United States

Rapidly advancing fields of software technologies and the development of software autonomy frameworks present new opportunities and challenges for the DoD. While these technologies allow the DoD to rapidly augment capabilities, integration complexity increases, which oftentimes overwhelms Autonomy Practitioners, or the human end users of autonomy frameworks. This paper describes the utilization of Research and Autonomy Innovation Development Environment and Repository (RAIDER), a Navy maintained repository of autonomy frameworks, intended to leverage the promise of rapid integration while mitigating integration complexity. In particular, RAIDER encourages coordination of acquisition efforts through the reuse and repurposing of existing products, which ultimately improves system interoperability and frees up resources (e.g. staff, schedule). The acquisition strategy and tools laid out in this paper can be applied to implement new mission capabilities and integrate technologies such as machine learning on existing hardware platforms.

NAML 2022

Streamlining Software Acquisition Processes Through the Use of an Autonomy Framework Repository and Environment

acquisition

autonomy framework

systems engineering

software

AAMAS is the leading scientific conference for research in autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. The AAMAS conference series was initiated in 2002 as the merging of three respected scientific meetings: the International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (ICMAS), the International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages (ATAL), and the International Conference on Autonomous Agents (AA). The aim of the joint conference is to provide a single, high-profile, internationally-respected archival forum for scientific research in the theory and practice of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems.

Browse keynotes, discussions, panels and over 300 presentations.


AAMAS 2020

AAMAS is the leading scientific conference for research in autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. The AAMAS conference series was initiated in 2002 as the merging of three respected scientific meetings: the International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (ICMAS), the International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages (ATAL), and the International Conference on Autonomous Agents (AA). 

poster

Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific is partnering with AFCEA San Diego chapter to host the workshop.

The NAML workshop is an opportunity for researchers from Navy research and development centers and our partner organizations to exchange technical ideas and to come together as a team.

The goals of NAML are:

To spread awareness of current machine learning research relevant to Naval applications

To connect machine learning researchers with experts in military requirements

To build and strengthen collaborations within the defense research community


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Registration for this workshop has now closed.

Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific is partnering with AFCEA San Diego chapter to host the workshop. The NAML workshop is an opportunity for researchers from Navy research and development centers and our partner organizations to exchange technical ideas and to come together as a team.

The goals of NAML are:

To spread awareness of current machine learning research relevant to Naval applications

To connect machine learning researchers with experts in military requirements

To build and strengthen collaborations within the defense research community



Today, essentially all computing is done with Boolean logic and binary numbers, requiring all manner of error correction codes to keep the most significant bits straight. But in the realm of machine learning, what if instead every bit was equally (in)significant? Consider two randomly generated strings thousands of zeros and ones long, about 50/50 split. Normally, about half the bits will be different between the two strings. If the number of differences is less than half though, the strings as a whole must be related. Even a large number of errant bits will not change the strings’ similarity. This creation and measurement of similarity between very large strings of bits (or numbers) is called hyperdimensional computing (HDC). 

Though not quantum mechanical, a kind of superposition of information across each of the thousands of bits enables machine learning capabilities even Deep Neural Networks (DNN) struggle with, such as learning from a single example or combining the learning from several different sensor modalities. One can even dynamically reprogram swarms of robots in a contested environment – the new program intelligible from a single binary string even with 30-50% noise.

What if we started training artificial neural networks (ANN) to learn and recall these strings: not memorizating or autoencoding but rather “resonating” like a tuning fork? This “resonance” training paradigm suddenly enables even more capabilities not possible with traditional DNNs today such as learning new categories “on the fly” without retraining the whole network from scratch. Such attractor state networks (ASN) lend themselves to modular design, allowing new categories to be added or shared amongst other ASNs. This combining of HDC with “resonance” ANNs is a potential game changer for machine learning, establishing mathematically rigorous engineering design rules instead of the unintelligible black boxes of DNNs today.

Hyperdimensional computing can be implemented in traditional computing hardware, but large size, weight, and power savings are possible by including memristors crossbars into the ML ensemble. The Pipeline for Novel Neuromorphic Hardware (NeuroPipe) Applied Research for Advancement of Priorities (ARAP) is working to bring not only novel neuromorphic computing hardware like memristors to the field but also develop the next generation of machine learning algorithms such as these.


NeuroPipe ARAP Hardware & Algorithms


Robots are increasingly deployed to solve complex real-world tasks that require  continuous processing of their observations only to be constrained by their on-board resources.  Energy-efficient control of mobile robots is one of the limiting factor in having robots deployed  to perform in-space assembly of structures. Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) deployed on  neuromorphic processors provide an energy-efficient solution that could also facilitate building  intelligence similar to living creatures for robots. 
Neuromorphic architectures imitate the behavior and function of biological nervous  systems by implementing networks of artificial neurons and synapses that benefit from low  power consumption. These computing platforms emulate their biological counterparts by  distributing both computation and memory among a large number of computation units, each  passing information, via asynchronous spikes, to hundreds or thousands of other computational  units, like neurons would do through synapses. 
Over time, different digital neuromorphic architectures like Intel’s neuromorphic  technology, code named Loihi [1], have replicated many characteristics of SNNs in hardware.  Despite the advantages of neuromorphic hardware (e.g., high speed and energy efficiency)  there are few algorithms that utilize it for in situ robot control. Recent work by Michaelis et al. [2], proved the theoretical feasibility of using Intel’s neuromorphic technology for trajectory  generation on hardware, but fails to employ the strategy with robotic hardware (simulated or in  situ). Michaelis’ work presents a biologically plausible approach that also promised a control  relevant timescale.  
His work is based on Reservoir Computing, specifically, Liquid State Machines,  implemented as biologically plausible anisotropic networks. In Michaelis’ work for trajectory  generation, the liquid layer is implemented as an anisotropic network, based on a biologically  
inspired rule for forming spatially asymmetric non-plastic connections, similar to the ones that  have been observed to activate in human and mammal brains [3]. It is believed that correlated  spatial anisotropic connectivity is what makes learning faster and more efficient. Michaelis et 
Distribution A — Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited 
al. [2], make use of this anisotropic network idea from Spreizer et al. [3] and show the feasibility  of using an architecture that integrates it for trajectory generation.  
In this work we close the gap between theoretical formulation and practical applications  by implementing the missing components to enable Kinova Gen3, a 7 degree of freedom  robotic arm, to use this type of neural network on Intel Kapho Bay Loihi for trajectory  generation.  
Demonstrating neuromorphic capabilities for robotic control is of high interest at NRL  due to the appeal of high performance and energy efficiency that neuromorphic hardware  presents. The success of this strategy has a big impact on different projects at NRL that are investigating: neuromorphically controlled multi-limbed robotic systems for Naval ship  maintenance tasks, neuromorphically controlled multi-limbed space truss walking robot that  can autonomously assemble truss elements to construct large space structures in orbit, and the  capabilities of memristor-based neuromorphic processors. 

References: 

[1] Davies, M., Srinivasa, N., Lin, T.-H., Chinya, G., Cao, Y., Choday, S. H., et al. “Loihi: a  neuromorphic manycore processor with on-chip learning.” IEEE Micro (2018). 
[2] Michaelis, Carlo, Andrew B. Lehr, and Christian Tetzlaff. “Robust trajectory generation for  robotic control on the neuromorphic research chip Loihi.” Frontiers in neurorobotics 14 (2020). 
[3] Spreizer, Sebastian, Ad Aertsen, and Arvind Kumar. “From space to time: Spatial  inhomogeneities lead to the emergence of spatiotemporal sequences in spiking neuronal  networks.” PLoS computational biology 15.10 (2019).
Distribution A — Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited 
*

Neuromorphic Hardware Anisotropic Reservoir Trajectory Generation and execution with Robotic Arm

In this work we present a spiking neural network for the adaptive control of a simulated Kinova Gen3 7-DOF arm. This work extends the Recurrent Error-driven Adaptive Control Hierarchy (REACH), developed as a computational model of the primate motor control system, which had previously been implemented for the operational space control of a 3-DOF arm restricted to the horizontal plane. The REACH model is divided into kinematics control, responsible for transforming the control signal from end-effector (hand) space to joint-space, and dynamics control, responsible for accounting for the effects of gravity and inertia on the system. Additionally, a nonlinear adaptive control component learns online to correct for errors that arise during movement as a result of internal model inaccuracies or external perturbations. Due to the increased complexity of the 7-DOF system, the process for training the REACH model required a different approach than the 3-DOF implementation. Here, we utilize a hybrid approach to training that takes advantage of both deep learning and the circuit building methods from the Neural Engineering Framework (NEF). The NEF allows us to both quickly build highly optimized components performing computations on low-dimensional input, as well as integrate these networks directly with those trained using deep learning, which provides a more exhaustive sampling of high-dimensional state space. We analyze the performance of the spiking control network on a benchmark task compared to both an analytic controller and a rate-mode version of the control network. Lastly, we discuss the process of training the network to run on the highly-efficient neuromorphic chip from Intel, the Loihi, and provide initial results from simulation in a Loihi emulator.

