TUTORIALS

Modeling and Simulation 101

INTRODUCTION TO MODELING AND SIMULATION:  A MANAGER’S GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE

An Introduction to the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs): Advanced Learning Technology for Enhancing Warfighter Performance

Human Computer Interaction for Modeling and  Simulation

BUILDING LOW-COST ENVIRONMENTS TO STUDY HUMAN-AGENT INTERACTION

Ethics in Modeling and Simulation (SimEthics)

Toward the Body of Knowledge of Modeling and Simulation

Joint National training Capability (JNTC) Accreditation and Certification Programs

IEEE 1516: The Future of HLA

M&S and the Global Information Grid (GIG)

Parallel and Distributed Simulation Systems and the High Level Architecture

One Team, One Fight, One Synthetic Environment

Delta3D:  Open Source Game Engines for Programmers

An Introduction to Cognitive Architectures for Modeling and Simulation

Building Low-Cost Online Equipment Sims with High-Impact Results

Multimodal Interaction Design

Economics of M&S: Change-Agents or Martyrs for Innovation

Intelligent Behaviors for Simulated Entities

On Building Laboratories for Emergent Behavior

Implementing the Common Image Generator Interface

Visualization Cluster Technology

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

Modeling and Simulation 101

 

Larry Harris

Instructor of the MS 101

Alexandria, VA

 

MS 101 presents basic Department of Defense (DoD) Modeling and Simulation (M&S) information. Targeting newcomers to M&S, MS 101 helps the newcomer get started and provides a broad familiarization of M&S as it is being used in DoD.  MS 101 presents basic M&S terminology and describes the DoD M&S organization, vision, and strategy and how these have evolved.  The DoD Modeling and Simulation Master Plan is described in detail, to include a layman’s description of the Common Technical Framework, consisting of the High Level Architecture (HLA), Data Standards, and the Functional Description of the Mission Space (FDMS).  The presentation addresses representation of the natural environment, systems, and humans and organizations; Verification, Validation, and Accreditation (VV&A); and provides up to date information on current M&S programs and information sources. 

2005 Paper No. 2039

This paper is available on the 2005 I/ITSEC CD ROM.

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INTRODUCTION TO MODELING AND SIMULATION:  A MANAGER’S GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE

 

Jeffrey W. Wallace and Barbara J. Hannibal

EnvoyTek, Inc.

San Diego, CA

 

The tutorial’s main objective is to help managers make more informed decisions on the modeling and simulation (M&S) programs they manage.  The tutorial provides an overview of a body of knowledge required for such decision-making, and is divided into four parts: (1) definitions and history; (2) taxonomies; (3) architecture lessons learned; and (4) development issues.

 

The tutorial begins with a set of basic definitions employed in the rest of the class, and a brief history of M&S. The terms “model” and “simulation” are defined, as well as a host of other useful terms.  The history section begins with the early cave paintings circa 13,500 – 11,000 B.C., through the time of Leonardo Da Vinci, and progresses to modern times.

 

The second part of the tutorial provides a basis for understanding models and simulations from the perspective of different taxonomic structures.  Models and simulations have been built in a variety of ways over time – the underlying reasons are explained.  Historically, one way of understanding the M&S universe has been through the purpose, or intended use, of the system (e.g., training, operations, analysis, or engineering and design).  In many cases, the purpose of a model or simulation dictated how it was built, which often constrained how the systems could be used, as well as the range of validity.  The fundamental construction technique and timing mechanisms provide other ways to understand and classify models and simulations.  Additionally, a brief overview of the subject of simulation interoperability is given.

 

The third part of the tutorial provides an overview of M&S architectures – a difficult subject.  The presentation addresses questions such as: “What is an architecture in M&S?”; “What are the cost and schedule drivers?”; “What is the High Level Architecture?”; and “How do I create an architecture for M&S?”  Understanding the cost and schedule drivers related to the architecture is significant, due to the impact of architecture on all phases of program execution. The section includes a discussion of DoD Architecture Framework and how it relates to M&S.

