SRI International Develops Software for Real-Time Coordination of Military Operations; Intelligent Distributed Systems Adapt Mission Plans to Changes on the Battlefield.MENLO PARK Menlo Park. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 28,040), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. Electronic equipment and aerospace products are manufactured in the city. Menlo College and a Stanford Univ. research institute are there. 2 Uninc. , Calif. -- SRI International (company) SRI International - One of the world's largest contract research firms. Founded in 1946 in conjuction with Stanford University as the Stanford Research Institute, they later became fully independent and were incorporated as a non-profit organisation under U.S. , an independent nonprofit research and development organization, today announced that the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. government agency administered by the Department of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). (DARPA DARPA: see Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) The name given to the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency during the 1980s. It was later renamed back to ARPA. ) awarded it a contract for the development of a software system called COORDINATORs (Coordination Decision Support Assistants) to support mission planning for fielded military units. "The COORDINATORs program is creating distributed intelligent software systems that will help fielded units adapt their mission plans as the situation around them changes and affects their plans," said Tom Wagner, Ph.D., DARPA program manager. "Intelligent software COORDINATORs do this by reasoning about the tasks assigned to a given unit, the task timings, how the tasks interact with those of other units, and by evaluating possible changes such as changing task timings, task assignments, or selecting from pre-planned contingencies." Automated Decision Support for Military Field Units SRI and its team will focus on developing software for sequential event processing and peer-to-peer coordination for a mission already underway. Widely distributed Adj. 1. widely distributed - growing or occurring in many parts of the world; "a cosmopolitan herb"; "cosmopolitan in distribution" cosmopolitan bionomics, environmental science, ecology - the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms units will use COORDINATORs to exchange and analyze information, evaluate response options, and coordinate activities. A scheduling capability will enable all mission elements to operate from a common understanding when adjusting assignments in response to unexpected events. "Assessing the value and relevance of new information through COORDINATORs and various interacting systems will let tactical military teams take advantage of developing opportunities," said SRI's co-principal investigator Charles Ortiz, Ph.D. "Continuous negotiation through distributed scheduling technology will allow human decision-makers to concentrate on the big picture in the battlefield." Soldiers at all hierarchical levels in a tactical scenario will benefit from the parallel and interdependent task analysis capabilities of this technology. "The result will be an increased chance of success," said SRI co-principal investigator Regis Vincent, Ph.D. "Since plans can be changed and adapted, the mission can proceed with minimal chance of injury or loss of life." The SRI COORDINATORs Team SRI's renowned Artificial Intelligence Center is leading one of three DARPA-sponsored COORDINATORs teams. Participants in the SRI-led team include Carnegie-Mellon University, Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. , University of Maryland University of Maryland can refer to:
About SRI's Artificial Intelligence Center SRI International's Artificial Intelligence Center (AIC AIC Association des Infermières Canadiennes. ) (www.ai.sri.com) is one of the world's major centers of research in artificial intelligence. Founded in 1966, the AIC has been a pioneer and a major contributor to the development of computer capabilities for intelligent behavior in complex situations. Its objectives are to understand the computational principles underlying intelligence in man and machines and to develop methods for building computer-based systems to solve problems, to communicate with people, and to perceive and interact with the physical world. About SRI International Silicon Valley-based SRI International (www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute Stanford Research Institute - Former name of SRI International. in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for almost 60 years. The nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and nonprofit foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies. |
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