INMARA II = Intelligent Machine Reasoning and Action

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This Proof of Concept Application is a follow on from our successful INMARA FeasibilityStudy 130597. We are developing small unmanned aircraft for use throughout the world inscientific (ash cloud monitoring), commercial (oil and mineral exploration and production)and state (land and maritime border patrol) applications.Our aim is to provide each unmanned aircraft with some of the intelligence of a bird, so that itflies predictably and safely, avoiding other aircraft. It then either returns to base, or lands in asuitable location, if the early onset of system failure is detected, so avoiding a costly crash andits detrimental impact on the business case. In geophysical survey work, the cost of thesensors and the satellite communications unit on the aircraft can exceed $200,000.We propose to build and test prototype hardware and software that will perform IntelligentMachine Reasoning and Action and adaptive flight control, on our existing InView unmannedaircraft, in real time, to prove our concept. The system will continuously monitor the state ofthe aircraft and the external environment and detect and diagnose performance degradationand faults. It will decide on the action to take to ensure predictable behaviour and the bestexecution of the mission objectives, in the face of changing system status and a dynamicexternal environment.This Proof of Concept work will help us to build a world leading aerospace business in theU.K. based on the design, manufacture and export of unmanned aircraft systems and relatedservices to oil and mineral rich countries.The societal benefits of this work include the prospect of increased safety of small unmannedaircraft and the reduced environmental impact associated with their operation, since smallunmanned aircraft use less fuel per km flown than their manned counterparts.This demanding and dramatic Proof of Concept will be generally applicable to a wide varietyof ground, sea and air based robotic vehicles.