We address spatial ontologies for the areas of operations of tactical behaviors carried out by unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). An ontology is a conceptualization of a domain and provides a common vocabulary for automated applications in the domain of interest. Ontological concepts are typically qualitative yet are rigorously defined. An ontology should provide abstract concepts that allow meaningful generalizations. The work reported here is the first known attempt to apply spatial ontologies to tactical behaviors. Some research on spatial ontologies is based on point set topology, although many find points to be unnatural primitives. Alternatives include relations defined in terms of the primitive binary relation "connected_to" on regions; the "part_of" relation is also important. This paper includes a focused survey driven by examples in which we evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches for the domain in question. We also develop new concepts and techniques especially applicable to representing and reasoning about areas of operation in which UGVs perform missions.

Date Published: 16 April 2008
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 6962, Unmanned Systems Technology X, 69621R (16 April 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.782161

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6962:
Unmanned Systems Technology X
Grant R. Gerhart; Douglas W. Gage; Charles M. Shoemaker, Editor(s)