 

The final part of the tutorial provides an overview of M&S development issues.  Development techniques vary widely, and the choice of development approach has a major impact on M&S project execution.  Like the previous section, understanding the cost and schedule drivers is a key element of the discussion.  The presentation covers the basic elements of M&S development process: analysis, design, implementation, testing, and verification, validation, and accreditation (VV&A).  The availability of technology with abilities to lower cost and reduce schedule risk is also discussed.

2005 Paper No. 2113

This paper is available on the 2005 I/ITSEC CD ROM.

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An Introduction to the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative

 

Susan Marshall, Steve Slosser, Jean Burmester

Joint ADL Co-Lab

Orlando, FL

 

This tutorial gives an introduction to the ADL Initiative. We describe the origins of the ADL Initiative, and their strategy for hastening the development of e-learning standards.  We also describe the basics of SCORM, which will become increasingly important to the military services because of emerging DOD policy. We discuss the definition of SCORM Conformance and Certification, the future of ADL, and additional resources for the readers to gain further guidance.

2005 Paper No. 2057

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Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs): Advanced Learning Technology for Enhancing Warfighter Performance

 

Dick Stottler and Eric Domeshek, Ph.D.

Stottler Henke Associates, Inc.

San Mateo, CA and Boston, MA

 

The tutorial will provide the foundation to help simulation users, developers, and acquisition specialists determine how best to exploit the benefits of intelligent tutoring systems. Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) technology provides the means to expand the educational capabilities of simulation to include individualized teaching without the man-power required of individual human tutors or observer/controllers.  Specifically, an ITS can provide, to a student performing in a simulated scenario, an automatic debriefing, tailored remediation to address deficiencies observed in his performance in the simulation, and automatic selection of the best scenarios for that student to allow him to practice his weakest areas.  

 

This tutorial provides an introduction to ITSs and their benefits when combined with simulation.  The major components that constitute an ITS will be described. The tutorial will also offer information on how to implement intelligent tutoring system technology.  Issues dealing with integration with simulation will be addressed by explanation and example, including a discussion of the SISO draft ITS/Simulation Interoperability Standard (I/SIS).   

 

The tutorial will utilize actual ITS examples to illustrate important concepts.  These examples include systems where the ITS has been integrated with a simulator, demonstrating the synergies afforded by this union, videos will help to convey these benefits in action.   

 

Finally a live demonstration will be conducted where a simple ITS will be constructed and interfaced to a simulation, thus showing the major development steps for an ITS.

2005 Paper No. 2112

This paper is available on the 2005 I/ITSEC CD ROM.

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Human Computer Interaction for Modeling and
Simulation


Jack Zaientz, Keith Knudson
Soar Technology, Inc.


Increasing demands have been placed on M&S products to be usable by a wide range of user types. This tutorial will provide an introduction to Human- Computer Interaction analysis and design principles, concentrating on the specific issues of modeling and simulation including model configuration, simulation analysis, real-time interaction, model explainability and inspectability. Examples will be drawn from a range of M&S domains including training, military wargaming, cognitive modeling, computer games, logistics, and financial analysis. Concrete interaction design strategies will be presented as well as user-centered strategies for approaching model semantics and level of-detail decisions.

2005 Paper No. 2453

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BUILDING LOW-COST ENVIRONMENTS TO STUDY HUMAN-AGENT INTERACTION

 

Florian G, Jentsch,  A. William Evans, III, Michael Curtis,  Steve Fiore

University of Central Florida

Orlando, Florida

 

Research regarding the interaction among teams of humans and teams of intelligent agents (from decision-support systems to avatars to unmanned vehicles) is becoming increasingly important as the Army increases the use of unmanned military vehicles (UMVs).  One particularly critical question for all researchers is the identification and adaptation of suitable test-beds to address their research question(s). Unfortunately, field experimentation is especially difficult with respect to human-agent teamwork as the respective agents and their functionality may not yet exist, or, may not exist in more than unique, single prototypes.  Also, the differences among agents, both physically and functionally, make it difficult to find and describe one, consistently appropriate research environment. 

