Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA)

Added: Dec 24, 2014 2:40 pm The purpose of this Modification 1 to DARPA-BAA-15-16, Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA), is to correct the Proposers' Day webcast date in Part II, Section VIII.C from Friday, January 6, 2015 to Tuesday, January 6, 2015.

Added: Dec 22, 2014 4:14 pm The Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program will explore non-traditional perception and autonomy methods that enable new classes of minimalistic algorithms for high-speed navigation in cluttered environments. Through this exploration, the program will develop and demonstrate the capability for small and fast unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) to fly autonomously through complex, cluttered environments. The FLA program focuses on autonomy algorithms and software– specifically on sensing, perception, planning, and control – rather than on the flight hardware platform.



If successful, the algorithms developed under this program could impact a wide range of unmanned systems by reducing the amount of processing power, communications, and human intervention needed for low-level tasks such as navigation through a cluttered environment. Furthermore, small, fast, autonomous UAVs could enable missions that are not otherwise possible, such as reconnaissance in denied areas (for example, in a protected or structurally damaged building).