agile, bmnt, business model, corporate innovation, customer development, diux, h4d, hacking for defense, lean, lean launchpad, lean startup, stanford, steve blank

1. Skynet
Sam Gussman (creative generalist), Alvin Goh (hacker), Olga Musayev (project development),
Kevin Mott (project manager)
Mentors/Liaisons: Steve Behmer, Ryan Blake, Mike Hard, Jooyong Lee, Wayne Chen, Brian CS
# Interviewed this week: 10
8 Users, 1 Buyers, 1 Experts
# interviewed total: 33
Developing autonomous drones for situational
awareness. Helping prevent battlefield fatalities by
pinpointing friendly and enemy positions.

2. Combat Simulation Get out
of the Building

3. Customer Discovery
Hypotheses 1) There are military/commercial systems out there that can solve the problem already
2) Cognitive strain impacts the ability of soldiers to process information with different
senses differently
3) Drone system is deployable with groups on foot
Experiments Further delve into military tech in use now
An-hour-in-the-life (of a pararescueman)
Interviews
Results 1) Invalidated - systems are not integrated well or implemented well (weight, bulk,
reliability etc.)
2) Validated - from interviews and an-hour-in-the-life at Moffett field
3) Modification to hypothesis: drone system best used with teams with vehicles or for
short ranged dismounted operations.
Actions Development of mockups of integrated platform
Work with Team Sparrow to understand how we can help each other
Continue to explore other use cases - swarm capability
Continue to refine desired capabilities

4. Value Proposition Brief
Problem Existing solutions Our solution
Identify and locate hostile
and neutral actors
Plot on a map
Drop enemy icons on JCR/BFT
Soldier awareness
Real-time updates/tracking of persons of interests
through computer vision
Special Forces
monitoring of allied force
High level drone feed fed to SF, but limited 2-way
communication.
ATAK may show locations of allied force
Drone extends communication networks and allow
audio and video communication
Monitors locations of allied force to prevent airstrike
casualties
Collateral Damage Soldiers mark out potential CD on maps
Ground force commander's’ judgement
Drone operator in the US runs algorithm to determine
CD from potential airstrike
Drone uses existing database to mark civilian
buildings on ATAK map;
Drone identifies potential civilians and marks
location in ATAK using Computer Vision
Fratricide, especially
when calling in airstrikes
and artillery
ATAK, GPS in radios, 9-line call format, strobe lights
on uniforms: all identify friendly locations
Low-flying drone detects friendly locations and
conveys to JTAC and pilot.
Could also run algorithms determining risk of
fratricide; AR shows soldiers locations of friendlies
Force protection duties
(guard) are manpower
intensive
Patrols and Soldiers at static positions are a staple in
force protection duties
Autonomous drone would circle compound and
recognize dangers. Can form fleet of autonomous
drones to complement patrol duties

5. Minimal Viable Product
Purpose: understand systems that (fail to) solve the problem
Hypothesis: We thought that soldiers have the equipment to achieve good
situational awareness now, even if it comprises multiple separate pieces
What features solve the problem?
- Friendly/enemy location tracking
- Automation of location tracking
- Ability to view ISR feeds that increases SA
- Intuitive UI/UX
- Limited load (cognitive & physical)
Existing solutions:
- ATAK on the arm/chest
- Nett/Land warrior - helmet with
OLED display
- Radio
- GPS
- Modular Tactical System (MTS)

6. What we found
*Without the cables
Lesson:
ounces = pounds

7. Customer archetype
Special Forces - they enter an area for few months and live with locals for a
while, train them, advise them on combat.
Rangers - they enter a specific area, conduct a raid, and exit.
JTAC - responsible for calling and targeting air support.
Sergeant of the Guard (SOG) - they are responsible for force protection.