 

In this tutorial, we propose to address a number of questions that must be answered before an effective test-bed for human-agent teamwork can be selected, built, and/or adapted.  Specifically, we will focus on five key questions: 

1. What is needed to correctly identify the research question?

2. How do you select the correct performance measures for human-agent teamwork?

3. What should guide the selection of the most suitable study environment?

4. What adaptations will you need to identify and create the appropriate stimuli?

5. What technical and organizational steps are needed to collect the right data at the right time?

 

In answering these questions, we will pay particular attention to the use of low-cost alternatives to high-level computer simulations.  First, we will describe the effective selection and adaptation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) gaming and simulation software packages. Second, we will discuss the alternative of building and using scale models.  With respect to the latter, we will describe one such environment, the CARAT-TPL scale MOUT facility, discuss results from studies conducted in it, and compare them to those obtained with computer simulations. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with various simulation environments and to explore their advantages and disadvantages.

2005 Paper No. 2336

This paper is available on the 2005 I/ITSEC CD ROM.

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Ethics in Modeling and Simulation (SimEthics)

 

Tuncer Ören

University of Ottawa

Ottawa, Ontario,

 

The events leading to the development and acceptance of the code of professional ethics for simulationists are outlined. Basic concepts of ethics as well as the origins of ethical behavior are reviewed. The need for ethical behavior in general and need for ethical behavior in M&S are elaborated on. Codes of professional ethics in areas other than M&S are reviewed and those relevant to M&S are pointed out. Code of professional ethics for simulationists is given in the appendix. The code consists of five sections which are: (1) Personal development and the profession, (2) Professional competence, (3) Trustworthiness, (4) Property rights and due credit, and (5) Compliance with the code.

2005 Paper No. 2026

This paper is available on the 2005 I/ITSEC CD ROM.

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Toward the Body of Knowledge of Modeling and Simulation

 

Tuncer I. Ören

University of Ottawa

Ottawa, Ontario

 

A Body of Knowledge (BOK) for modeling and simulation (M&S) can be very useful to provide a comprehensive and integrative view of  the discipline, for assessment of professionals and organizations, for self-assessment as well as for curriculum development for academic or professional development courses and degree programs. Body of Knowledge of some related disciplines as well as early studies on the M&SBOK are pointed out. To properly establish the scope of M&SBOK, some definitions of simulation are revised and a paradigm shift is pointed out to conceive simulation studies as “Simulation Systems Engineering” especially for the simulation of large and com-plex systems. Possible uses of M&SBOK are listed. A systematic top-down decomposition of M&SBOK is presen-ted by a series of tables. The outline consists of the three aspects of relevant knowledge which are: M&S know-ledge from application and engineering perspectives and core elements of supporting domains. For some omitted details references are given. The details will be added in the future versions of the M&SBOK.

2005 Paper No. 2025

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Joint National training Capability (JNTC) Accreditation and Certification Programs

 

CAPT David Frost Mr. Gregory Knapp, Mr. Warren Bizub

JNTC Joint Management Office

Suffolk, VA

 

As the terms accreditation and certification are currently being used, distinction can be made between them in that accreditation is essentially supported by certification. Accreditation is driven by operational requirements, while certification assures that specific sites and systems are capable of creating a realistic joint environment.  Part of the accreditation process will involve analysis of the joint tasks (or portions thereof) that must be trained, followed by a determination of what training program or organization will conduct the required training.  It must then be determined what elements of joint context should be included in this training in order to provide a realistic training environment that, as closely as possible, resembles what would expected to be encountered during real-world operations.  Once these processes have been completed, accreditation of specific training programs or organizations can be granted – which is in essence an agreement between the accreditation review team and the training organization that future training conducted by that training organization or program will include the elements of joint context and supporting criteria, agreed to during the accreditation process.

 

Certification supports this process by ensuring that the architecture, systems, equipment, software, support infrastructure, etc., that are required to complete training of joint tasks (or portions of joint tasks) and provide the inherent joint context, are available at a site or facility.  This provides distinction as well, in that training programs or organizations will be accredited, while physical sites, nodes, or facilities will be certified.  Certification will include sites and systems capable of performing in live, virtual, and constructive environments.

2005 Paper No. 2266

This paper is available on the 2005 I/ITSEC CD ROM.

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IEEE 1516: The Future of HLA

 

Robert Lutz

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab

Laurel, MD

 

Reed Little

Software Engineering Institute/CMU

Pittsburgh, PA

 

Katherine L. Morse, Ph.D.

