Safety Security Rescue Research Center

University of South Florida, University of Minnesota(CMU, Pennsylvania pending)

ADT, Automatika, CHI Systems, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, Freedom 4 Wireless,

Honeywell, iSENSYS, Lockheed Martin, Radiance Technologies, SAIC,

VideoNext, Army Research Laboratory

The NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Homeland Security

www.research.usf.edu/ssrrc

Safety Security Rescue?

• Coined by IEEE

• Safety: police, fire, etc.

• Security: anti-terrorism

• Rescue: subset of emergency preparedness

Preparedness RecoveryResponsePrevention

“Routine” plus Emergency Preparedness & Response

*Another clue!

SSR-RC Mission

The mission of the SSR-RC is to conduct integrative, multi-disciplinary research in information and intelligent systems to improve homeland security. In order to met this mission, the SSR-RC goes beyond the conventional NSF I/UCRC model and strives to create a partnership between academia, industry, and the public sector to

– Continuously evolve an understanding of the technology needs of the public sector through direct contact with homeland security professionals and use of field data

– Identify basic research themes that have a clear relationship to the needs of the public sector yet considers the de facto prioritization imposed by the constraints of the marketplace, and

– Educate public sector science and technology decision makers about autonomy systems for homeland security so that the US is able to leverage its intellectual capital in order to make our lives safer.

Research Excellence in…

•Unmanned systems– Land, sea, air, human-robot interaction

•Computer vision– Surveillance, detection, tracking, analysis of intent

•Intelligent networks– Bandwidth management, wireless modeling of extreme conditions

•Sensors and perception– Nano chem/bio devices, situation awareness

•Protocols and team processes– Training, distributed learning

Industry/University Cooperative Research Center

NSF subsidized industry-university consortium program, where industry members in I/UCRCs:

– Pool resources with reduced university overhead, sharing costs, with an

average 37:1 leveraging• NSF and university contribute money to cover most operating expenses

– Drive the research by co-proposing 1 year projects with university member• Pre-competitive– we create knowledge that members then use for their

own products• IP agreement is supplied by NSF and non-negotiable; same for all 48

I/UCRCs

– Interact and team with other industry and sponsors on systems with a tried-and-true IP agreement, and MIPRs• Any DoD or Federal agency can transfer money directly to the center

without a BAA

– Monitor the projects

Industry Drives the Research by Becoming the Program Manager

• Analogy: Members pool their money and become funding agents – Companies develop proposals for 1-year projects that they want

someone at a university to do– University professors in any discipline develop proposals as if an

open solicitation, anticipating topics of interest to companies– Members review and choose the final projects at the Fall meeting

• Proposals are 1 page

• Except not disconnected- members and professors meet twice a year and work together– Site directors help identify right member/professor matchings– SSR-RC has a Public Sector Advisory Committee that helps

review and suggest projects

Achievements & Benefits

• SSR-RC started in 2004, already– 1 patent pending on glove joystick controllers– 1 disclosure on dynamic bandwidth reduction filters,

triage sensor– Over 30 publications– Deployment of rescue UAVs and USVs to Hurricanes

(Charley, Katrina, Wilma) and disasters (La Conchita)– Faculty memberships on OUSD(S&T), DARPA, and

NAS boards and studies

• Upcoming benefits– Access to $2M National Testbed for Safety Security

Rescue Technologies being constructed at USF

Projects Funded ($1.6M)

• National Rescue Robotics Testbed (Edgewood Chemical Biological Center)– In development. Only testbed for man-packable robots operating in confined spaces in the world

• Workforce Enhancement for SSR Technologies (Florida High Tech Corridor)– Created an video and data server that allows companies to run robots over the internet and record all

data (robot state, operator actions, sensor data, external video) for playback

• Field studies with FEMA, DoD, and regional responders and agencies– SSR-RC technology at Hurricane Charley, La Conchita Mudslides, Hurricanes Katrina,

Wilma plus numerous exercises with agencies such as NJTF-1

• Man-packable UAVs thin obstacle avoidance– Using existing on-board camera, can find a power line in 15 frames of video (based on data from a

crash of a UAV at Hurricane Katrina)

• Outdoor video surveillance– Transfering technology under development with basic research funding from ARDA and

from DHS

Projects, continued

• Robot behaviors for underground exploration

• Glove joystick– Not a Nintendo type glove, but a new approach which simplifies the frame of reference

when directing a robot

• Video transmission reduction at the application layer– Using image context and human factors to reduce video transmissions between 20%

and 96.6%

• Formal analysis of camera placement on robots

• UWB exploration for robot communications

Other Proposals

• CRBNE sensor matching with robot deployment scenarios

• Energy profiles of robots and unattended sensors

• Laser detection and localization of “through the wall” vibrations

• Opportunistic maintenance policies

• Marsupial robotics

• No-light vision sensors for penetrating fog, dust, aerosols

• Man-portable unmanned surface vehicle for disaster inspection– Will be funded in part by ONR

A Year in the Life

Early Fall MeetingReports from prev. year

PSAC, IAB mtg.Resume book distributed

Ranking byPSAC, IAB Awards made

Resultsto market

New topics and opportunities,

Strategic alliances identified

Submitted to I/UCRC early Fall

Spring SymposiumPoster Session½ Day Tutorial

Field Demo & Trade FairStandards Committee Mtg

ProgressPosters

FundedProjectsFunded

ProjectsFundedProjects

Work begins immediately

Universities

Companies

PS Partners

ProposalsProposals

Proposals

Work together or in teams to refine topics

Summer Fall

Spring Winter

Spring Symposium

• 2.5 day event at Tampa Bay area beach

• 1.5 days of meetings– Sunday: members only meetings of PSAC, Standards Committee

