ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú professor working on artificial intelligence research project to help Navy enhance mine detection
John Femiani and two graduate students collaborate on project funded through Small Business Innovation Research program
ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú professor working on artificial intelligence research project to help Navy enhance mine detection
A ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University researcher is working with two graduate students on a project that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the detection of underwater explosive mines.
John Femiani, professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering, has been collaborating with In-Depth Engineering Corporation, a small business provider of combat systems solutions, waterfront support, and other services to the Navy.
They received a $140,000 grant for AI automatic mine detection through the Small Business Innovation Research program. The U.S. government initiative provides funding for research and development with commercialization potential.
Femiani and In-Depth Engineering Corporation recently submitted phase 1 of the project along with a proposal for phase 2. They expect the Navy will decide on the proposal in the coming months.
Having an accurate, less expensive way for the Navy to detect underwater mines is why this research is important.
“The Navy is interested in always having the latest, greatest, highest resolution, fastest sonar data that they can get,” Femiani said.
But that often comes with a challenge for the Navy, he said, because they have to go out and collect new data every time there is a new sonar system or a new type of target.
“It’s not practical,” said Femiani, who noted the idea behind this research is to get decent target recognition systems at a fraction of the cost. “That’s sort of the goal, to be able to not have to go out and do this expensive data collection.”
Replicating sonar imagery
The College of Engineering and Computing researcher is assisted on the project by two graduate students, Ian Russell ’24 and Ethan Han. Both research assistants are from Cincinnati.
Han, a fourth-year student, is pursuing a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree program in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics.
Russell is pursuing a Master of Science in Computer Science after earning a bachelor’s in Emerging Technology and Business Design with a minor in Computer Science.
Russell said it has been “really interesting to see how Dr. Femiani was able to create a simulation of sonar and see how close we were able to get to replicating real sonar imagery that the Navy provided us.”
When the project started last fall, Russell said he was involved in creating the synthetic seafloors that could be used as training data.
“As we moved forward through the project, I then switched toward training various AI models to detect where the mines are in the sonar images,” he said.
Getting to work on research like this at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú has been an amazing and challenging opportunity, he said. “The satisfaction of finally figuring something out and watching it work as expected can't be matched.”
Established in 1809, ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg. Interested in learning more about the College of Engineering and Computing? Visit the website for more information.