Federal government technology partner Noblis Inc. this week announced that it has received a U.S. patent for technology to collectively optimize cooperative actions among autonomous connected machines.
Specifically, the Reston, Va. based nonprofit was awarded U.S. Patent 11,283,874.
A unified plan
This system allows ad hoc collections of nearby machines to independently plan motion paths and earn trust from other machines by consistently carrying out those plans, according to Noblis.
“Noblis Orchestrated Autonomy allows pick-up teams of autonomous machines to perform as if they have trained together extensively,” said Karl Wunderlich, Noblis research team lead and the system's inventor. “Further, if one machine in the system malfunctions or begins to perform erratically, the team will self-organize to re-assign critical team functions and isolate the compromised machine.”
Noblis said the interoperability of its new system permits a level of high-speed motion and coordinated actions that would otherwise be impossible without advance knowledge of all the localized actions.
Potential applications include autonomous vehicles coordinating movements through a roadway intersection, aerial drones self-organizing actions around a loiter point, and autonomous submersibles performing undersea missions beyond the range of human control, according to the organization.
“Autonomous machine networks are increasingly a part of civilian and military mobility and logistics solutions,” said Chris Barnett, Noblis chief technology officer. “Noblis Orchestrated Autonomy is an example of how innovative thinking can build in greater safety, flexibility and efficiency to the missions of those networks.”
A partner of the federal government
Founded in 1996, Nobils said it works with the federal government for the public good, providing independent and objective science, technology, and engineering solutions.
With its subsidiaries, the nonprofit works with a wide range of government clients in the defense, homeland security, intelligence, law enforcement, and federal civil sectors.
“In 1996, we were advising defense and military clients on environmental remediation around facilities; now we’re helping them to create energy-efficient and environmentally sound sustainable infrastructures,” reads an excerpt on the nonprofit’s website. “In the early days, we worked with clients to implement enterprise-wide infrastructure for landlines; now we’re helping them transition to secure, cloud-based networks and solutions.”
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