UxS Command and Control IE
For more information please contact innovation@ogc.org
Whether earthquake, flood or forest fire – all disasters have one thing in common: the entire infrastructure in the affected region no longer functions. In order to still get an overview and be able to help, unmanned vehicles or aircraft are used such as drones. They provide important images and data to launch rescue operations.
So far, however, these devices cannot be controlled and evaluated centrally. This is because each provider operates its own device with its own reference system, which can only be controlled by it. Each system speaks its own language – but not with each other. That is about to change!
The goal is to control unmanned vehicles centrally and across providers and to create common standards for a command & control protocol. This will enable devices from different suppliers to be controlled centrally via a common control protocol. A standardized control protocol should enable them to communicate with each other in the future.
Participate in the initiative
The Open Geospatial Consortium OGC is conducting an Interoperability Experiment (IE) that will test the suitability of a Communication and Coordination Data Model for UxS in a real-world environment. The data model will be used in the multi-domain, multi-heterogeneity vehicle and will demonstrate and evaluate the exchange of command & control information.
The IE is based on the call for participation (HTML version, pdf version).
This IE is based on a data model developed by Kongsberg Geospatial and partners as part of the standards-based UxS Interoperability Testbed (SUIT). The IE will consider standards and specifications used in the SUIT work, as well as other command and control practices from the aviation community.
Objectives
- Evaluate the submitted C&C data model for its suitability for information exchange between planning and operational systems.
- Test two or more independent implementations of all or part of the data model using DDS and one or more other protocols (e.g., MQTT, AMQP, IWG1).
- If the MQTT or AMQP protocol is used, it is suggested that the data encoding be JSON and conform to the DDS Consolidated JSON Syntax Version 1.0 https://www.omg.org/spec/DDS-JSON
- XML encoding may be considered.
- Evaluate the process for data creation, validation, transfer, and use in the command and control process chain; and
- Produce an OGC engineering report presenting the results of the IE and determining whether a new standardization process should be initiated or whether further investigation is needed.
Participation
This IE is open to the public. Participants (OGC members) actively participate in the experiments according to the resource commitment. All OGC members can also register as observers. Individuals from non-OGC organizations can only participate in the IE as observers.
Participants and observers join participants in the IE:
- Kongsberg Geospatial
- NASA
- Botts Innovative Research/GeoRobotix
- SensorUp
- THALES S.A.
- University of Calgary
Fill the Observer Agreement for members or non-members to become an Observer.
Scope
This IE will be built on a data model developed by Kongsberg Geospatial and partners as part of the standards-based UxS Interoperability Testbed (SUIT). SUIT is a command and control application that is independent of the autopilot system and communication protocols. The typical commercial UxS have software interfaces that are proprietary, so a license must be purchased. The goal of SUIT is to provide a standardized model for command and control data (telemetry, mission data, other data proposed by participants) and interfaces that allow data to be exchanged with UxS.
Each experiment will be conducted considering multiple vehicles operating in the same area and in different domains.
IE plans to conduct experiments on the following topics, among others:
- Decoding and translating recorded telemetry data from the real or simulated vehicle.
- Providing command and control data for one or more real or simulated vehicles.
- Provide command and control data for one or more real or simulated payload(s).
