ROME — The U.S. Navy has awarded ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract valued at $240,000 to develop a new type of autonomous capability for uncrewed air system applications called Robust Autonomy for NeGation of Enemy Radar (RANGER).
The work will be performed by ANDRO’s Marconi-Rosenblatt Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) Innovation Lab team in Rome led by Jithin Jagannath.
The team will apply novel AI/ML techniques for enhancing human-machine teaming based on the Manned-UnManned Teaming (MUM-T) model first developed by ANDRO for cooperative UAS scenarios to combat next-generation radar systems and adversarial radar networks. The ANDRO lab team includes engineers Sean Furman and Tyler Gwin, who will deploy RANGER on UAS hardware as the capability matures.
According to Jagannath, RANGER is envisioned to provide superior battlefield agility for collaborative UAS in MUM-T scenarios for increased mission efficiency and survivability by adapting negation techniques on-the-fly in response to enemy actions.
ANDRO President Andrew Drozd explained that the importance of a human-machine teaming is driven by the need to migrate from a UAS platform that is strictly controlled by a human operator who must orchestrate its flight to effectively achieve a particular mission objective — representing a “human-in-the-loop” approach.
Rather, Jagannath and his team are focused on an end-to-end, human-on-the-loop framework that leverages specialized machine learning techniques to provide autonomy, adaptability, and highly effective human-machine teaming performance based on experiments recently conducted at the lab to demonstrate the capability.
“The RANGER technology sits at the intersection of ANDRO’s Marconi-Rosenblatt Lab expertise in UAS autonomy, machine learning-enabled signal intelligence (SIGINT), and cooperative control and decision-making strategies,” said Jagannath. “The AI/ML lab team sees RANGER as the next-generation autonomous MUM-T planning and coordination system that will be engineered for operation in dynamic and austere application environments.”
The Phase I work sets the stage for a potential second-phase multimillion dollar research effort for additional development, experimentation, and flight testing for future transition to the Navy. Drozd said he anticipates considerable growth in business arising from this work to incorporate the solution into advanced UAS platforms during the next phases of advanced research and development.
“RANGER is a next step in a strategic plan to expand ANDRO’s research portfolio and footprint in 2023 and beyond, including the research activities of the Marconi-Rosenblatt AI/ML Innovation Lab,” said Drozd.
ANDRO is a privately owned company established in 1994 focused on scientific research, development, and the application of advanced computer software in the domains of radio frequency spectrum exploitation, secure wireless communications, cognitive radios, advanced radar data fusion, and sensor resource management.
Read the full story here: ANDRO receives Navy contract | Daily Sentinel (romesentinel.com)