MODELING
AND SIMULATION
DEVELOPMENT
OF COMPUTER GENERATED FORCES FOR AIR FORCE SECURITY FORCES DISTRIBUTED MISSION
TRAINING
INTERNATIONALIZATION
OF SAF FOR CZECH REPUBLIC
A
SYMBOLIC-CONNECTIONIST FRAMEWORK FOR REPRESENTING EMOTIONS IN COMPUTER
GENERATED FORCES
AN AUTHORING
TOOLKIT FOR SIMULATION ENTITIES
HOW TO COPE
WHEN TRAINING DEMANDS DYNAMIC NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
THE COMMON
BATTLESPACE ARCHITECTURE – A DISTRIBUTED TACTICAL/ELECTRONIC/SYNTHETIC COMBAT
ENVIRONMENT
INTEGRATION
AND USE OF SYNTHETIC NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN A FEDERATED SIMULATION SYSTEM
A
METHODOLOGY FOR THE EXTRACTION OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL VECTOR FEATURES FROM
HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGERY
AUTOMATED
ANALYSIS OF BUILDINGS FOR COMPUTER GENERATED FORCES
VERIFICATION
AND VALIDATION (V &V) OF FEDERATION SYNTHETIC NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
A
DIS-/HLA-BASED, GENERIC PLATFORM SIMULATOR THAT EXPLOITS PC TECHNOLOGY
THE
ACCELERATED COMBAT TIMELINE
REPRESENTATION
OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN CZECH ARMY
BUILDING AN
INTEROPERABILITY SPECIFICATION FOR THE MARINE CORPS
HIGH-LEVEL
VIRTUAL REALITY NAME SERVICE (VRNS)
ADDRESSING
REALISM IN DETERMINING REQUIREMENTS FOR SIMULATION BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
A
COMPOSITION PARADIGM FOR VIRTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE PLATFORM ENTITY DESIGN
ARCHITECTURE
OF A COMMON MILITARY SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT FOR SIMULATION
PHYSICS
BASED MODELING OF A HELICOPTER GAS-TURBINE PROPULSION SYSTEM FOR TRAINING
SIMULATION
ADVANCEMENTS
IN QUANTITATIVE SIMULATOR EVALUATION
THE
APPLICATION OF STATISTICAL USAGE TESTING TO IMPROVE VALIDATION OF SIMULATION
SYSTEMS
VERIFYING
AND VALIDATING THE AEGIS AIR DEFENSE WARFARE HUMAN PERFORMANCE MODEL
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DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER GENERATED
FORCES FOR AIR FORCE SECURITY FORCES DISTRIBUTED MISSION TRAINING * McDonald Research Associates Winter Park, Florida ** Air Force Research Laboratory Warfighter Training Research Division Mesa, Arizona This
paper describes the Computer Generated Forces (CGF) behavior development on
the Air Force Research Laboratory Security Forces Distributed Mission
Training (SecForDMT) technology development program. The near-term goal of
this program is to develop distributed training technology that will allow
Air Force Security Force decision-makers to practice the planning and
execution of air base defense. The system must be distributed because Air
Force Security Forces are drawn from many separate home bases, and receive
only limited training as a team before deployment to a contingency site. The
training target is the decision-makers (e.g. Squad Leaders, Flight Leaders,
S-3, Base Defense Commander) as opposed to the trigger pullers in the fire
teams. This emphasis on decision-makers is due to the fact that needs
assessments have indicated training requirements for these positions. We will
use CGFs to simulate fire team members, other friendlies, neutrals and
threats in order to generate situations requiring decisions by the trainees. The
CGFs being developed on this project are different from other CGFs in a
number of ways. These CGFs do not exhibit cold war behavior of always
fighting to the death. Although opposing force (OPFOR) CGFs are capable of
lethal force, they do not automatically shoot given intervisibilty. Neutral
CGFs are capable of a range of behaviors varying from peaceful intent to
lethal threat. Security Forces CGFs who observe such threats issue doctrinally
correct situation reports (SITREPs) for students’ situational assessment,
decision making, and operations order/fragmentary order (OPORD/FRAGO)
formulation. Security forces CGFs challenge, engage, or capture threat CGFs
in accordance with the rules of engagement (ROE) stated in the
trainee-generated OPORD as well as level of compliance by OPFOR CGFs. Since
these CGFs will be controlled directly by the trainees instead of an
experienced CGF master, a simple, understandable user interface is a major
design requirement. This paper discusses the process of defining behaviors
for computer generated forces and how these behaviors were implemented. It
also discusses initial evaluations of behaviors, lessons learned and future
plans for extending and improving these behaviors.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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Internationalization of SAF for Czech
Republic Science Applications International
Corporation Orlando, Florida VR Group Brno, Czech Republic One of the issues in
Military Simulation that has not often been addressed is the capability of
the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to run in a multi-language format. This
new endeavor of running the ModSAF GUI in a multi- language format, namely
the Czech language, was undertaken by SAIC in work for the Simulation Center
in the Czech Republic. This paper will address the process experiences,
lessons learned, and future direction of the text internationalization
effort. The ability to display languages on the ModSAF GUI is done by setting
the appropriate language ‘locale’. This ‘locale’ -Motif information can be
the character set, language, and formatting preferences. Language ‘locale’
ames are designated for each country (‘en_US’ or English, ‘cs_CZ’ or Czech).