8. Mission Model Canvas
- Combatant classification
and threat detection
- Integration with ATAK &
other military systems
- Operable without GPS
- SOF, Rangers, AWG
- Law Enforcement Agencies
- Autonomous Drone
manufacturer (eg: Kespry)
- ATAK Design group
- Sparrow (Stanford CS210
Autonomous Drone project)
- Augmented Reality
Visualization Companies (ex:
Osterhout Design Group)
-DARPA
COMBAT: SOF and Rangers
in a combat environment
(TIC)
--JTACs
--Team leader
NON-COMBAT: SOF in a
non-combat environment,
interacting and training with
allied troops
DUAL USE: Search and
Rescue teams
- Identify and locate hostile
and neutral actors
- Enhanced ability to conduct
real time recon (esp at night).
- Enable extra soldier in fight
- Autonomously fly routes
and identify potential trouble.
- Extending communications
(e.g. inter-unit, with allied
troops)
- Conduct perimeter
surveillance
- Gather intelligence on
nearby residents and
distinguish between regular
and irregular behavior of
civilians in close proximity to
military installations
-Improved situational awareness for small units in combat
-perform manpower intensive tasks in non-combat roles
-Reduce fratricide and collateral damage
- Secure funding + contract
- Small-scale testing
- Contract a manufacturer for
large scale production
- Deploy iteratively, integrate
with a new systems and
provide lessons on use
- Continue relationship via
maintenance, integration
service, and training
Fixed:
- Equipment - drones, development toolkits,
- Software design & engineering
- Augmented reality hardware & software (equivalent of Google Glasses and
relevant developer toolkits)
Variable:
- Costs of maintenance, updates, and training
25k - relatively quick to
acquire
-for entirely new technology,
writeup to SOCOM
Saboteur - competition with
other groups
Beneficiaries
Mission AchievementMission Budget/Costs
Buy-In/Support
Deployment
Value PropositionKey Activities
Key Resources
Key Partners
- DJI Drones w/ Dev. tools
- AR Device w/ Dev. tools
- ATAK API
- Access to existing gear and
standard equipment

9. SkyNet: Value Proposition Canvas
- Knowing the locations of
friends/enemies/civilians
- Reduced ambiguity
- autonomous assessment of
aerial perspectives and video
feed Customer
Jobs
Shoot bad
guys without
getting shot
- Cognitive overload from
existing tools
-Manpower losses
- Hassle of systems not
communicating
SOF Elements (combat)
Gains
Pains
Gain
Creators
Pain
Relievers
-Increased situational awareness on
the battlefield
- Reconnaissance of
inaccessible places
- Integrate with current
systems that soldiers are
familiar with
- Frees up another soldier
Products
& Services
Situationally aware
drone with visual
interface

10. SkyNet: Value Proposition Canvas
- Automatic patrol
- Facial Recognition of people
identified in vicinity
- Automatic threat detection
to flag security threats
Customer
Jobs
Force protection
Day-to-day security patrols
are manpower intensive
Difficult to be always aware of
surroundings
SOF Elements (non-combat)
Gains
Pains
Gain
Creators
Pain
Relievers
- Reliable 24/7 Security Awareness
- Knowing who lives around you, and
who doesn’t
- Ability to respond quickly
to threats
- Swarms of drones can
replace patrol units
-24/7 situation awareness of
surroundings
Products
& Services
Situationally aware
autonomous
drones

11. SkyNet: Value Proposition Canvas
Products
& Services
-Drones deploy immediately,
reducing strain on limited
emergency resources (like
helicopters)
-Drones provides immediate aid
(food/water) to trapped
individuals
Customer
Jobs
Search and rescue
operations- Not able to access areas
after disasters
- Difficulty operating in tight spaces
- Hazard to human rescuers
Disaster SAR
Gains
Pains
Gain
Creators
Pain
Relievers
-Fast response to disasters
- Fast identification of trapped
and at-risk persons
-Efficient delivery of aid
- Increased agility
- Drones fly quickly through
zones humans can’t go
- using drones in unsafe zones
prevents risking lives of
rescuers
Economical, low-cost
search drone fleet