Unmanned System Mission Planning

Infographic showing a drone mission planning scenario in a contested environment. A map is divided into zones: red GPS-denied regions with uncertainty markers, blue areas for minimizing detection, and an orange contested communication zone with limited signal range. Multiple unmanned aerial systems (UAS) coordinate to search for, acquire, and maintain custody of points of interest (POIs), with arrows indicating movement, communication, and data exchange. Labels highlight tasks such as visiting landmarks, inspecting behavior, navigating without GPS, and maintaining surveillance. Side panels illustrate a vignette progression, a distributed planning process, and key solution characteristics like balancing surveillance with uncertainty, behavior-based tasking, and communication constraints.

Contact

Research Description 

This research project is focused on unmanned vehicle coordination. From path planning to task allocation, the goal of this research is to create plans for unmanned systems to collaboratively work in uncertain and contested environments. Newer students with less experience are introduced to the team through code management roles. As they gain experience, they will be involved in algorithm implementation and design.

Qualifications and Requirements 

The student must be either a computer science or ECE major and have completed CS 2420. It is desirable that students have taken ECE 3620, but not required. Even more ideal is the completion of MAE/ECE 5330 or 5340. It is expected that students will be willing to enroll in ECE 5330 or 5340 as soon as possible.

Students with little to no research experience will be considered for this position.

Financial Compensation 

Students start at $15-$20 / hour depending on the level of their experience.