Unmanned Arial/Ground Sensor Networks for Enhanced Situational Awareness

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) coupled with advanced sensors are invaluable resources for providing our servicemembers with information regarding the conditions and activities over a wide area. However, this information only provides awareness of the conditions and activities of an area at a single point in time. The University of Memphis (UofM) is leading an effort, in coordination with the University of Arizona and the University of Central Florida, to test the deployment and capabilities of unattended ground sensors (UGS) that can provide the military long-term awareness of conditions and activities on the ground. This FY24 request, which builds off previous Congressional support, will further develop the next generation of UAS that utilizes UGS to give our warfighters unparalleled situational awareness on the battlefield, a strategic advantage that will save lives.

Impact on the Department of Defense

Awareness of activities and assets in a conflict zone is crucial information for our military; therefore, UAS and UGS are key technologies for maintaining military readiness. The effectiveness of UAS and robotic platforms in Ukraine is evidence of how valuable these platforms are in providing the military with a strategic edge on the battlefield. The Army Research Laboratory, in partnership with UofM, has been developing and testing a basic implementation of Multi-Drone/Multi-Sensor (MD/MS) technology which has set the stage for the integration of UGS that can provide an effective system for enhanced situational awareness (SA). The efforts in FY24 will provide the Army with more efficient paths for UGS development and experimentation within MD/MS systems and begin the process of transitioning this research into engineering and manufacturing development.

Economic Impact and Benefit to Tennessee

The technologies developed as part of this program will have a significant impact on other industries. More specifically, UGS technology can react to changes detected in an agricultural crop situation or an environmental crisis and automatically deploy precision irrigation, fertilizer, pesticide, or herbicide treatments creating higher yields. The developments produced by this research will be presented to the commercial drone market for use in agriculture, environmental assessment, and security-related applications.