Study deals with the use of Artificial Intelligence in the autonomous search for boats. Publication occurred in one of the world’s leading scientific journals.
Source: DCTA, by Aspirante L. Alves and Captain Alcoforado
A scientific article, produced by two students from the Postgraduate Program in Operational Applications (PPGAO) of the Aeronautical Technological Institute (ITA), was published by the American magazine IEE Access, one of the most important in the world in the engineering area. The study, which also included the participation of a researcher from the Institute for Advanced Studies (IEAV) and professors from the Dutch Defense Academy (NLDA) and the University of Twente, in the Netherlands, creates a methodology for using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in fully autonomous drone missions to search for target vessels.
The article entitled “Time-Critical Maritime UAV Mission Planning Using a Neural Network: An Operational View” was published in October 2022 and had the academic internationalization with the objective of seeking an operational analysis of the subject with world reference researchers in the area. The first author of the article, Lieutenant-Colonel Aviator Geraldo Mulato de Lima Filho, who is being mentored by professor Angelo Passaro at ITA’s Postgraduate Program in Space Science and Technology (PG-CTE), explained that drones have been used for decades in countries like the United States, Japan, Pakistan, Spain, India and China in different maritime missions, such as monitoring pollution from oil spills and ship unloading, for example.
“In many cases these missions are performed autonomously by Artificial Intelligence, and in the scientific literature we can see limitations of AI in performing missions fully autonomously, such as the anti-submarine mission. However, recent academic works have been presenting great advances in missions of less complexity, in which AI surpasses human performance,” expressed Lieutenant Colonel Lima Filho.
According to the working group, the algorithm developed during the studies can contribute in Maritime Patrol and Aerospace Reconnaissance Air Force actions. Aviator Colonel Sérgio Rebouças, current Coordinator of the Operational Analysis and Logistics Engineering Area (AO-EL) of PPGAO, stated that “the approach with reference universities is crucial for research, because it allows the exchange of experiences and the learning of techniques that are often unknown in Brazil, and also leverages innovation and technological development. For Colonel Rebouças, the challenge now is to internalize these techniques in the operational management and decision support systems, making effective the contribution of scientific research on behalf of the Brazilian Air Force.
Besides Lieutenant-Colonel Lima Filho and Professor Angelo, the article also has as authors Air Captain Guilherme Moura Delfino, Professor Leandro de Santana and Professor Herman Monsuur. The full paper can be accessed on the publication page of the American journal IEEE Access.
Photos: Reproduction / IEEE XPLORE *** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI Team ***