<title>Bounding overwatch operations for robotic and semi-robotic ground vehicles</title>

Abstract

The coordination of teams of ground vehicles is a critical problem for many military operations. When moving in teams through enemy territory, one of the more important operations is that of the bounding overwatch maneuver. This is when a team of vehicles moves one at a time, with the lead vehicle(s) moving forward under the protection of the trailing vehicle(s). The idea is that the trailing (stationary) vehicle(s) is in a better position to watch for danger and to engage the enemy than the moving vehicle(s). Currently, the computation of routes for such maneuvers was performed manually, in the field. In this paper we present a novel approach for coordinating multi-vehicle teams of robotic or semi-robotic ground vehicles performing bounding overwatch operations. Our approach generates accurate and efficient routes and takes into account such factors as terrain features, threat exposure, as well as vehicle and mission parameters. Furthermore, routes generated by our approach can be replanned "on the fly" as new environmental or threat information becomes available. Keywords: Autonomous Vehicles, Bounding Overwatch, Ground Vehicle Coordination, Path Planning, Robotics, Route Planning, Team Planning Operations