Applications of speech technology to unmanned vehicles

This paper describes the application of speech technology to the functions of mission planning, command, and control of a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU). The VCU is capable of controlling either an unmanned aerial vehicle or unmanned ground vehicle. Configured as a COTS laptop with a display screen, track ball, keyboard, and joystick, the VCU must be transported in a suitcase and requires 'hands-on' operation at all times. For many mission scenarios in which manual manipulation of data and visual display is impractical, speech may provide the only way to interact with the computer. This paper describes the technical approach taken to configure the VCU with speech technology enabling the human operator to vocally, dynamically plan a mission.