Reconfigurable autonomous device networks
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- first and second autonomous devices for collaboratively identifying objects in an environment, each autonomous device comprising;
a sensor unit adapted to sense information relating to an object;
a storage unit containing object template information corresponding to the object;
a computation unit adapted to process the sensed signals, wherein the computation unit comprises an algorithm to compute a degree of match between the sensed signals and the object template information;
a communication unit adapted to communicate information relating to operation of the autonomous device with other devices;
a control unit adapted to make a decision affecting a status of the autonomous device based at least on a result of the computation of the degree of match; and
a mobility unit, which receives instructions from the control unit, and is adapted to move the autonomous device from one location to another;
wherein the autonomous device is adapted to automatically move to increase the degree of match between the sensed signals and the object template information; and
wherein the computation unit is adapted to identify the object by determining that the degree of match has exceeded a predetermined threshold;
wherein the first autonomous device directly transmits information relating to the object to the second autonomous device, and the second autonomous device reconfigures itself in space, without human intervention, based at least in part on said transmitted information; and
wherein at least the first and second autonomous devices operatively collaborate to identify the objects in the environment.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention describes the use of autonomous devices, which can be arranged in networks, such as neural networks, to better identify, track, and acquire sources of signals present in an environment. The environment may be a physical environment, such as a battlefield, or a more abstract environment, such as a communication network. The devices may be mobile, in the form of vehicles with sensors, or may be information agents, and may also interact with one another, thus allowing for a great deal of flexibility in carrying out a task. In some cases, the devices may be in the form of autonomous vehicles which can collaboratively sense, identify, or classify a number of sources or targets concurrently. The autonomous devices may function as mobile agents or attractors in a network, such as a neural network. The devices may also be aggregated to form a network of networks and provide scalability to a system in which the autonomous devices are operating.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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first and second autonomous devices for collaboratively identifying objects in an environment, each autonomous device comprising; a sensor unit adapted to sense information relating to an object; a storage unit containing object template information corresponding to the object; a computation unit adapted to process the sensed signals, wherein the computation unit comprises an algorithm to compute a degree of match between the sensed signals and the object template information; a communication unit adapted to communicate information relating to operation of the autonomous device with other devices; a control unit adapted to make a decision affecting a status of the autonomous device based at least on a result of the computation of the degree of match; and a mobility unit, which receives instructions from the control unit, and is adapted to move the autonomous device from one location to another; wherein the autonomous device is adapted to automatically move to increase the degree of match between the sensed signals and the object template information; and wherein the computation unit is adapted to identify the object by determining that the degree of match has exceeded a predetermined threshold; wherein the first autonomous device directly transmits information relating to the object to the second autonomous device, and the second autonomous device reconfigures itself in space, without human intervention, based at least in part on said transmitted information; and wherein at least the first and second autonomous devices operatively collaborate to identify the objects in the environment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for identifying objects in an environment, comprising:
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providing at least first and second mobile autonomous devices for operation in the environment the first and second autonomous devices respectively comprising first and second databases and first and second sensors; providing object template data, corresponding to the objects, in the first and second databases; sensing signals from a first object using the first sensor; using the first autonomous device, evaluating a degree of match between an object template and the sensed signals, wherein the first autonomous device automatically moves to increase the degree of match between the sensed signals and the object template and identifies the object by determining that the degree of match has exceeded a predetermined threshold; directly transmitting information relating to the object from the first autonomous device to the second autonomous device; and reconfiguring the second autonomous device in space, without human intervention, based at least in part on said transmitted information. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for identifying at least one object in an environment, comprising:
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a first autonomous device which detects at least a first signal from the object; a second autonomous device which detects at least a second signal from the abject; and a communication network which connects the first and second autonomous devices and directly passes information between said first and second autonomous devices; wherein each of said first and second autonomous devices each comprises a control module, a sensor module, and a communications module; wherein the first autonomous device is adapted to evaluate a first match between the first signal and a first reference object template and transmit a result of said evaluation directly to the second autonomous device over the communication network; wherein the second autonomous device is adapted to reconfigure itself in space, without human intervention, based at least in part on the result of said evaluation; and wherein said first and second matches arc indicative of an identity of the at least one object in the environment. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A system comprising:
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a network comprising first and second autonomous devices for collaboratively identifying objects in an environment, each autonomous device comprising; a sensor unit adapted to sense information relating to an object; a storage unit containing object template information corresponding to the object; a computation unit adapted to process the sensed signals, wherein the computation unit comprises an algorithm to compute a degree of match between the sensed signals and the object template information; a communication unit adapted to communicate information relating to operation of the autonomous device with other devices; and a control unit adapted to make a decision affecting a status of the autonomous device based at least on a result of the computation of the degree of match; wherein the first and second autonomous devices respectively comprise first and second sensors adapted to sense a condition relating to the performance of the network and wherein the first and second autonomous devices are respectively adapted to carry first and second information pertaining to the condition; and wherein the first autonomous device is adapted to receive the second information pertaining to the condition and update the first information pertaining to the condition based on the second information; and wherein the first autonomous devices is adapted to reconfigure itself in space, without human intervention, based at least in part on the second information. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for determining an optimum configuration of agents operating in an environment, the method comprising:
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sensing, using a first agent in the environment, a first environmental signal; forming a first representation of the first environmental signal; sensing, using a second agent in the environment, a second environmental signal; forming a second representation of the second environmental signal; directly exchanging, between the first and second agents, the respective first and second representations; within the first or second agent, computing a performance metric corresponding to a first configuration of the first and second agents, the performance metric corresponding to an overlap between an environmental signal and a stored target template; and reconfiguring the first and second agents, based on the performance metric and without human intervention, to arrive at a new configuration of the first and second agents. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification