Human processes, especially those that have been historically viewed as both art and science, such as sonar operations, are notoriously difficult to automate. However, passive sonar operators do employ evaluation processes that lend themselves to an automation approach that blends both the mechanics of acoustic processing with the judgment of human operators and emulates the massive parallel processing accomplished by the human brain.
For this Navy/ NSWC Dahlgren Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, Sonalysts developed a rule-based approach to acoustic data fusion based on human operator processes. In addition to passive sonar sources, this process is applicable to all acoustic data addressed by the DDG 1000 similar source fusion (SSF) process, to include hull-mounted sonar, sonobuoy, active sonar and multi-function, towed array active acoustic data. Sonalysts has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of this approach by demonstrating the functionality of a subset of these rules. These rules and this overall process readily lend themselves to automation in support of the DD 1000 SSF process. Prototype automated passive target signature fusion software will be developed in Sonalysts' Phase II SBIR efforts.
