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OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET)Dr. Timothy H. Chung, Program Manager
Tactical Technology Office
Briefing Prepared for OFFSET Proposers Day
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Why are Swarms Hard: Complexity of Swarms
10
100
1000
Agent Complexity
Simple platform with one mission
system
Highly capable platform with multiple mission
systems, able to make complex decisions in
unstructured environments
Leader-follower formations
Fluid, distributed maneuvers
Static comms Dynamic, resilient networking
Scripted, rule-based behaviors
Adaptive collaboration, flexible coordination
Identical platforms and payloads in a
single domain
Heterogeneous platforms and payloads
in multiple domains
Simple, fixed functions or remotely operated
Freestyle intuitive human-swarm interactions
Collective Complexity
Number
Human-Swarm InteractionHeterogeneity
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OFFSET Program Vision, Goal, and Objective
OFFSET seeks to inspire the generation of innovative swarm tactics that disruptively create new opportunities for future swarm system capabilities to assert and maintain superiority of the urban operating environment.
OFFSET aims to design, develop, and demonstrate a swarm system architecture – encoded in a realistic game-based environment and
embodied in physical swarm autonomous platforms – to advance the innovation, interaction, and integration of novel swarm tactics.
OFFSET seeks to create highly capable, heterogeneous swarm systems with upwards of 250 collaborating autonomous swarm elements, across
multiple spatial and temporal scales of tactical interest, e.g., conducting urban operations in built-up areas up to eight city blocks in size over mission
durations of up to six hours.
Vision
Goal
Objective
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• Embrace Complexity of Swarms
• Discover Disruptive Swarm Capabilities
• Overcome Challenges of Urban Operations
OFFSET Motivations
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• Urban environments are complex, dynamic, and unpredictable
• Channelized• Vertical• Occluded
• Urban operations doctrine dictates:
Challenges of Urban Combat Operations
Source: U.S. Army RDECOM-TARDEC
Small Unit Needs Potential Swarm ImpactsImproved force protection Expanded standoff distance
More fire power More assets and weaponsImproved precision effects Multi-resolution sensing/targeting, BDA
Expanded ISR Distributed, dispersed sensors
UAS – unmanned aerial systemISR – intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance BDA – battle damage assessment
Centralized planning Decentralized execution Artist’s Concept
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Tactics provide an ideal level of abstraction for capturing commander’s intent
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Swarm Tactics Informing Swarm Technologies
SwarmMission
“Game”
SwarmTactics
“Plays”
SwarmPrimitives
“Behaviors”
SwarmAlgorithms
“Skills”Technology Push
gap
Current Approach
Warfighting Needs
Bottom-up technology development leads to gap between technologies and warfighting needs
SwarmMission
“Game”
SwarmTactics
“Plays”
SwarmPrimitives
“Behaviors”
SwarmAlgorithms
“Skills”
Technology Push
OFFSET Focus
Warfighting Needs
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Representative OFFSET Swarm Operational Thread
Mission: Seize a block or group of buildings
SLAM – simultaneous localization and mappingRF – radio frequency
Tactics:Maneuver down
streets
Assault and clear building
Maintain flank security
Suppress enemy fires
Misdirect enemy with decoys
Algorithms:
Indoor SLAM
Map merging Coverage RF source
localizationChemical detection
Primitives:
Build map of building
Find ingress points
Maintain comms
Defend perimeter
Locate occupants
Build map of building
Assault and clear building
Artist’s Concept
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Towards Autonomous Swarm Capabilities
OFFSETAbility to interact with, influence, and infer swarm system behaviors
Large-scale distributed and dispersed sensing, fusion, and distillation of information
Adaptive, resilient, fragmented sharing and
storage of distributed information
Deployment, support, and maintenance of
large-scale hardware and software systems
Adaptive, complex, collective behaviors for intelligent
movement, decisions, and interactions with the
environment
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Core Elements of the OFFSET Swarm System
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Discover and Develop Novel Swarm Tactics
Goal: Design a tactics-focused game to rapidly explore, evolve, and evaluate swarm tactics
