This thesis focuses on evaluating the measurement errors in the gimbal system of the SUAV autonomous aircraft developed at NPS. These measurements are used by the vision based target position estimation system developed at NPS. Analysis of the errors inherent in these measurements will help direct future investment in better sensors to improve the estimation system's performance.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Systems and Operations)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Gallup, Shelley. "March 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on May 16, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Systems and Operations)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Gallup, Shelley. "March 2008." Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Jul 3, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60).

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Paulo, Eugene. "June 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 14, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: improvised explosive device, counter-IED, ,situational awareness, unmanned sensor systems. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-97). Also available in print.

In today’s industry, many occupations require manpower resources to include both labor and cognitive resources. As the technology is rapidly changing and businesses are becoming more dependent on cognitive performance, it is essential to find any effect physical stress might have on task performance. Situational awareness is also becoming an integral part of human task performance. It is critical for many operations to design systems such that the effects of physical stress, however minute, on task performance and situational awareness are considered. The test methodology developed here measures the effect of stress on cognitive task performance as a result of situational awareness related to the task. The test measured and compared task capacity among different age groups and different working groups. A comparison was made on task performance based on the effects of low level physical stress and lack of it. Response time and accuracy were measured for statistical analysis. The subject’s stress levels were measured before starting the test to create a baseline for the candidates stress level. The developed tool was able to detect the effect of stress on task performance successfully and efficiently. Subjects with previous work experience performed better both in Phase I and Phase II of the experiment as compared to subjects with no previous work experience. The analysis indicates low level stress does have significant effects on task performance. In reality, stress is an unavoidable factor in daily activities. When designing any system that requires cognitive tasks, stress needs to be considered as a contributing factor to the variability of operation.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Current military doctrine is primarily hierarchical in nature with respect to power and authority. The "Functional Concept of Battlespace Awareness" (FCBA) is a military sensor methodology that employs a hierarchical command structure to test emerging technologies. Asymmetric warfare, however, demands a faster and more adaptive warfighting mentality that distributes power and responsibility across more of our forces; particularly those that are at the frontlines of the battlefield. "Power to the Edge" is a warfighting methodology that emphasizes a departure from traditional military hierarchies and a transition into a configuration that empowers "Edge" actors with information and authority. This thesis will prove that "Power to the Edge" doctrine is a more effective way to fight the enemies we will likely face in the Information Age. By analyzing and interpreting data collected at the Extended Awareness II and Extended Awareness IIB experiments, this thesis will show that transition in our current command and control methodology will be necessary to keep up with a changing enemy.

In this thesis, we propose a high level design for connectivity visualization of OLSRbased MANET topology based on local topology databases available in an OLSR node. Two different scenarios are considered: a central (full view) topology from a command and control location, or a nodal (partial) view from an ad-hoc node. A simulation-based analysis is conducted to calculate total number of active links at a particular time in full and nodal topology views. Also the error rate of network topology discovery based on total undiscovered link both mobile and static scenario is considered and reported. We also come up with an analytical model to analyse the network bandwidth and overhead of using TC, HELLO and custom NIM message to evaluate the performance of centralized visualization to build full map of the network with respect to situational awareness system. This thesis also presents a multi-node, 2-dimensional, distributed technique for coarse (approximate) localization of the nodes in a tactical mobile ad hoc network. The objective of this work is to provide coarse localization information based on layer-3 connectivity information and a few anchor nodes or landmarks, and without using traditional methods such as signal strength, Time of Arrival (ToA) or distance information. We propose a localization algorithm based on a Force-directed method that will allow us to estimate the approximate location of each node based on network topology information from a local OLSR database. We assume the majority of nodes are not equipped with GPS and thus do not have their exact location information. In our proposed approach we make use of the possible existence of known landmarks as reference points to enhance the accuracy of localization. / UOIT

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze a non-intrusive connectivity visualization method for OLSR-based MANET topology in different mobility models. The visualization relies on the local topology databases (neighborhood database and topology database) available in OLSR nodes in the network. Two different views are considered in this method: central view and nodal view. In the central view, the network topology is viewed from a control center which has access to the databases of all nodes, while on the other hand, the nodal visualization provides a picture of the network topology from individual nodes point of view. In this thesis, the full view of the network has been compared to the nodal view to calculate the error rate for topology discovery, based on the total numbers of active and undiscovered links. The main contribution of this thesis is to analyze and improve the accuracy of coarse localization techniques under different mobility models, using the Force-directed algorithm to calculate the approximate location of the nodes. The localization information was gathered from layer-3 connectivity, utilizing anchor nodes that are equipped with GPS and other non-GPS nodes instead of using traditional methods that include received signal strength, time of arrival and angle of arrival. The approximate location information of the nodes derived from this technique has been compared with original node location in order to determine the accuracy of this technique. To improve the accuracy, several mobility prediction filters such as moving average filter, Kalman filter and low pass filter have been applied to the approximate location data. The simulation is done to calculate the error between the original location data and the coarse approximations, and the results shows that Moving Average provides the best results. / UOIT

Thesis (M.S. in Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation (MOVES))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Becker, William. "June 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 10, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: Aviation, Haptics, Human Factors, Modeling and Simulation, Situational Awareness, Telepresence, Virtual Environments, Human Computer Interface. Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-57). Also available in print.