Situational Awareness Tool for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

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Situational Awareness Tool for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

R. E. Sward / S. D. Cooper / C. H. Sparkman

With the emergence of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the video payloads now available onboard, real-time surveillance of dynamic situations is now possible. Air Force commanders are often required to make critical decisions during these dynamic situations based on limited information. In order to increase the situational awareness of commanders, we have developed a prototype UAV Situational Awareness Tool. This tool will connect the commander in a command center to an operational UAV in the field. The prototype tool we have developed is based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) displaying a map of the situation area along with a video feed from the UAV. By displaying the location of the UAV on the GIS map along with the video feed from the UAV, commanders will have a bird's eye view of dynamic situations. Using this tool in a command center during exercises will increase the situational awareness of Air Force Commanders. In his concept paper, Harper describes a dynamic situation that includes two separate emergency events occurring on the Air Force Academy. As the base commander responses to these events, it is imperative to have accurate, real-time data about the situations. By combining existing technologies in GIS systems, UAV video feeds, and networking technology, our prototype tool provides the commander a real-time video feed from a single UAV. This video feed provides the commander real-time visual information that will greatly increase his/her situational awareness. This prototype tool addresses Harper's concept paper and provides an initial capability for response to these types of situations. Research Objectives Display a UAV icon in a GIS Application The first objective is to build a GIS application that interfaces with the UAV's onboard autopilot.