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Project Lead: Mr. John-Francis Mergen
Sponsoring Organization: DARPA
Website: https://www.darpa.mil/program/learning-introspective-control
Project Synopsis: LINC aims to develop machine learning-based introspection technologies that enable physical systems – with specific interest in ground vehicles, ships, drone swarms and robotic systems – to respond to events not predicted at design time. The current approach to handling platform damage or modification places the burden of recovery and control on the operator. LINC seeks to develop machine introspection and learning technologies that: continually compare the real-time behavior of a military platform – as measured by on-board sensors – with a learned model of the platform; determine whether the observed behavior differs from that model in ways that might compromise stability and control; implement an updated control law, when required; and effectively communicate those updates to the operator. This will allow the operator, whether human or an autonomous system, to maintain effective control and trust in the platform.