– Monday: members plus invited guests who sign NDA (such as funding agencies, potential sponsors)

• Review of project progress• Consideration of new projects• Networking with PSAC, faculty to identify new areas of influence• Attract sponsorship through MIPRs and interagency agreements

– Tuesday: open to guests• Tutorial• Technology Preview and Field demonstrations of research projects and

member technology– Great way to show off center’s, plus individual members’ capabilities and

accomplishments

Unique Features

• Access to field exercises, deployments, and new $2M test facility at USF (with Edgewood Chemical Biological Center)

• Local, state, and federal involvement– Public Sector Advisory Board– MIPRs, Interagency Agreements– Standards support

• Requirements/Roadmap Project

Recent SSR-RC Outings

Hurricane Katrina

$2M Test Facility at USF(in cooperation with Edgewood Chemical Biological Center)

Unique Features

• Access to field exercises, deployments, and new $2M test facility at USF (with Edgewood Chemical Biological Center)

• Local, state, and federal involvement– Public Sector Advisory Board– MIPRs, Interagency Agreements– Standards support

• Requirements/Roadmap Project

Public Safety Advisory Committee

• Made of visionaries in public safety and response or representatives of the public sector market who can “bring the market” to the member

• PSAC members– Lew Robinson, Secret Service, Chair– Scott Graham, American Red Cross– Lois Clark McCoy, NIUSR– John Paczkowski, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey– Mark Rosenow, Minneapolis Airport Commission– Ellis Stanley, Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Dept. – NIST– Edgewood Chemical Biological Center

Standards Support Committee

• Inform members as to standards for robots, sensors, and related technologies being proposed by various agencies, numerous meetings, and influence the standards– JAUS (DoD)– NIST (Homeland Security)– IEEE– OMG for software

• SSR-RC pools resources to have influence and stay on top of all of these meetings – Had 40% of the companies at the last NIST meeting– Can share load of attending these

Unique Features

• Access to field exercises, deployments, and new $2M test facility at USF (with Edgewood Chemical Biological Center)

• Local, state, and federal involvement– Public Sector Advisory Board– MIPRs, Interagency Agreements– Standards support

• Requirements/Roadmap Project

Requirements/Roadmap Project

• Each year pick a topic/market– 2005: Airport security– 2006: Underground mine rescue and safety- $300K sponsored by

MSHA

• IAB votes, a portion of membership fees goes toward it

• Project: where are the opportunities– Identification of potential users– Development of requirements, use scenarios by interviewing,

working with PS experts– Trade study on state of practice– Review of literature on open research issues

Member

• Company joins as Member– Pays $35,000 /year

• Pool for funded projects• Shared analysis of a particular market• Shared cost of Public Sector Advisory Committee

– 1 member on Industrial Advisory Board• Vote and rank proposals for funding

– Receives annual resume book of SSR-RC students– Receives reports of all projects

• Identifies topics with USF/UMN, other members

Member, continued

• Ranking and Review of Proposals at Fall Meeting– Public Sector Advisory Committee makes recommendations based

on market– Industrial Advisory Board votes and makes awards

• Companies can provide additional funds to cover research

• Attends Spring Symposium at St. Pete– Poster session of progress– 2 free, unlimited discounted seats at yearly tutorial– Field Demonstration and Trade Fair from Affiliates

• Additional research can be funded and executed at any time

Affiliate Member

• Small business (federal definition) may join as Affiliate– Pays $10,000 /year

• Shared analysis of a particular market

• Shared cost of PSAC

– Receives only the market analysis research report– Proposals with teaming with affiliates are favored

• Attends Spring Symposium– 2 free, unlimited discounted seats at yearly tutorial– Field Demonstration and Trade Fair from Affiliates

• Networking with members, PSAC for projects, MIPRs, etc.

Top 10 Reasons for Industry

1. No overhead on membership fees; 100% of money goes to the center

2. Pooling money improves ROI3. Industry controls the generation and choice of projects4. Access to researchers at USF, Minnesota, and CMU with facilitation

by the site directors5. The Public Sector Advisory Committee help bring an understanding

of the market to the members6. Royalty-free licenses on technology generated by the center7. Resumes of graduates each year8. Networking with fellow companies9. Federal agencies can transfer money directly to the center, allowing

funding independently of BAAs10. Access to field exercises and disaster data

Summary

• I/UCRCs provide on the order of 37:1 leveraging of R&D $$

• SSR-RC provides a gateway to all faculty at USF, UMN

• SSR-RC provides even more benefits than “standard” I/UCRC– Public Sector Advisory Committee– Standards Support Committee– Market analysis project– Technology Preview & Field Demonstration at Spring Symposium

Save $$, Build Your Industry, Grow the Markethttp://www.research.usf.edu/ssrrc

Organization Chart

Industrial Advisory Board

(elect chair)

Public SectorAdvisory Board

ProjectMonitors

ResearchProgram Minn.

ResearchProgram USF

StandardsCommittee

NSF

V. ScarpelloEvaluator

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AcademicAdvisory Board

Sam Stover

R. MurphyDirector,

Site DirectorUSF

R. VoylesSite DirectorMinnesota