AI and Autonomy for Multi-Agent Systems (ArtIAMAS)
Executive Summary
Advancing AI-based autonomous systems for military use will be the goal for a team of UMBC researchers that has recently been awarded a $20-million subcontract. UMBC will partner with the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), and the DEVCOM Army Research Lab (ARL) on the $68-million, five-year endeavor, which ARL is funding. The goal is to strengthen Army AI technology so it is able to meet the demands of today’s national defense. The ArtIAMAS cooperative agreement is led by PI Derek Paley, director of UMD’s Maryland Robotics Center.
Technical Challenge/Activitites
The project, AI and Autonomy for Multi-Agent Systems (ArtIAMAS), aims to advance science and technology around three core research areas: collaborative autonomy; harnessing the data revolution; and human-machine teaming. UMBC’s role in the project will center on the second and third research thrusts.
More specifically, the UMBC team will develop solutions for AI-based networking, sensing, and edge computing — which brings data storage and computation closer to a location — for battlefield Internet of Things (IoT). This will allow them to deliver secure, effective, and resilient U.S. Army assets including AI systems related to search-and-rescue, surveillance, robots and machinery, and augmenting humans in performing decision-making tasks.
With the work set to begin in mid-May 2021, the UMBC team will initially include more than eight researchers from the departments of information systems and computer science and electrical engineering, as well as scientists and engineers from the ARL. The Center for Real-time Distributed Sensing and Autonomy (CARDS) will lead the research being conducted by UMBC faculty.
Eventually, the team will grow to nearly 50 researchers, and future projects will include other University System of Maryland institutions. Together, the group will publish fundamental research and identify similar and cross-cutting research endeavors, improving collective information-sharing.
Potential Impact
While the work will undoubtedly improve military AI, it will also enhance AI research in other domains. A goal of the project is to establish a long-term center with a vision of advancing AI-based autonomy. Together, this cross-institutional research group will publish fundamental research and identify similar and cross-cutting research endeavors, improving collective information-sharing.