SAIC

San Diego, CA

 

This tutorial provides insights into the IEEE 1516 version of the HLA and makes the case as to why organizations need to move to this version versus HLA V1.3. The tutorial starts with an overview of HLA background and definition and then provides a summary of the HLA IEEE 1516 development process and highlights the improvements provided by the 1516 version. Next, a business case is presented as to why a program should use IEEE 1516 instead of HLA V1.3. The tutorial then ends with a discussion of what needs to be done to transition to IEEE 1516. This tutorial is aimed at people who need to make an informed decision with respect to which version of the HLA they should use. Some prior familiarity with HLA V1.3 is assumed.

2005 Paper No. 2309

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M&S and the Global Information Grid (GIG)

 

Erik Chaum

DMSO

Alexandria, VA

 

Dr. Michael Hieb

Alion S&T

Alexandria, VA

 

Dr. Andreas Tolk

VMASC/ODU

Norfolk, VA

 

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is currently launching itself into the Global Information Grid (GIG) environment.  As DoD defines and starts to develop the GIG there are some significant aspects of the GIG upon which we can build to become capable participants in this new world, as well as implication for Modeling and Simulation (M&S). The Defense Modeling & Simulation Office (DMSO), which is the focal point for M&S in DoD, is developing an M&S Community of Interest (COI), within the GIG, to provide critical technical and operational concepts that have the potential to change dramatically the way we look at distributed simulation.  As the GIG is being developed, we know that it will be based on a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). The GIG comprises four domains that are used to group and categorize the services.  DISA is working on standards, service stacks, and service definitions.  These standards and definitions will provide the core upon which we build M&S services in the future.  We will describe how using these services will change the way we look at M&S standards; how existing and emerging data models provide a critical part of the solution; and where we are going with the HLA.  In particular M&S will need to exploit web services, as they are currently the choice for implementing SOA.  Topics included are the web service stack; standards being adopted by the GIG and their implication for service providers; how ontologies, taxonomies and data models play in web services; what standard data models are being used; how M&S needs to look at standards in the light of GIG services; and how COIs play a critical role in the GIG. 

2005 Paper No. 2450

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Parallel and Distributed Simulation Systems and the High Level Architecture

 

Kalyan S. Perumalla, Ph.D.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

 

This tutorial introduces the fundamental principles and algorithms underlying parallel/distributed simulation, along with an overview of synchronization methods and their implementation.  The manifestation of these principles and methods in the Time Management services of the High Level Architecture (HLA) are described.  Important systems issues such as computation and communication overheads are highlighted. This tutorial is designed to help the audience gain a detailed understanding of the concepts, terminology and application of parallel/distributed simulation methods, especially in the context of the HLA. 

2005 Paper No. 2196

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One Team, One Fight, One Synthetic Environment

 

Clark D. Stevens  Robert M. Cox

PEO STRI  SAIC (FCS LSI)

Orlando FL

 

Ronald G. Moore

SAIC (FCS LSI)

Orlando FL

 

The Environmental representation comprises a fundamental and very visible component of most military systems. Disparate environmental representations with duplicative functionality impede interoperability and escalate DOD operating costs. This tutorial will provide an overview of some issues that have lead to these disparate representations and the enablers to incrementally migrate toward more interoperable solutions. The tutorial is comprised of three major subsections: Modeling  and  Simulation  (M&S)  Environmental  Representations describes the terrain and environmental representations of major legacy/current M&S systems including ModSAF/JointSAF Compact Terrain Database (ctdb) format, Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT) Model Reference Terrain Database (MrTDB) format, Janus and JCATS terrain formats and OneSAF Objective System (OOS) Objective Terrain Format (otf). The tutorial will explore the relationships of these systems’ underlying terrain representations and the impediments to interoperability. An overview of the environmental subsystems will be provided. Environmental Data Interchange will present issues associated with coordinate transforms, data dictionaries, data representation models and data formats. The sub-topic will explore opportunities to begin alignment of environmental representations at the component level within the context of product line architectures with an emphasis on the environmental data model that binds them all together in a well designed software sub-system. The Path to a Common Operational Picture (COP) for FCS will describe the Tactical Decisions Aids (TDA) currently produced by topographic engineers as a basis for comparing and contrasting the environmental representations of Battle Command, Mission Planning, Mission Rehearsal and M&S systems. The functionality of the Commercial Joint Mapping Tool-Kit (C/JMTK) will be explored as a potential vehicle for addressing the interoperability challenges Future Combat Systems (FCS) must resolve to implement common environmental domain services within the System of Systems Common Operating Environment (SOSCOE).

