•
Program sponsors: ONR, DARPA
ONR RIMPAC04
ONR TASWEX04
Future Glider Technologies
– ONR Xray flying wing glider
– FutureGlider concept
• Role in Persistent Littoral Undersea Surveillance
RIMPAC June-July 2004
RIMPAC June-July 2004
RIMPAC June-July 2004
Acoustic effects of internal waves
Profiles 139-145
PROFILES 139 TO 145
CASS Transmission Loss
CASS Transmission Loss - Ten Sequential Seaglider Profiles
Sound Speed Profiles
-50
0
Direct path
-100
-60
Target Depth = 300m
Target – 300m
Source/receiver – 7.6m
-200
-70
Transmission Loss (dB)
Depth - meters
-300
-400
-500
40-60m oscillations
of thermocline
-600
Source Depth = 7.6m
-80
-90
-100
-700
-110
Bottom-bounce
-800
-900
1480
1490
1500
1510
1520
Sound Speed - meters/second
1530
1540
-120
0
10
20
30
Range (KYD)
Conv-Zone
40
50
60
TASWEX04
14 – 22 October SG017 Track
Red = glider track
Turquoise = glider heading
Blue = depth-averaged current
Green = surface current
-
SUCCESSES:
Research glider borrowed for Navy exercise
-
JJVV & KKYY message auto-generation
-
100% data reliability despite typhoon
-
Kuroshio main jet
-
Mixed layer depth pegged
(70m deeper than model)
Tide-induced internal wave effects
Evaluated (and made a difference!)
Seamless rendezvous with Bowditch
CHALLENGES:
- Glider data rate vs. model capabilities
UNCLASSIFIED
Internal Waves on ECS Shelf
Profiles 95-114, 19 October ‘04
Sound Speed Profiles
0
-20
Profiles 95-114
-40
Depth - meters
-60
-80
-100
-120
-140
-160
-180
1510
30-45m oscillations
of thermocline
1515
1530
1525
1520
Sound Speed - meters/second
1535
1540
CASS Transmission Loss
Target Depth = 0 M
-10
File 1
File 2
File 3
File 4
File 5
File 6
File 7
-20
Source = 7.6m
Transmission Loss (dB)
-30
Receiver – surface
-40
-50
-60
Sound Speed Profiles
0
-70
-80
-20
Profiles 95-114
20
Range (km)
15
10
5
0
40
35
30
25
Target Depth = 75 M
-30
File 1
File 2
File 3
File 4
File 5
File 6
File 7
-40
-40
10dB at 5km
-50
Receiver – 75m
-100
Transmission Loss (dB)
-60
-80
-70
15dB at 10km
-80
-90
-120
-100
-140
-110
0
5
10
15
20
Range (km)
25
30
35
-20
File 1
File 2
File 3
File 4
File 5
File 6
File 7
10dB at 5km
-180
1510
40
Target Depth = 99999 M
-160
-40
1515
1520
1525
1530
Sound Speed - meters/second
1535
1540
-60
Transmission Loss (dB)
Depth - meters
-60
Receiver – bottom
20dB at 15km
-80
-100
-120
-140
0
5
10
15
20
Range (km)
25
30
35
40
SG022 Double Bow-Tie Pattern (Dabob Bay)
SG022 Station-keeping (Dabob Bay)
Cumulative UW Glider Results
•
•
•
22 gliders built, 15 ordered
4 flying today: Hawaii, Washington Coast (1), Labrador
Sea** (2)
8 Four-, 7 Five-, and 6 Six-month missions
– April 05, SG022 & 023 finished 6+ month, ~600 dive,
3000+ km voyages - new record
•
•
•
2500 glider-days of operation
(~75% of total by all gliders)
Over 32,500 kilometers traveled through water
9 lost at sea, 1 recovered (SG004)
There is a Broad Glider Effort
SeaGlider
Slocum
Spray
ONR FUNDED (FY03) – TOM SWEAN
A Snapshop of the Overall Glider Program
Global Deployment, (very) Remote Control
Seaglider
Slocum
Spray
Liberdade
Undersea Glider Milestones
1993
1995
Slocum Paper
(Oceanography
)
AOSN Paper
(Oceanography)
2001
2003
2005
2004
2006
NAVO WestPac Demo
(Slocum, Philippine Sea)
RIMPAC-04 Demo
(Seaglider,
Hawaii)
AOSN-I
AOSN Glider Development
(Slocum, Seaglider, Spray)
TASWEX-04 Demo
(Seaglider, East China Sea)
APL-UW
Navy Exercises…
Adaptive Sampling
Experiments (Slocum, NJ)
OBE…
Webb Slocum Production
AOSN Special Issue
(IEEE/JOE)
SHAREM 148 Demo
(Slocum, WestPac)
NAVO Demo
(Spray, FL)
AOSN-II
CNMOC/NAVO
Operational Gliders
TTI
Glider System
Study
AOSN-II Adaptive Sampling
Experiments (Slocum, Spray; Monterey
Bay)
Deep Convection
Experiments (Seaglider, Lab
Sea)
Color Key
S&T Experimentation
Publication
Operational
Experimentation
Operational Transition