Adaptive spiking control of a 7 DOF arm

Synaptic plasticity poses itself as a powerful method of self-regulated unsupervised learning in neural networks. A recent resurgence of interest has developed in utilizing Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) together with synaptic plasticity for intra-lifetime learning. Plasticity has been shown to improve the learning capabilities of these networks in generalizing to novel environmental circumstances. However, the long-term stability of these trained networks has yet to be examined. This work demonstrates that utilizing plasticity together with ANNs leads to instability beyond the pre-specified lifespan used during training. This instability can lead to the dramatic decline of reward seeking behavior, or quickly lead to reaching environment terminal states. This behavior is shown to hold consistent for several plasticity rules on two different environments across many training time-horizons: a cart-pole balancing problem and a quadrupedal locomotion problem. We present a solution to this instability through the use of spiking neurons.

Stable Lifelong Learning: Spiking neurons as a solution to instability in plastic neural networks

DARPA’s Real Time Machine Learning (RTML) program seeks to reduce the design costs associated with developing ASICs tailored for emerging ML applications by developing a means of automatically generating novel chip designs based on ML frameworks. The goal of the RTML program is to create a compiler – or software platform – that can ingest ML frameworks like TensorFlow and Pytorch and, based on the objectives of the specific ML algorithms or systems, generate hardware design configurations and standard Verilog code optimized for the specific need. Throughout the lifetime of the program, RTML will explore the compiler’s capabilities across two critical, high-bandwidth application areas: 5G networks and image processing.

Real Time Machine Learning: Automated Flows Enabling Concept to Chip

VeriGOOD-ML is an automated methodology for generating machine learning (ML) hardware for DNN and non-DNN ML algorithms. The VeriGOOD-ML generator takes as input a high-level description of an ML algorithm in a standard format such as ONNX, and outputs Verilog RTL code, with no human in the loop. The Verilog RTL is then translated through a back-end design flow to GDSII, driven by a design planning approach that is well tailored to the macro-intensive nature of ML platforms. VeriGOOD-ML uses three approaches to build ML hardware: (1) the TABLA platform uses a dataflow architecture that is well suited to non-DNN ML algorithms; (2) the GeneSys platform, with a systolic array and a SIMD array, is optimized for implementing DNNs; and (3) the Axiline approach synthesizes small ML algorithms by hardcoding the structure of the algorithm into hardware, thus trading off flexibility for performance and power.

The Verilog generator is complemented by an approach that performs design space exploration of the configurations of each hardware engine to determine the best implementation of the hardware. The performance metrics of the implemented hardware are significantly affected by the configuration of the hardware platform and the physical implementation from RTL to GDS. Key metrics include the power, performance, and area (PPA) of the hardware engine, and the power, execution time, and accuracy of the ML algorithm at the system level. The talk overviews the overall methodology, from architecture to back-end design to hardware implementation, and presents the results of VeriGOOD-ML on a set of ML benchmarks.

Physically-aware Automated ML Hardware Generation using VeriGOOD-ML

Systems performing scientific computing, data analysis, and machine learning tasks have a growing demand for application-specific accelerators that can provide high computational performance while meeting strict size and power requirements.
However, the algorithms and applications that need to be accelerated are evolving at a rate that is incompatible with manual design processes based on hardware description languages.
Agile hardware design tools based on compiler techniques, instead, can quickly produce an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) accelerator starting from a high-level algorithmic description.
We present the SODA Synthesizer, a modular and opensource hardware compiler that provides automated end-to-end synthesis from high-level software frameworks to ASIC implementation, relying on multi-level representations to progressively lower and optimize the input code.
Our approach does not require the application developer to write any register-transfer level code, and it is able to reach up to 364 GFLOPS/W (32-bit precision) efficiency on typical convolutional neural network operators.

Bridging Python to Silicon smartly: the SODA toolchain

Using Apache TVM for automated end-to-end HW/SW co-design for deep learning.

Using Apache TVM for End-to-end HW/SW Co-design

Ransomware is a rising threat that utilizes malicious software that prevents a user from accessing computer files, systems, or networks demanding a ransom for their return. This poster introduces a novel technique to measure the impact of a ransomware attack. Specifically, factors such as the ransom paid, recovery time or duration, and critical infrastructure targeted, are used to define the impact of an attack. To this end, a dataset of 980 ransomware attacks worldwide from October 2013 to June 2021 is analyzed and a general framework is established. The final results show that organizations in the five lifeline critical infrastructures (water, energy, transportation, communication, and information technology) have the largest impact scores. Moreover, this new metric aims at appraising the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures at a given organization.

Measuring the impact of a ransomware attack

Today’s investments in aircraft and Naval Aviation Support Equipment (SE) sustainment lack a coordinated response. Current metric sustainment reports address aircraft or SE top degrader equipment separately. To our knowledge there is no current association on the SE degrader investments that will have the greatest impact on aircraft readiness. This research will allow for the transition of these findings into an integrated metric data product report.

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