2005 Paper No. 2434

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Delta3D:  Open Source Game Engines for Programmers

 

Erik Johnson and Perry McDowell

MOVES Institute -Naval Postgraduate School

Monterey, California

 

Game engines and simulation tools have traditionally been very expensive, with licensing fees generally running into at least six figures for each project.  This has resulted in any simulation and training tool for the U.S. military being very large in order to justify the return on investment of the licensing outlay.  Because large systems are more likely to fail and less likely to ideally meet the needs of any one user, many training systems failed to meet expectations.  Additionally, because most of these tools relied upon proprietary technology, once an application was built using one, it was very difficult for any other company to perform work upon that product. 

 

Recently, a new form of simulation tools has reached the market: open source tools.  These tools are licensed freely, so the high licensing costs are not an issue.  Additionally, anyone can get access to their source code, allowing the government the option of letting any contractor modify or extend an application built by another.  This eliminates the stovepipes which so often block modification and extension of good products. 

 

Because of this change, it is now possible to look at simulations differently.  Because there is not the huge outlay for licensing fees, simulations and games no longer need to be huge – they can be relatively small, designed to train a relatively small group in simple tasks. Additionally, the military is not required to return to the initial vendor, allowing greater freedom in extending these simulations.

2005 Paper No. 2397

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An Introduction to Cognitive Architectures for Modeling and Simulation

 

Randolph M. Jones

Soar Technology, Inc. and Colby College

 

We are seeing increasing requirements for autonomous reasoning abilities across the broad spectrum of modeling and simulation, as well as in battlefield information and control systems.  Additionally, the knowledge-based capabilities that have been developed and tested in simulation are migrating to real-world entities.  Cognitive and agent architectures represent maturing computational approaches to intelligence that can provide robust, scalable, and realistic intelligence.  This tutorial will provide an introduction to this approach, concentrating on production system computation and high-level design of human-like reasoning systems.  We will draw examples and comparisons from a variety of existing cognitive architectures, focusing on the tradeoffs inherent in each approach (including non-cognitive approaches).  Attendees will learn to recognize problems that suggest the cognitively based solutions, and will be better able to assess risks, costs, and benefits of different approaches.

2005 Paper No. 2449

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Building Low-Cost Online Equipment Sims with High-Impact Results

 

Jonathan Kaye, PhD

Equipment Simulations LLC

Philadelphia, PA

 

Software-based equipment simulators are valuable tools that can enable workers to learn and practice operational skills in a safe way.  Once a device has more than a few buttons, though, the complexity of programming it in a maintainable way becomes challenging.  One does not produce a robust, scaleable, and maintainable design by hiding behind buzzwords such as OOP, or by requiring expensive design tools.  Rather, it is through the application of deliberate planning about performance needs and sound process-flow methodologies.

 

Through illustrated examples in product training and simulation games, the presenter introduces best practice design methodologies, focusing on the value of describing and coding process behavior using UML (Unified Modeling Language) Statecharts [OMG, 2001] (also known as “hierarchical state machines” [Harel, 1987]).  Dr. Kaye also exposes what is wrong with "traditional" approaches for building complex device simulators, and how the design methodologies solve those problems.  Furthermore, the methodologies do not require expensive design tools to produce, and can be built using common platforms such as C/C++/C# [Samek, 2002] and Macromedia Flash [Kaye and Castillo, 2003].

 

The tutorial is divided into three parts.  Part 1 discusses how to approach analyzing performance needs and objectives, and how this directly relates to building the right level of detail into the simulator. Part 2 focuses on teaching the concepts of UML statecharts, using an analog/digital watch example to ground the discussion.  Part 3 demonstrates the application of statecharts through mini-case study examples. 