Commercialization
TBC, 2004
Coastal Current Experiments
(Seaglider; CA, WA, AK
Coasts)
Bluefin Licenses
Spray
High Performance Prototype
Tests (Liberdade, San Diego)
Cape Cod to Bermuda
Section (Spray, North
Atlantic)
APL/UW Glider Cost
Center
Advanced Glider Research
ASAP, AESOP, LOCO
UPS (Spray, Slocum,
Seaglider, Liberdade, XRay; Monterey Bay)
ONR X-RAY Flying Wing Glider
• Funded by Office of Naval Research (Dr. Tom Swean)
• Collaboration with Marine Physical Laboratory, Scripps Institute
of Oceanography (San Diego, CA)
• High efficiency blended wing/body concept
• Designed to operate in efficient Reynolds number regime
• High lift to drag ratio will permit long duration energy efficient
operations
• Acoustic and EM sensors
• Navy interested in potential for long range, autonomous
surveillance
Xray Glide Polar
Cruise speed: 5 kts
Wing span: 20 feet
L/D: 19.5
Xray prototype
Winglet
FutureGlider Concept
• Primary mission: Surveillance of far-forward, littoral areas
• Design goals
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Low cost
Autonomous operations
Persistence
Stealth
Ease of launch/recovery (2 people, variety of platforms)
Over the horizon launch with rapid transit to operating area
Recoverable and reusable
FutureGlider: Booster/Glider
FutureGlider: Conformal Sensors
FutureGlider: Booster jettison
Multi-Institution Effort in
Persistent Littoral
Undersea Surveillance
Network (PLUSNet)
PLUSNet Concept
Unmanned Systems Approach to
Distributed Sensor ASW Surveillance
Use mature (enough) technologies to
field a scalable system demonstration
Environmentally and tactically
adaptive, cable-free sensor network
Fixed sensor nodes
Mobile sensor nodes
Assess environment
Redeploy (adapt)
Directed as sensor "wolfpacks”
Autonomous processing
Nested communication structure
Defining Parameters
• Clandestine undersea surveillance for submarines in
far-forward and/or contested waters of order 103 - 104
square nautical miles, shallow and deep water, operating
for months.
• Innovative technologies integrated into scalable
systems.
• Systems at all scales that are deployable, affordable
and effective for large area, persistent coverage.
Acoustic and Ocean Models
220 km
Targeted Observations
Acoustic Vector Sensor Arrays
E-Field sensors
Adaptability, Feedback
UPS
Directional Sensitivity
Cornerstones
Mobility, Persistence
Autonomy
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Acoustic modems
Autonomous DCL
Automated Tracking
Stages of Undersea Persistent Surveillance
Ocean Nowcast / Forecast
Signal Cues
Noise Statistics
Stage I
Adaptive Search
Maximize PD, Minimize PFA
Target Glimpse
Stage II
Adaptive DCL
Maximize Gain
Target Lock
Stage III
Adaptive Convergence
Maximize Intersect Probability
Neutralization
Environmental Assessment
Environmental acoustic assessment –
e.g., bathymetry, SVP, detection
ranges…, finalize network cluster
topology and fixed/mobile mix
Sensor Deployment
Environmental acoustic assessment –
e.g., bathymetry, SVP, detection ranges…,
finalize network cluster topology and
fixed/mobile mix
Fixed and mobile sensor nodes
launched from SSGN, LCS, USV and
deploy for optimum surveillance
coverage. AUV’s enter semi-dormant
state as temporarily fixed or drifting
nodes
Reconfigure Network
Environmental acoustic assessment –
e.g., bathymetry, SVP, detection ranges…,
finalize cluster topology and fixed/mobile
mix
Fixed and mobile sensor nodes launched
from SSGN, LCS, USV and deploy for
optimum surveillance coverage. AUV’s
enter semi-dormant state as temporarily
fixed or drifting nodes
Reconfigure mobile sensors nodes
based on current tactical or
environmental situation
Target Detection
Environmental acoustic assessment –
e.g., bathymetry, SVP, detection ranges…,
finalize cluster topology and fixed/mobile
mix
