There are many Naval Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications that require searching for and detecting objects in an unknown environment with limited information. This challenge involves an exciting application of autonomy that requires both developing the optimal combination of movement and sensing to locate a source (i.e., Surveillance and Reconnaissance), as well as, once the source is located, decoding the message (i.e., Intelligence).
A minimum of three ground surface-based dynamic targets will have emitters broadcasting information along with 10 static targets that the participant is to locate and identify. Your challenge is to find one or more of these static and/or dynamic targets. For static targets, record an image of the target and transmit it back to a control station. For the dynamic targets, decode the binary broadcasted message.
This competition will be held during the CDCA Summit Innovation Pitch Jam between December 7th and 8th. There are two separate competitions within this Challenge.
Competition 1: Full Government 1 Byte at a Time Prize Challenge – Participants will be judged by an all government panel for the cash payouts associated with the Prize challenge.
Competition 2: Oral Presentations at the CDCA Summit Innovation Pitch Jam – A separate evaluation for oral presentations during the Innovation Pitch Jam will be conducted by the wider CDCA Summit audience to determine the 2022 CDCA Innovation Pitch Jam “Best in Show” award for Most Innovative Autonomous Vehicle.
Each participant will need to provide a “Blue Team” ground surface-based autonomous vehicle to move through the Challenge Map (attached) to seek out and visually identify a variety of high priority static and dynamic targets while identifying and evading low priority targets over a two day event.
For the dynamic targets, the challenge will leverage “Red Team” ground surface-based autonomous vehicles with mobile emitters being developed for a separate challenge. These “Red Team” ground surface-based autonomous vehicles will also actively try to avoid the participant’s ”Blue Team” autonomous vehicles that is approaching them, increasing the difficulty of the challenge.
As represented in the Challenge concept PDF. The blue robot represents a “Blue Team” participant’s ground surface autonomous vehicle that is seeking the “Red Team” robot in green, which is both actively seeking to avoid the “Blue Team” robot while randomly emitting the binary message to be identified.
Stage 1: Companies will be given three weeks to submit a Pitch on their solution. The Pitch will be presented via video NTE 10 minutes. It is preferred (though not required) to have the videos made in the style of a white board drawing animation. Participants should provide a link to the video as part of the submission. Video presentations shall highlight the decision process to explore and home in on an intermittent emitter source. Presentations should also describe the processes for finding and identifying visual static targets. All videos must be submitted along with the “Blue Team” Participants’ tools per the instructions outlined in the tool submission guidelines below. Video submissions will support two requirements. The submitted video will be used for Government Evaluation purposes to select participants for the Stage 2 competition. Since this Prize Challenge will be conducted during the CDCA Summit and supporting the Innovation Pitch Jam, video submissions will be replayed to a larger CDCA Summit Audience along with a presentation by the participant. If the participant wishes, a separate video for presentation to the larger CDCA Summit audience can be provided in advance of the Stage 2 event. Participants wishing to provide a separate video for presentation at the CDCA Summit Innovation pitch Jam should clearly edit the file name of the video differentiating which is to be evaluated by the Government and which is to be presented at the CDCA Summit.
Stage 2: “Blue Team” in-person demonstrations and challenge. On December 7th and 8th, selected “Blue Team” participants of this challenge will be asked to compete in two separate vignettes. The first vignette, held on December 7th will focus on finding and identifying 10 static targets. One static target will be emitting a RF chirp signal. The second vignette, held on December 8th, will require the “Blue Team” participant to use their ground surface-based autonomous vehicles to locate three “Red Team” ground surface-based autonomous vehicles with RF emitters transmitting a chirp code on a selected channel. Each “Blue Team” autonomous vehicle will have an LED flashing a code in binary. Once a “Red Team” autonomous vehicles gets close enough, they should be able to read the LED code being displayed by the “Blue Team” and send that back to a control station. Note, the “Red Team” autonomous vehicle will try to evade, making it more challenging to decode the LED. Each participant will also be asked to present their technology at the CDCA Innovation Pitch Jam to a larger CDCA Summit Audience at the end of each day of the competition. Participants will be responsible for transport of the autonomous vehicle to and from the CDCA Summit Innovation Pitch Jam venue. Vehicles are to be at the venue no earlier than 10:30 a.m and no later than 6:00 p.m. on December 7th and 8th. Secure storage for the vehicles at the venue will be available overnight between December 7th and 8th.
Vignette 1 (December 7th):
- The first vignette, held on December 7th will focus on location and identification of static targets of various sizes. There will also be one static RF chirp signal. The goal will be to home in on the static RF chirp signal as fast as possible while still finding all 10 Static Targets. These targets will be placed at various locations along the Ballroom Prefunction Area. A map of the range is provided as part of this challenge. The participant will have up to five hours to find and identify the static targets, take a picture of the target and transmit it back to a command and control station. Points will be given for each target that is found and identified.
- 10 Static Silhouette Targets will be provided throughout the “Ballroom Prefunction Area.” The size of the static targets will be no smaller than 3”x 5” and no larger than 8.5” x 11”. For reference, the silhouettes of the 10 static targets are provided in the attachment labels “Static Target.” The autonomous vehicle will take a picture of the static target. The participant team can then place the picture on a MS Power point presentation that will be provided by the government.
Vignette 2 (December 8th):
- The second vignette, held on December 8th, will test the “Blue Team” ground surface-based autonomous vehicles’ ability to seek out three separate “Red Team” challenger ground surface-based autonomous vehicles in a highly congested area. The “Red Team” Challenger vehicles will be translating an RF chirp message intermittently. These vehicles will each chirp on a separate channel and the challenger will have to find the one assigned to them. Each “Blue Team” autonomous vehicle will be using an LED for transmitting a separate binary coded message. One “Red Team” challenger vehicle will be designated as a High Priority Target. Each participant will be given 45 minutes to navigate through Ballroom C (Exhibit Hall) to seek out the “Red Team” challenger vehicles. Points will be given for each Red Team challenger vehicle located, accurate translation of binary coded message being transmitted, and visual identification (picture) of the High Priority Target.
- Once the participant starts the second vignette, the vehicle must be completely autonomous. Note that a manual override will be allowed for safety purposes.
- Each Blue Team autonomous vehicle will need to transmit one of the following binary coded messages listed below using a large LED light at a rate of between ½ symbol per second – 4 symbols per second with a maximum message length of 60 seconds. The binary message will be on a continuous loop.
Binary Coded Messages:
1) Im coming to get you
2) Go Navy Beat Army
3) Semper Fi
4) NAVWAR
5) NIWC Atlantic
