Future Directions in Autonomous Operational Platforms

Autonomous operational platforms are a focus of research for military and civil applications, taxonomy, enablers, and a set of foundational principles that govern their development and attributes are established. Autonomous systems are necessary to replace human beings or cooperate with them in high-risk missions or in applications where their utilization allows for reduced economic or time costs. Autonomous operational platforms are defined and the associated core research topics are identified, along with a development roadmap to define research in the medium-long term. Research on autonomous operational platforms incorporates technologies from multiple scientific areas, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, networking, automation, and sensor technologies. All domains of research must be merged and suitably orchestrated and integrated; the interaction is typically addressed by means of layered architectures.

Autonomous operational platforms can be defined as platforms capable of a certain degree of autonomy for mission execution without direct human intervention for their entire lifespan within a mission; such autonomy can consist of a full replacement of human action (unmanned platforms) or of cooperative autonomous capabilities (supporting the action of human elements). Specifically, autonomous operational platforms possess the following core capabilities: perception, preparation (planning), action (control), and communication (networking). Other limitations and needs with respect to interoperability, standardization, and evaluation of performance are also outlined. Research in autonomous operational platforms is crucial because it can bring profound changes in numerous sectors: in defense, administrations, businesses.