DARPA'S autonomous minehunting and mapping technologies (AMMT) program an overview

The C.S. Draper Laboratory, Inc. (Draper) recently completed the at-sea test phase of the Autonomous Minehunting and Mapping Technologies (BMMT) Program for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The primary objective of this program is to develop and demonstrate advanced minehunting technologies that will enable Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs) to clandestinely survey an undersea area for mines and collect data for post mission mapping of the surveyed area. The survey data must be of sufficient quality to support selection of an amphibious operating area and subsequent neutralization of mine or obstacle threats. As integration contractor for the AMMT Program, Draper modified one of DARPA's existing UUVs; which was previously designed and built by Draper, and used for DARPA's Mine Search System Program. State-of-the-art technologies in the areas of sonar mapping, navigation, acoustic communications, imaging, and mission planning were incorporated into the AMMT vehicle, resulting in a system having the capability to perform an autonomous survey and meet program objectives, the vehicle was subsequently tested at-sea to demonstrate the advanced minehunting technologies and concepts. This paper provides an overview of the AMMT Program and describes the development and integration of the technologies required to perform the clandestine AMMT mission.