The ‘en’ nd ‘cs’ represent the language (‘English’ and ‘Czech’,
respectively), and the ‘US’and ‘CZ’ represent the country (‘United States’
and ‘Czech Republic’, respectively). The ‘en_US’ locale belongs to the
‘iso8859-1’ (Latin-1) character set, consisting of special characters used by
Western European countries/languages. The ‘cs_CZ’ locale belongs to the
‘iso8859-2’ (Latin-2) character set, consisting of special characters used by
Central/Eastern European countries. By setting the language ‘locale’, via the
environment LANG, before execution of the ModSAF GUI, the appropriate
language text will appear on the GUI during execution of ModSAF. This
language text for the ModSAF GUI resides in .xrdb and .po data files, which
are language ‘locale’specific. The .xrdb file is a resource data file used to
customize X Motif applications without modifying source code. The .po file is
a portable object file consisting of text that is ‘hard-coded’, but can now
be accessed and modified in that file. VR Group, from Brno, Czech Republic,
went further and developed dictionary tool sets to better facilitate the text
manipulation (by the translator) of the .xrdb and .po files. Specific
dictionary tools select source language strings (from the English .xrdb and
.pofiles), and into 2 dictionary files (dictxrdb and dictpo). The translator
simply translates strings in these 2 dictionary files, as opposed to hundreds
of .po and .xrdb files. Specific dictionary tools are then executed to copy
the text translations into the respective Czech .xrdb and .po files, where
the translated text will appear on the ModSAF GUI. This paper will
further describe the process of internationalizing the ModSAF 5.0 GUI.
Additional details on approaches, design, code development and modification,
and lessons learned will be addressed. Also, the future direction of
internationalization of the SAF system will be discussed. The international
version of the ModSAF GUI is currently used at the Simulation Center in Brno,
Czech Republic, by the Czech Army Military Academy.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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LTC Tom Coffman and John Logsdon Simulation Training and Instrumentation
Command (STRICOM) Science Applications International
Corporation (SAIC) Orlando, FL Although
it will replace ModSAF, the OneSAF Testbed Baseline (OTB) is itself an
interim product. It represents a bridge program between legacy Computer
Generated Forces (CGFs) and the OneSAF Objective System (OOS), a new
Department of the Army development program managed by STRICOM that will be a
composable, next generation Computer Generated Force. The OOS will represent
a full range of operations, systems, and command and control processes from
individual combatant and platform to the battalion level. The
Army chose to develop the OTB well prior to the award of the OOS contract to
explore potential risk mitigation targets and to examine what legacy
artifacts should be directed for reuse and what functionality should be
developed under the new contract. In addition, they chose to refine the
concept of collaborative development; i.e. customers and developers working
side by side. Consequently, the OTB is being used to provide integration,
test and user feedback of technology developments and methods for the
objective system. OTB provides a type of simulation test-bed never before
used by the Army. Over 28 Department of Defense agencies representing the
Army, Joint and Coalition organizations provide input and feedback from the
various modeling and simulation domains, and combat development
organizations. OTB 1.0 was released in December 2000 and is the official
replacement for ModSAF The OTB provides a variable level of fidelity that
supports ACR, RDA, and TEMO. This paper describes the key technological
advances made during the course of the OTB 1.0 development, ranging from Architectural
innovations to the complete rewriting of functional areas, e.g. Artillery and
Combat Engineering (minefields). In addition to the advances in technology,
there were breakthroughs in the software development process itself. The
final section of the paper includes some of the key areas where OTB 1.0 is
already being employed as an analysis tool and/or low-overhead driver of C4I
devices.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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A SYMBOLIC-CONNECTIONIST FRAMEWORK FOR
REPRESENTING EMOTIONS IN COMPUTER GENERATED FORCES Soar Technology, Inc. Ann Arbor, MI. Colby College Waterville, ME. Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME. In
concert with the I/ITSEC’01 theme, “Warfighting Readiness Through Innovative
Training Technology”, this paper explores an innovative approach to enhancing
the realism and hence the efficacy of training – developing the capacity for
synthetic forces to act and respond emotionally. Emotions, along with moods
and dispositions, have been shown to be important determiners of behaviors.
