Radar the next generation - sensors as robots

One can easily envisage future military operations and emerging civilian requirements (e.g. intelligent unmanned vehicles for urban warfare, intelligent manufacturing plants) that will be both complex and stressing and will demand innovative sensors and sensor configurations. The goal of our research into sensors as robots is to develop a cost effective and extendable approach for providing surveillance for a variety of applications in dynamically changing military and civilian environments. We discuss the development of a futuristic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance concept utilizing the innovative integration of cutting edge technologies such as: knowledge-based signal processing; robotics; wireless networking; waveform diversity; the semantic Web; advanced computer architectures and supporting software languages. This concept is projected as an autonomous constellation of air, space, and ground vehicles that would offer a robust paradigm to build toward future deployments.