Spring 2015

CS 8803-AUS, TR 9:35-10:55

Autonomous Unmanned Systems

Instructors: Dr. Charles Pippin, Dr. Stephen Balakirsky,
Dr. Zsolt Kira, Dr. Mick West
This course covers important topics of autonomous unmanned systems,
including enabling technologies, and algorithmic approaches for
autonomous air, ground and maritime vehicles.

Introduction and Course Overview

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Agenda
qIntroductions
qObjectives
qCourse Overview and Syllabus
qAutonomy Discussion
qInstructor Research Brief

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Logis&cs
Course Instructor Email:
cs8803-aus-instructors@lists.gatech.edu
Put cs8803-aus in the subject line
This will go to all instructors.
We may be on travel, so use this email and
not our direct email.
Oce hours: By Appointment or aJer class.

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Instructor

Dr. Charles Pippin

Topics: UAV algorithms and
path planning, cooperative
systems

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Instructor

Dr. Stephen Balakirsky

Topics: Unmanned Systems
Architectures, Unmanned
Ground Vehicles,
Interoperability

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Instructor

Dr. Zsolt Kira

Topics: Perception and Data
Fusion

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Instructor

Dr. Mick West

Topics: Maritime Systems

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

What are Your Objectives for this course?

Think-Pair-Share
qUndergraduate or Graduate (Masters or PhD)?
qMajor
qResearch Area/Interests
qWhat do you hope to learn or achieve in this
course?

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Course Objectives
qUnderstand the key research areas in unmanned systems
and some of the open research questions.
qUnderstand the common architectures used on unmanned
systems.
qUnderstand key algorithms for path planning on various
UxV architectures
qBe able to characterize techniques for data fusion in
unmanned systems perception.
qDevelop skills in related tools such as ROS and autopilot
systems.
qContribute in group projects and perform analysis.
Generate publishable material.
qLearn to analyze and evaluate key research papers in
unmanned systems.
GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
qUnderstand the research areas that are relevant to
unmanned systems.
qDesign high-level software architectures for an
autonomous unmanned vehicle platform.
qCompare and contrast the differences in decentralized
and centralized approaches on collaborative autonomous
teams.
qDescribe the unique challenges for sensing and navigating
in ground, underwater and aerial environments.
qBe able to write an abstract for unmanned systems
research papers and group them into related work areas.
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Grading and Syllabus

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Grading
Evaluation

Percentage

Abstracts

20

Midterm exam

30

Class project
Class participation, student
presentation, and quizzes

40

Total

100

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Abstracts
qAbstracts will be due at the start of class
q1 for each assigned reading.
qCount in total 20% of your grade
q1-2 pages each.
qWill be posted at least a week before they are due.
qYou will be graded on having each section:
qAbstract/Summary 150 words minimum
qWhat is the significance of this paper, what is the
novel contribution? - 200 words minimum
qExplain the technical approach in the paper.
qWhat are 2 references from the paper (or that cite
the paper) that would be interesting for follow up,
and why?
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Student Presentations
qEach student will be required to give 1 topical
presentation
qResearch one of the relevant topics and present to the
class.
qUploaded to T-square before class.
q10 minutes long, with 3 minutes for questions.
qYou will be graded on:
qContent (60%): Clear review of the topic:
introduction, relevance, technical overview,
references.
qPresentation Quality (40%): Slides are clear, graphics
are labeled, talk finishes on time, presenter speaks
audibly and can handle questions.
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Class Project
qStudents will work in groups of 2-3 on a course project
that is relevant to autonomous unmanned systems.
qThere will be a significant programming component.
qMore details to come.
Project Evaluation
Proposal
Related work
Implementation
Final presentation
Final report
Total
GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Percentage
10
10
30
20
30
100
15

Autonomy Discussion

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Autonomy

State of Autonomy

collaborative research robots

urban challenge vehicles

Heterogeneous
multi-robot,
dynamic teams

UAVs
SUGVs
Deployment and Saturation

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

factory robots

Variety of UAS

PREDATOR: General Atomics

COURTESY OF U.S. AIR FORCE
PHOTO/LT COL LESLIE PRATT, VIA
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, Scientific
American

REAPER: General Atomics

COURTESY OF U.S. AIR FORCE
PHOTO BY PAUL RIDGEWAY, Scientific
American

GLOBAHAWK: Northrup Grumman

COURTESY OF U.S. AIR FORCE
PHOT/MASTER SGT. JASON TUDOR,
Scientific American

SENTINEL: Lockheed Martin

COURTESY OF TRUTHDOWSER, VIA
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, Scientific
American

SHADOW: AAI Corp.

