Army advances learning capabilities of drone swarms

Army researchers developed a reinforcement learning approach that will allow swarms of unmanned aerial and ground vehicles to optimally accomplish various missions while minimizing performance uncertainty.Swarming is a method of operations where multiple autonomous systems act as a cohesive unit by actively coordinating their actions.Army researchers said future multi-domain battles will require swarms of dynamically coupled, coordinated heterogeneous mobile platforms to overmatch enemy capabilities and threats targeting U.S. forces.The Army is looking to swarming technology to be able to execute time-consuming or dangerous tasks, said Dr. Jemin George of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory."Finding optimal guidance policies for these swarming vehicles in real-time is a key requirement for enhancing warfighters' tactical situational awareness, allowing the U.S. Army to dominate in a contested environment," George said.Reinforcement learning ...