HANDS-FREE, HEADS-UP CONTROL SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLES

This paper describes work to develop a hands-free, heads-up control system for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) under an SBIR Phase I contract. Industry is building upon pioneering work that it has done in creating a speech recognition system that works well in noisy environments, by developing a robust key word spotting algorithm enabling UGV Operators to give speech commands to the UGV completely hands-free. Industry will also research and develop two sub-vocal control modes: whisper speech and teeth clicks. Industry is also developing a system that will enable the Operator to drive a UGV, with a high level of fidelity, to a location selected by the Operator using hands-free commands in conjunction with image segmentation and video overlays. This Phase I effort will culminate in a proof-of-concept demonstration of a hands-free, heads-up system, implemented on a small UGV, that will enable the Operator have a high level of fidelity for control of the system.