Romsey-based Roke Manor Research (Roke) is set to demonstrate its cutting edge artificial intelligence software in a maritime combat-system demonstrator sponsored by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), as part of a third phase of work awarded by Dstl. The new bio-inspired software is designed to help the Royal Navy quickly monitor and prioritise potential threats while at sea.
Aptly named STARTLE, the software uses sophisticated machine situational-awareness algorithms which emulate the human fear-response mechanism, helping operators understand the complex situations increasingly typical of modern warfare.
Mike Hook, lead software architect on STARTLE at Roke, said: “This is an exciting project for us. Traditional methods of processing data can be inefficient so we have looked at the human brain’s tried and tested means of detecting and assessing threats to help us design a better way to do it. The techniques have the potential to benefit the Royal Navy.
“The first two phases of the project have proved that we’ve been able to successfully apply these techniques to real data from complex scenarios. The clever part comes in the way these potential threats are detected and the way our software redistributes resources to decide if they are real – all in the blink of an eye.”
David Cole, managing director of Roke, said: “The project draws upon every element of Roke’s 60 years of experience in sensors, data science, communications and cyber security. Innovations such as these build real momentum for our clients, enabling the pull through of research into operational capability. In this phase, Roke will demonstrate the STARTLE techniques by integrating them into the Open Architecture Combat System – OACS, a demonstrator designed to show the utility of research ideas in a representative combat system.
In addition to maritime defence systems, STARTLE can also be adapted for autonomous vehicles, health and usage-monitoring applications.
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