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A team of researchers led by Dr. Rajesh Rao, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, recently published a paper showing how robots can learn much like children—amassing data by watching adults do something, determining the goal of the action and then deciding how to perform it on their own. Rao’s work is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

Autonomy and the future force were in the spotlight, as nine student-led teams tested their maritime engineering skills during the 10th annual International RoboBoat Competition in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Solicitations with the Office of Naval Research allow for the mutual investment in innovative scientific and technological solutions that can address current and future military requirements as well as public sector needs.

The Association for Computing Machinery named ONR-sponsored scientist Dr. Judea Pearl as its 2011 A.M. Turing Award winner -- the highest award in the field.

Gathered in a temporary maritime operations center in Arlington, Virginia, military, industry and political leaders watched multiple satellite images flash onto large monitor screens. These images showed three types of drug-running vessels hundreds of miles away in the Atlantic Ocean — a small, fast, highly maneuverable boat capable of transferring illicit cargo between ships on the high seas; a support ship with a crane for loading and unloading contraband; and a tugboat serving as the recipient ship for smuggling cargo into the U.S. The scenario was part of a larger July 2023 experimentation event designed to emulate drug-smuggling activities in the maritime domain as well as efforts to deter the flow of such contraband. Called the SCOUT Main Experimentation Event, the two-week exercise involved partners such as the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South (JIATF-S), U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), and numerous naval warfare centers and industry and academic partners. Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus, who was one of several ONR leaders at the maritime operations center, said, “I’m truly impressed by the innovation, teaming and analytic rigor you’ve all brought to this exercise. Your pioneering approach is leading the way for us to learn faster with new partners to tackle the hardest operational challenges.”

Stovepipes—old "legacy" software you've bought and can't easily replace—that can't work together are one of the biggest obstacles to getting the most out of information technology. This is especially true in Naval operations. Sailors and Marines use many systems that have been acquired over the...

Researchers at Georgia Tech have created an artificial intelligence software program to teach robots to read stories, learn acceptable behavior and understand successful ways to conduct themselves in diverse social situations.

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College students from around the world will have a hand in shaping the future of ocean robotics as they compete in the first Maritime RobotX Challenge, which kicks off this week in Singapore.

The Navy’s chief of naval research, Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, met this week with leaders from U.S. and Canadian government agencies to address research efforts in the Arctic, in response to dramatic and accelerating changes in summer sea ice coverage.