• Extensible architecture for end user-generated swarm tactics• Community cultivation and harvesting of most successful swarm tactics• Rapid integration into physical swarm systems for field test and validation
Swarm Tactics Exchange
Artist’s Concept
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Design Advanced Human-Swarm Interfaces
Goal: Create a novel swarm tactics-focused command interface
• Leverage rapidly emerging technologies in immersive technologies • Enable real-time tactics updates with automated deployment technologies• Design a swarm interaction grammar for intuitive swarm operations
Artist’s Concept
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Demonstrate Advanced Swarm System Capabilities
Goal: Accelerate realization of new swarm tactics and technologiesevery six months via agile swarm experimentation
• Imagine novel operating concepts for swarm system employment• Integrate baseline and modular swarm technologies for field tests• Address real-world challenges and considerations impacting swarms
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OperationalContext Vignette 1 Vignette 2 Vignette 3
Representative Mission
Isolate an urban objective
Conduct an urban raid
Seize key urban terrain
Mission Duration 15-30 minutes 1-2 hours 4-6 hours
Area of Operations Approx. two square city blocks
Approx. four square city blocks
Approx. eight square city blocks
Swarm Size 50 100 250
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OFFSET Ecosystem
Swarm System Integrators Swarm Sprinters
OFFSET Government Team
OFFSET User Community
Focus of this BAA
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• Conduct capability-based experiments every six months• Red team (warfighter) injects and assessments
• Integrate quarterly prototype deliveries • Minimum Viable Products: OFFSET demonstration swarm tactics and technologies
• Focus on offensive tactical missions at company level and below
OFFSET Capability-Based Experimentation
MOUT – military operations in urban terrainROS – robot operating system
Notional range: USMC Twenty-Nine Palms Combined Arms MOUT
Notional OFFSET robotic platforms, approximately to scale
Notional surrogate platform characteristics:• Expendable• Affordable• Robot Operating System-compatible
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OFFSET Swarm System Architecture
OFFSET = VirtualWorld
PhysicalTestbed Community++
Agent Architecture• Open middleware (e.g.,
Robot Operating System)• Offer modular autonomy• Streamline hardware,
software deployment
Swarm Architecture• Open messaging definitions• Use realistic/demonstrated
networking solutions• Support flexible operating
concepts
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Desired OFFSET Goals and Metrics
Design operationally relevant swarm tactics in game-based environment Number created per calendar quarter > 10 tactics
Perform swarm tactics assessment in game-based swarm mission Time to assess new tactic < 15 minutes
Integrate swarm tactics architecture on physical swarm platforms Integration time per 100 platforms < 24 hours
Perform secure, over-the-air tactics updates to deployed swarms Time to deploy new tactic < 1 minute
Construct viable swarm tactics-based courses-of-action (COAs) in 1 minute Number of alternate COAs > 3 COAs
Enable scalable swarm operations that adapt with addition or attrition Percentage deviation in swarm size +/- 50%
Human-Swarm Teaming: Demonstrate dynamic, real-time interactions with swarm sizes >100
Swarm Autonomy: Generate and assess 100+ swarm tactics
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OFFSET Notional Program Structure
Program structured for agile development cycles enabling rapid integration and tech off-ramps for transition
Sprinters perform focused tasks for 6-9 months and deliver products to integrate with systems integrators
Potential subsequent solicitations in specific tactics
areas
BAA released and remains open throughout
lifetime of OFFSET
System integrators create OFFSET architecture, interfaces, and the Swarm Tactics Exchange
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DARPA OFFSET is interested in:
• Strong, multi-faceted teams across all OFFSET functional areas
• “Test early, test often” philosophy, especially for field experiments
• Open technology development* best practices
Additional OFFSET Things-to-Consider
*Ref: DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO), “Open Technology Development (OTD): Lessons Learned and Best Practices for Military Software”, Washington, D.C., 2011
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www.darpa.mil
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