They influence how situations are interpreted, how attention is focused,
which actions are considered, and how these actions are executed. For
example, individuals who are afraid will more readily interpret a situation
as dangerous, have their focus of attention narrowed down to the source of
their fear, and be biased toward actions that can reduce their level of fear.
Similarly, individuals who are angry will more readily interpret others as
being hostile, have their focus of attention narrowed down to the source of
their anger, and be biased toward aggressive and/or retaliatory actions.
Understanding and modeling variations in emotions will be crucial for
producing realistic human-like behavior in synthetic forces. The Army has
recognized this potential and is now emphasizing the need for such human
behavioral characteristics as being vitally important to training. This paper
discusses fundamental principles of emotions research and then applies these
principles to the development of a computational, emotional framework for
synthetic forces.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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COGNITIVE MODELING OF DOCTRINAL
BEHAVIORS IN AUTOMATED UNITS: APPLICATION OF BEHAVIOR DEFINITION FRAMES IN
WARSIM 2000 Lockheed Martin Corporation Orlando, Florida Modeling
the cognitive behavior of military units requires a framework that is
flexible, extensible, and can easily describe military doctrine. A language
known as Behavior Definition Frames (BDFs) was created for Warfighter’s
Simulation 2000 (WARSIM 2000), the U. S. Army JSIMS simulation, to easily
describe doctrinal military behaviors for autonomous units of any echelon and
faction. This language allows an efficient incorporation of knowledge
engineering products for use in a software system. This
paper will describe the BDF language, its purpose in WARSIM 2000, and its
applicability to other models. Our paper provides an overview of the BDF language,
key concepts and technologies, and current capabilities for encoding
doctrinal behaviors in BDFs. It also describes the Knowledge Engineering (KE)
process used to define and create the doctrinal behaviors using the BDF
language. After discussing the developmental process, the paper depicts the
software architecture that supports the implementation of the BDFs. Last, the
paper provides an overview of the applicability of BDFs and their supporting
roles to the Planning and Execution Agents contained within the WARSIM 2000
software architecture.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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AN AUTHORING TOOLKIT FOR SIMULATION
ENTITIES Daniel Fu, Ryan Houlette, and Oscar Bascara Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. San Mateo, California Instructors
and analysts within the military community have noted the possibility of
using video games for training or analysis purposes. Game developers,
however, often deviate from actual doctrine. Unfortunately, the instructor or
analyst is often left with no means to modify the entity behavior to conform
to doctrine. At the same time, there has been interest in the Artificial
Intelligence research and game development communities as to whether it is
possible to create an “AI toolkit. ” Developers could use such a kit to
create the entity behavior in a game quickly without having to start from
scratch. In the ideal case, a kit would consolidate the existing branches of
useful work in the field, thus providing developers easy access to the fruits
of mature research. In
this paper we describe some initial steps towards a solution for both
communities. There are two parts to our work. First, we have created an
authoring tool that enables a developer to create entity behavior using a
graphical “drag and drop” interface to quickly build up complex behavior.