Fixed and mobile sensor nodes launched
from SSGN, LCS, USV and deploy for
optimum surveillance coverage. AUV’s
enter semi-dormant state as temporarily
fixed or drifting nodes
Reconfigure mobile sensors nodes
based on current tactical or environmental
situation
Target initial detection communicated
to network (ACOMMS or RF)
Wolfpack Response
Environmental acoustic assessment – e.g.,
bathymetry, SVP, detection ranges…, finalize
cluster topology and fixed/mobile mix
Fixed and mobile sensor nodes launched
from SSGN, LCS, USV and deploy for
optimum surveillance coverage. AUV’s enter
semi-dormant state as temporarily fixed or
drifting nodes
Reconfigure mobile sensors nodes based
on current tactical or environmental situation
Target initial detection communicated to
network (ACOMMS or RF)
Mobile asset "wolfpack" responds to
detection to achieve weapon firing criteria
DCL
Undersea Surveillance Seascape
Sensors
Energy
Comms
Navigation
Control
Modeling
6.1
ONR 31/32/33/35/NRL Team Efforts
Adaptive Sampling and Prediction Using Mobile Sensing Networks (ASAP)
Targeted observations
Cooperative behavior
Adaptive gain
Clutter/Noise suppression
Autonomous Wide Aperture Cluster for Surveillance (AWACS)
6.2
Undersea Persistent Surveillance (UPS)
Undersea Persistent Glider Patrol / Intervention (Sea Sentry)
Four dimensional target discrimination
Mobile sensor environmental adaptation
Target interdiction with mobile sensors
Undersea Bottom-stationed Network Interdiction (CAATS)
Persistent Ocean Surveillance (POS)
Fixed surface nodes
Congressional Plus-ups
Component technologies
6.3
Littoral Anti-Submarine Warfare (FNC)
Adaptive path planning
Autonomous Operations (FNC)
Fixed bottom nodes
ONR
DARPA
NAVSEA
Italics: potential new program
ONR/DARPA/NAVSEA SBIR efforts
Prototype system integration
and testing
PMS-403
PEO-LMW
Submarine T&T
Persistent Littoral
Undersea
Surveillance (PLUS)
(INP)
Task Force ASW
PEO-IWS
Theater ASW BAA
Critical Mass Team
Experience
Field Efforts
FY05
FY06
FY07
Collaborative Vehicles
(SACLANT)
ASAP MURI
(Monterey Bay)
Liberdade / X-Ray
SeaHorse / LCCA
ACOMMS
Final Demo ONR
Acoustic Observatory –
Systems Level Concept
Demonstration
(Ft. Lauderdale)
PLUSNet Steps Toward Future Systems
Capabilities –
Elimination of bottom cable enables rapid
deployment and survivability of cueing system.
Persistence through power saving sensing
technology and intelligent AUV behaviors
Advanced communications technologies enable
both remote control and autonomous operations.
Autonomous, adaptive network control exploiting
changes in tactical and environmental picture for
improved DCL.
Use of coordinated AUV wolfpack operation reduces
need to send tactical platforms in harm’s way and
increases likelihood of successful target
prosecution.
A “System of Systems” Systems Engineering Approach
Embedded Research and
Systems Engineering Issues
 Shallow water environment
 Sensor technology
 Acoustics
 Vector sensors
 Oceanography
 E-field sensors
 Modeling and Inversion
 Synthetic apertures
 Performance prediction under
uncertainty
 Environmental Adaptivity
 Signal processing (including
multiplatform, MFP, invariants)
 Autonomous signal processing
 Sensing and Network control
 Acomms/channel capacity
 Data fusion-Heterogeneous sensor
data assimilation
 AUV Technology
 Intelligent behavior
 Collaborative behavior
 Quieting
 Sensor integration
 Power
 Navigation approaches
 Integrated sensing and control
Summary
 Distributed sensor field of
networked unmanned fixed and
mobile sensors for ASW surveillance
 Tactical and oceanographic
environments sensed in real time,
with sensor network reconfigured to
improve target DCL
 Substantive research and systems
engineering issues in this highly
complex systems-of-systems effort
must be addressed.