Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise
Last Update
17 Jul 2008
Enterprise Structure
Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems
The Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) is a consensus based standards development initiative. It is a standard software architecture to ensure unmanned systems interoperability and evolution with resultant cost savings. JAUS is an authoritative description of the jurisdiction and application of the standard. It provides the following attributes:
- A common language - or set of messages - to facilitate the communication of information pertinent to the operation of unmanned systems.
- The rules and constructs associated with the use of the language.
- The recommended practices for integration of the language for transmission through electrical and radio frequency media.
It promotes the stability of domain specific capabilities by projecting anticipated requirements as well as those currently needed. Furthermore, JAUS is open, scalable, and responsive to the unmanned systems community's needs.
JAUS was created to resolve problems related to the following issues:
- Subsystems common to all Unmanned Systems are built from scratch for each unique system.
- Performance gains made by one system cannot be leveraged by a different system with a similar requirement.
- New technologies cannot be rapidly incorporated into existing systems.
- Systems become "locked into" one vendor's solution.
- Systems become "locked out" of technology advancements.
JAUS has five objectives:
- Support all classes of unmanned systems
- Rapid technology insertion
- Interoperable control units
- Interchangeable/interoperable payloads
- Interoperable unmanned systems
The net effect is more efficient development, reduced ownership cost, and an expanded range of vendors. JAUS also supports evolutionary or spiral development strategies by suggesting a certain degree of modularity in system design. However, associated messages and components are not put into the architecture until they are mature and proven.
JAUS is comprised of several documents. They are as follows:
- Domain Model - defines Unmanned Systems capabilities as requirements for the set of messages.
- Reference Architecture - specifies the messages, formats, and data structures.
- Standard Operating Procedures - sets the procedures for the way the JAUS Working Group (WG) conducts its business.
- Compliance Specification - establishes the policies, procedures, tests, and reports for determining compliance to the JAUS standard.
The primary agent for the development of JAUS is the JAUS WG. The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics initially chartered the JAUS WG in 1998. Since then, it has made significant progress in developing the architecture. The WG consists of members from the Government, industry, and academia.
JAUS is in the process of fully transitioning to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). SAE has formed a Technical Standards Committee for Unmanned Systems, AS-4. JAUS will be maintained in parallel with the pending SAE aerospace standards until such time that it is no longer necessary to maintain two versions of the standard. During this transition, continued demonstration and validation of the architecture and the unmanned systems employing it will take place.
The initial documents planned for JAUS to be defined in SAE are as follows:
- AIR 5664 JAUS History and Domain Model
- AIR 5665 Architecture Framework for Unmanned Systems
- AIR 5645 JAUS Transport Considerations
- AS 5669 JAUS Transport Specification
- AS 5684 JAUS Service Interface Definition Language
- AS 5710 JAUS Service Set
In summary, the JAUS standard addresses interoperability with an emphasis on logical communications between heterogeneous computing systems used for unmanned systems command & control. It consists of open systems specifications using message sets defining component interfaces. And it is transitioning from the JAUS Working Group set of documents to SAE Aerospace Standards.