Second, we have created a runtime engine that works in conjunction with a
simulation to operationalize the behaviors defined in the editor. The
authoring tool allows authors to rapidly build complex behavior, while the
runtime engine is built on well-understood game technology.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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HOW TO COPE WHEN TRAINING DEMANDS
DYNAMIC NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS US Naval Research Laboratory Washington, DC Oceanographer of the Navy N096TB Washington, DC Director, Fleet Battle Experiments Navy Warfare Development Command Newport, RI Office of Naval Research Arlington, VA We
all recognize that the natural world is highly dynamic and that the
variability in the natural environment can have a profound effect on system
performance. When and how do we have to incorporate the dynamics of the
atmosphere and ocean into training scenarios? When can we use archival data and when must we replicate the
environmental variability that currently exists – variability which
participating live systems actually perceive? We discuss current research in
generating, delivering and interpreting dynamic synthetic environments and
how that can be introduced into constructive, live and virtual exercises. Particular
attention is paid to experience in providing METOC (meteorological and
oceanographic) data to Fleet Battle Experiments and Global War Games. We
conclude with a rationale for linking environmental data delivered to
simulations with environmental data used for operational, tactical decision
support. While much of the technical work is being reported through the SIW
conferences, the focus of this paper is on a broad scope of exercises and
novel ways to achieve more comprehensive, realistic training at reasonable
cost.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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THE COMMON BATTLESPACE ARCHITECTURE – A
DISTRIBUTED TACTICAL/ELECTRONIC/SYNTHETIC COMBAT ENVIRONMENT Lockheed Martin Corp. Orlando, FL Lockheed Martin Corp. Orlando, FL The
modern battlefield upon which warriors engage in the deadly art of combat is
an environment filled with increasingly sophisticated and complex weapon
systems. Weapons, sensors, and transmitters utilizing new technologies and
the entire electromagnetic spectrum have become commonplace and the knowledge
required by warriors employing these systems has grown proportionally.
Simulations of today’s weapon systems and the battlefields in which they must
operate have improved both in fidelity and richness, but their
implementations have evolved in isolation from one another. Aircraft, ground
vehicle, naval vessel, and dismounted infantry simulations have concentrated
on the interactions between soldiers and their weapon subsystems, but this
ownship-centric approach often results in battlefield abstractions, modeling
only those subsets of the combat environment necessary to train specific
tasks. Manned
simulators and CGFs are now being asked to interoperate and accurately
simulate complex interactions between intelligent subsystems, including
sophisticated electronic combat. The limited bandwidth of affordable
wide-area network technologies is a major roadblock to meeting this new
challenge. Often, compromises are employed to integrate inconsistent data,
algorithms, and differing levels of fidelity, making each implementation a
customized solution despite DIS and HLA standards. Fair-fight, correlation,
and consistency issues are commonplace due to isolated developments of manned
simulators and CGFs without a common battlespace framework to work within. This
paper explores the increasing complexity of the modern battlefield and the
resultant demands on manned simulators, CGFs, and their synthetic environment
as the industry progresses into the realm of distributed simulation. This
paper also discusses the limitations of current modeling approaches and
proposes a distributed interoperable architecture designed to provide a
consistent, correlated, expandable synthetic battlespace across distributed
simulations.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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INTEGRATION AND USE OF SYNTHETIC
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN A FEDERATED SIMULATION SYSTEM Lockheed Martin Corp. Orlando, FL Lockheed Martin Corp. Orlando, FL Lockheed Martin Corp. Orlando, FL Simulation
of the natural environment provides more realistic training in flight,
ground, ocean, and littoral domains. The effects of illumination, cloud cover
and physics-based smoke affect the ground forces. Winds aloft, pressure and
temperature variations, turbulence, precipitation, clouds, and icing
characteristics affect the flight domain. Realistic surf zone, open ocean and
ship dynamics enhance the marine simulation. These richer dynamics increase
the quality of training for the warfighter. The establishment of the
Environment Federation allows more standardized weather information to be
available at each federate through the HLA, but how each federate uses this
information is not standardized. This paper describes the implementation and
use of STOW97 and ModSAF Synthetic Natural Environment capabilities, and the
EnviroFed paradigm, in a real-time simulation system. Various capabilities,