COURTESY OF THE U.S. MARINES,
VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, Scientific
American

RAVEN RQ-11: AeroVironment

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
COMMONS

HUNTER: Northrup Grumman

COURTESY OF NORTHROP
GRUMMAN, Scientific American

Sikorskys: S-97
COURTESY Wikipedia

Disclaimer: During this course we will be discussing technologies which may have origins in military use. We are not
advocating or presenting issues of policy, morality and law related to these system. Rather, we are interested in the scientific
and technological impact of these technologies.
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Variety of Drones/RC

DJI Phantom
3drobotics IRIS

Parrot MiniDrone

Sig Rascal

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Convergence Factors
Faster, Cheaper Hardware
RC and hobby community
Open Source kits: DiyDrones, Dronecode
Open Source Robo&cs: ROS
3d Prin&ng and low cost produc&on.
Research Interest and interplay with the
Robo&cs Community
FAA Rules

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Unmanned versus
Autonomous
An Unmanned System is a system which does not have
a crew located in the vehicle controlling the vehicle.

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Credit: Alan Wagner

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Unmanned versus Autonomous

Autonomous means that the system or
vehicle is in control of itself.

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Credit: Alan Wagner

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Unmanned versus Autonomous

Unmanned but not Autonomous

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Credit: Alan Wagner

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Unmanned versus Autonomous

Autonomous but not Unmanned
Autonomous, Unmanned

DARPA Crusher, cmu.edu

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide adapted from Alan Wagner

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On Autonomous Aircraft
When the aircraft is under remote control, it is not autonomous.
And when it is autonomous, it is not under remote control. While
these two conditions could exist (controlled and uncontrolled),
current DoD UAS are remotely operated and capitalize on
automation in extreme circumstances, such as a lost link condition,
to automatically perform a preprogrammed set of instructions.
U.S Department of Defense Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY2013-2038, pg. 15.

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UAS versus Drone

UAV
Has sophisticated
autonomy, range or
payload.
UAS
The full system which
includes the UAV,
network and personnel.
Drone
Typically a RC or RPV
Limited range,
communications, and
payload.
Little or no Autonomy

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Flying
Communica&on
UAS Elements

Mission Planning
Autonomy
Ground Sta&on
Mission Payload

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Unmanned versus Autonomous

The term autonomous describes the types of control, and
ability of the system to make decisions.
The term unmanned relates to the vehicle configuration
Acronyms:
UAV: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
UAS: Unmanned Aircraft System Note that this can also refer to Unmanned and
Autonomous Systems
UMV: Unmanned Maritime Vehicle
USV: Unmanned Surface Vehicle
UUV: Unmanned Undersea/Underwater Vehicle
UGV: Unmanned Ground Vehicle
UGS: Unmanned Ground System
USpS: Unmanned Space Systems
UxV: Unmanned Vehicle. - This can represents the general class of unmanned
vehicles, including but not limited to ground, sea, and air vehicles.
RPV: Remotely Piloted Vehicle, aka, drone.
RC: Remote Control
GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Adapted from : Alan Wagner

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Automation
Automation: the use of machinery to perform a
specific task
Most often in relation to an assembly line

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Credit: Alan Wagner

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Semi-Autonomous Systems
Broad term used to describe a system which
automates some tasks but not others
Examples:
Autopilots
Self parking cars
Cruise control

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Credit: Alan Wagner

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Intelligent
Used to describe machines that:
Deliberate
Optimize
Learn
Adapt
Plan
Perform better than most
current systems
Gets thrown around a lot

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Credit: Alan Wagner

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Robot
A robot is a machine that extracts information from its
environment and uses knowledge about the world to act
in a meaningful and purposeful manner. (derived from Arkin 1998)

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Credit: Alan Wagner

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System of Systems
System of Systems: a set or arrangement of systems that results when
independent and useful systems are integrated in a larger system that
delivers unique capabilities. (ODUSD(A&T), 2008)
NATO Example:

GaTech CS8803-AUS Spring 2015

Slide Credit: Alan Wagner

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Autonomous Unmanned Systems

We consider the classica&on of Unmanned Systems
to include those that historically were manned but can
now be unmanned.
These systems have tradi&onally been developed in
the defense domain, but now also have many civilian
applica&ons.
There is signicant overlap with autonomous robo&cs.
In this course we will try to minimize the overlap and
focus on topics specic to this classica&on.
We are interested in the subclass of Autonomous
Unmanned Systems, and the technologies that enable
them to become autonomous.
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Instructor Research Areas

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