 

The tutorial title’s promise of “high-impact results” are achieved by showing how one can build simulators efficiently and robustly, targeted to performance needs, in dramatically less time without sacrificing interactivity or realism.

2005 Paper No. 2051

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Multimodal Interaction Design

 

Kelly S. Hale, Leah M. Reeves & Kay Stanney

 Design Interactive, Inc.

Oviedo, FL

 

This interactive tutorial will introduce innovative ways of utilizing existing cognitive engineering/design approaches to establish new principle-driven user-centered multimodal design guidelines.  The tutorial will focus on a sub-set of C4ISR-related tasks, which can be generalized to other task domains.  The tutorial will summarize existing technologies and unimodal guidelines and identify multimodal design guidelines that have been determined to date.  In addition, implications of multimodal design on operator workload and situation awareness will be discussed. The efficacy of the related guidelines will be demonstrated using interactive decision support system examples, where participants will gain some experience in applying uni- and multimodal interaction design guidelines and learn benefits of designing to specifically support multimodal interaction in C4ISR systems. 

2005 Paper No. 2029

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Economics of M&S: Change-Agents or Martyrs for Innovation

 

Bill Waite

Aegis Technologies Group, Inc.

Huntsville AL

 

Christopher Stapleton

Media Convergence Laboratory

University of Central Florida

Orlando, FL

 

The modeling and simulation industry and market stands at a watershed. M&S has been growing in both its scope and effectiveness in a variety of venues for decades. Heretofore, however, that evolution has been relatively parochial to particular application domains and consequently limited in its effect upon simulation technology, assets, and processes. With the advent of practical and effective standards and continuing expectation for cost-effectiveness, a new and more open business-practice-model for modeling and simulation is emerging. These new practices will apply across many domains that were previously insulated by the peculiarities of subject-matter expertise or application, and they will benefit simulation professionals and users alike. 

 

In this context, the economics of M&S is becoming progressively more significant. Certainly, pre-existing interest by the DOD and the Defense Services, industry and academic institutions such as the McLeod Institute have shed considerable light on this topic. However, since: a) the appreciation of the economics of M&S is generally relevant to the entire M&S community, b) the understanding of the economics of M&S is valuable, and c) it is possible to improve our understanding of the economics of modeling and simulation, a collaborative initiative to explore the economics of modeling and simulation has been launched. 

 

The core technology of Modeling and Simulation (M&S) is expanding across markets to impact all parts of our lives from how we train, research, work, play, learn, communicate and plan. From government, commercial industry, to academic research to even mainstream entertainment, simulation is changes how industries operate.  Each industry in return impacts the economics of M&S to build a convergence of markets, technology and production techniques.  The rapid change of innovation and diversity of products, suppliers and applications, will force us to innovate traditional business methods as other markets eclipse the military Modeling, Simulation and Training industry in size, and in innovations.  The interservice simulation and training community may no longer lead the industry in the future unless we anticipate the future of convergence.  Yet predicting too far out into the future of change can transform one from a change agent to a martyr for innovation.  The understanding of the economics of M&S involves exploring the market opportunities, monitoring the technology migration and validating the expression of economics or how we communicate value.  

 

This tutorial addresses the existing circumstances of the economics of M&S, cites elements of opportunity for the technology and its subsequent capitalization, and telegraphs the intention of many within the profession to influence the evolution of emerging M&S industrial application and consequent product and service markets. The tutorial then explores the diverse market opportunities for M&S products and services that are forming new markets and product requirements. New applied research will then be presented to demonstrate the technology migration of simulation across diverse applications.  The evolving expression of economics will be provide a common denominator of how we communicate value between diverse industry cultures.   The tutorial will wrap up with an open discussion on the next steps to economic innovation for the M&S industry and share insights on the transfer of M&S to burgeoning markets.

2005 Paper No. 2451

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Intelligent Behaviors for Simulated Entities

 

Dr. Dan Fu, Ryan Houlette, Jeremy Ludwig

Stottler Henke Associates

San Mateo, CA

 

In nearly any simulation system, there will be entities – that is, platforms or forces – that are not under the control of a human participant, either because the necessary personnel are not available or they would be too costly. These entities must mimic the behavior of the real-world entities that they represent in order to achieve some level of believability in the simulation. Crafting realistic, intelligent-seeming behaviors for simulated entities is a non-trivial task, however, and there are a variety of techniques that can be employed. While there exists a diverse array of agent architectures, two common approaches are cognitive architectures and state machines. 

