Remote information collection, situational awareness, and adaptive response system for improving advance threat awareness and hazardous risk avoidance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10474144-B2
Application number	US-201715455802-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2017
Priority date	Aug 1, 2016
Publication date	Nov 12, 2019
Grant date	Nov 12, 2019

Abstract

An adaptive situational awareness, decision support, and automated response system operable to receive sensor data or situational awareness data for a region of interest along or in advance of a path of travel of a vehicle obtained from at least a mobile reconnaissance sensor platform and select/execute one or more response programming or plans to operate one or more vehicle equipment items, e.g., a remote interaction, control or jamming system, from a stored database, manual inputs, or a distributive network based on matching of plans/programs with at least one of the sensor outputs or situational awareness data is provided. Apparatus and methods are also provided that enable an exemplary system to obtain data associated with an area surrounding the vehicle and provide this data to other system, subsystems, and personnel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) comprising:
a first mobile platform comprising:
a first communication system,
a first position determination and navigation system (PDNS) configured to determine the first mobile platform's position and output position data, and
a reconfigurable control and situational awareness system (RCSAS) configured to generate RCSAS data comprising a first and second RCSAS data in response to an operator's input, wherein the first RCSAS data comprises movement control instructions for a second mobile platform and the second RCSAS data comprises sensor control instructions for the second mobile platform; and

the second mobile platform comprising:
a second communication system,
a movement control system configured to maneuver the second mobile platform within a first predetermined distance from the first mobile platform in proximity of a first designated route of travel,
a second PDNS configured to determine the second mobile platform's position and output position data, and
a sensor system configured to detect at least one of one or more detectable emissions, at least one optical pattern, or characteristics of the environment surrounding the second mobile platform and further configured to identify a first plurality of conditions of interest in an area within a second predetermined distance and proximity to the first designated route of travel to generate sensor output data;

wherein the first and second communication systems are configured to transfer the sensor output data from the sensor system to the RCSAS, selectively transfer the first plurality of RCSAS data from the RCSAS to the movement system, and selectively transfer the second plurality of RCSAS data from the RCSAS to the sensor system;
wherein the movement control system is further configured to read the first plurality of RCSAS data to reconfigure the movement control system to maneuver the second mobile platform within a third predetermined distance from the first mobile platform in proximity of a second designated route of travel;
wherein the sensor system is further configured to read the second plurality of RCSAS data to reconfigure the sensor system to identify a second plurality of conditions of interest within a fourth predetermined distance from the first mobile platform in proximity of the second designated route of travel;
wherein the first communication system is electronically coupled to the RCSAS and the first PDNS, wherein the second communication system is electronically coupled to the sensor system, the movement control system, and the second PDNS.

2. The Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) of claim 1 , wherein the first mobile platform further comprises:
a reconfigurable control system comprising a transmitter configured to interact with, override or jam, or interfere with a first and second plurality of external receivers and control systems (ERCS) within a predetermined radius of the first mobile platform, wherein each of the first and second plurality of ERCS is associated with one or more detectable emissions, at least one optical pattern, or characteristics including conditions of terrain or area surrounding at least one of said first or second plurality of ERCS, wherein the first plurality of ERCS also have one or more of a first plurality of predetermined or known operating configurations, wherein the reconfigurable control system further comprises a plurality of loadset instructions comprising a first plurality of loadset instructions operable to operate the reconfigurable control system to interact with, control, or interfere with said first plurality of ERCS;
wherein the reconfigurable control and situational awareness system (RCSAS) is further configured to generate RCSAS data comprising a third RCSAS data comprising a second plurality of loadset instructions, wherein said RCSAS selectively replaces or alters said first plurality of loadset instructions to create said second plurality of loadset instructions configured to alter operation of the reconfigurable control system to enable a first plurality of responses or a second plurality of responses respectively to the first and second plurality of ERCS, wherein said first plurality of responses respectively comprises interaction with, jamming, or interference with ones of said second plurality of ERCS having one or more of a second plurality of operating configurations that operate respective second plurality of ERCS differently than said first plurality of ERCS;
wherein the RCSAS is electronically coupled to the reconfigurable control system.

3. The Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) of claim 1 , wherein the sensor system comprises:
an electronic magnetic spectrum scanning device,
an optical video camera, and
a thermal sensing device.

4. The Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) of claim 1 , wherein the transmission of data between the first communication system and the second communication system uses a radio frequency (RF) system or a laser communication data transfer system that permits line of sight (LOS) interfaces.

5. The Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) of claim 1 , wherein the RCSAS comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) configured to display key information related to the first plurality of conditions of interest, wherein the operator uses the GUI to generate RCSAS data in the RCSAS.

6. The Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) of claim 5 , wherein the GUI is further configured to display an interactive geospatial map, wherein the interactive geospatial map comprises a pre-made map of an area within a fifth predetermined distance of the first designated route of travel, wherein the interactive geospatial map plots condition of interest indicators onto the map at locations representing where the first and second pluralities of conditions of interest were detected by the sensor system, wherein the GUI is further configured to allow the operator to manually add or remove condition of interest indicators to the interactive geospatial map.

7. The Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) of claim 6 , wherein the first mobile platform further comprises a virtual reality difference identification (VRDI) system comprising a virtual reality headset and a movement tracking system, wherein the virtual reality headset is configured to display a virtual field of view comprising a plurality of images and the condition of interest indicators, wherein the condition of interest indicators are superimposed over the plurality of images, wherein the movement tracking system is configured to detect when the operator moves his field of view and adjust the virtual field of view by a predetermined amount corresponding to the operator's movement.

8. The Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) of claim 6 , wherein the GUI displays the first and second routes of travel.

9. A Remote Information Collection, Situational Awareness, and Adaptive Response System (RICSAARS) comprising:
a mobile platform comprising:
a reconfigurable control and situational awareness system (RCSAS) configured to receive a plurality of inputs from a plurality of sources, process said plurality of inputs, generate a plurality of outputs, and transmit said plurality of outputs to a plurality of systems or subsystems;
a lifting

Assignees

• Us Navy

Inventors

• Wieneke Garry

Classifications

• G05D1/0027 Primary

  involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00) · CPC title

• G05D2201/0209

  Physics · mapped topic

• G05D1/0038

  by providing the operator with simple or augmented images from one or more cameras located onboard the vehicle, e.g. tele-operation (images analyzed by a computer and used for automatic navigation G05D1/0246) · CPC title

• G05D1/0214

  in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas (monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13) · CPC title

• G05D1/0044

  by providing the operator with a computer generated representation of the environment of the vehicle, e.g. virtual reality, maps (maps used for automatic navigation G05D1/0274; flight directors G01C23/005) · CPC title