Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Multi-Ship Sensor-Based 3D World Modeling Architecture

There is emerging demand for multi-ship sensor-based 3D world modeling (3DWM) for autonomy/cognitive decision aiding avionics applications. In these systems, multiple ships collect and transmit perception sensor data that is fused into a common 3DWM, which is then used by other platforms for flight guidance in that environment. This paper illustrates key design considerations for these systems by exploring the fundamental scenario of leader-follower. This paper will detail the design trade space for the leader-follower scenario, focusing on 3DWM database representation/processing and data transmission. To demonstrate the feasibility of a baseline design approach on modern computing hardware, results will be presented from an experimental evaluation of a proof-of-concept system.