 

This tutorial provides an introduction to creating intelligent behaviors for simulated entities. An overview of the most common approaches will be given, and the advantages and disadvantages of each will be discussed. Examples of actual implemented behaviors will be used to illustrate important concepts. The tutorial will also present a general process for authoring behaviors, including typical steps and common pitfalls. 

 

Attendees of this tutorial will come away with an overview of the various options available for adding intelligent behaviors to simulated entities. It will also provide them with the information they need to choose the appropriate approach for their own applications, along with guidelines on good authoring practices.

2005 Paper No. 2253

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On Building Laboratories for Emergent Behavior

 

Kenneth De Jong

George Mason University

 Fairfax, VA

 

Raymond R. Hill 

Wright State University 

Dayton, OH

 

The complex behaviors we observe in our physical and social worlds often arise from relatively simple local “rules of action”.  In the main, these local rules seem to have little to do with the complex interactions we observe in large populations of actors.  However, such diverse phenomena as traffic jams, the spread of disease, collection of ions on conductors, scattering and propagation of sound, and, yes, even Warfighting have been modeled successfully with local rules using techniques based on cellular automata (CA) and agent-based modeling.  This tutorial will begin with the basics of building models using these techniques, and then illustrate these methods using two very different applications.

2005 Paper No. 2454

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Implementing the Common Image Generator Interface

 

Willard B. Phelps, Lance W. Durham,

Gregory A. Basler, Andrew D. Sampson, James H. Durtschy

Boeing Training Systems & Services

Saint Louis, MO

 

The Common Image Generator Interface (CIGI) is an on-the-wire protocol for data transfer between a host and an Image Generator (IG). It is a plug-and-play interface that is simple to use.  Introduced by Boeing and given freely to the simulation community, CIGI has become the de facto standard for Host-to-IG interfaces.  CIGI is currently in study by the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) for its applicability as a sanctioned standard. CIGI is widely used and is a requirement of the Naval Aviation Simulation Master Plan (NASMP). 

 

This tutorial will prepare participants for creating their own CIGI implementations. It will address two major areas: 1) How to interpret and effectively use the CIGI interface control document, and 2) How to approach a CIGI implementation using the CIGI Class Library (CCL). 

 

The tutorial is presented in two parts. The first part will provide background on CIGI, discuss the rationale behind the interface, and explain the CIGI Interface Control Document in technical terms.  Topics will include device synchronization, low-level data packaging, coordinate systems, cross-version compatibility, and interface extensions. The major packets will be thoroughly explained with practical examples. 

 

The second part of the tutorial will examine the open-source development and test tools available on the SourceForge web site. The primary focus is the CIGI Class Library (CCL), including the class hierarchy, version translation capabilities, and the various mechanisms for handling incoming messages. Concepts will be illustrated through example programs. Configuration and operation of the Multipurpose Viewer (MPV) and Host Emulator (HE) will also be demonstrated in detail.

2005 Paper No. 2155

This paper is available on the 2005 I/ITSEC CD ROM.

Order it from I/ITSEC'S Website.
 

 

 


 

Visualization Cluster Technology

 

Steve Briggs

Hewlett-Packard

Houston, Texas

 

With the increasing demand for higher resolution simulations with larger display surfaces organizations are looking to use COTS solutions to keep the cost of acquisition and maintenance lower. This talk will discuss the COTS technologies used to create the solution, the engineering tradeoffs required to maintain the performance envelope, and technical directions being explored for the future. The configuration, administration, and scheduling of sessions on the cluster will be examined and alternatives for resource management outlined. SLAs for simulations are discussed both for local and remote sites. During the SLA discussion bandwidth trade-offs will be examined, and suggested alternatives will be illuminated.

 

Software options for GOTS will be highlighted, as well as options for Roll-Your-Own applications, such as wavefront synthesis, target synthesis, etc.

2005 Paper No. 2446

This paper is available on the 2005 I/ITSEC CD ROM.

Order it from I/ITSEC'S Website.