including pressure barometer simulation and localized weather, as well as
fair-fight correlation issues between live, virtual, and constructive forces,
are discussed.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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A METHODOLOGY FOR THE EXTRACTION OF
TWO-DIMENSIONAL VECTOR FEATURES FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGERY Evans &Sutherland Computer
Corporation Salt Lake City, Utah Imagery
at resolutions of ten meters or higher is increasingly being used in the
simulation industry to provide more realism in databases. Photo-specific
textures are derived from combinations of sensor bands or from true color
imagery, and are placed on top of the terrain elevation model in the database
production process. In addition, generic three-dimensional feature models are
placed over certain photo-specific textures throughout he databases to lend a
more realistic effect when flying close enough to ground level to see
three-dimensional objects. A key part of the production process for
photo-specific databases is the delineation of two-dimensional vector
features that serve as boundaries for the placement of the generic feature
models. In the past, these vector features were obtained from Digital Feature
Analysis Data (DFAD) or were digitized manually from paper maps at scales of
1:50000 or smaller. Due to the high level of detail required in
photo-specific databases, DFAD data is often too general, and manual
digitizing becomes prohibitively time-consuming. This
paper presents a methodology for semi-automated derivation and abstraction of
vector data from high-resolution imagery. This methodology can be superior to
DFAD data in the level of detail supplied, and ism many times faster than
manual digitizing. The process consists of classification of the raster data
using selected texture codes or brightness value combinations, a two-stage
removal of unneeded noise and complexity from the raster data, and the
generalization of the vector data to which the raster data are converted. The
generalization is performed using a geographic information system (GIS). The
paper presents results of the methodology applied to gray-scale imagery that
consists of physical material texture codes. Classification and feature
extraction from true color imagery is more problematic than gray-scale
processing due to the increased complexity of textures in the color imagery,
and the paper discusses some problems encountered. It was found that
preprocessing the color imagery prior to running the feature extraction
process yielded more accurate and thorough coverage in the placement of
vector features. The application of the feature extraction process toward
deriving geo-specific vector point and linear features from imagery is also
discussed.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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AUTOMATED ANALYSIS OF BUILDINGS FOR
COMPUTER GENERATED FORCES Science Applications International Corporation 12479 Research Parkway Orlando, Florida This
paper addresses the problem of automating terrain reasoning in urban
environments. It describes our approach to generating abstract building
objects in the Dismounted Infantry Semi Automated Forces (DISAF) simulation
and illustrates their use in a fire team room clearing behavior. DISAF uses a
terrain database format that includes a special representation for buildings
and other Multi-Elevation Structures (MES’s). The MES representation includes
topological information: the building is divided into rooms and apertures by
the database modeler, and this information is part of the MES data. However,
there is no organization of the polygonal surface information into floors,
walls, or other useful objects. We have de-veloped a blueprint description for tactical reasoning that represents
rooms as a sequence of connected wall objects. Each wall can contain one or
more aperture objects. A wall is basically a line segment, so blueprints
support movement planning in 2D. Somewhat different versions of the same
blueprint support movement control, collision detection, and display of the
building in 2D. DISAF
uses blueprints for movement planning, 2D display, and tactical reasoning.
The most advanced example of the latter is the fireteam room clearing task,
which requires that four team members first line up outside a room and then
enter the room along specific paths. The algorithm finds the initial
positions by starting at the doorway edge and tracing back along the wall
object a certain distance for each soldier. This process wraps around corners
and into other rooms if there is not enough space. The paths into the room
are computed similarly, with the algorithm adjusting for non-rectangular
rooms automatically. The result is that for a majority of rooms, the room
clearing behavior generates doctrinally correct paths. We expect to continue
using this blueprint representation for additional reasoning tasks in future
work.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION (V &V)
OF FEDERATION SYNTHETIC NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS Robert F. Richbourg, Robert J. Graebener, Tim Stone, &Keith Green Institute for Defense Analyses Simulation Center Alexandria, Virginia The
rapid assimilation of leading-edge technologies into the modeling and
simulation (M&S) tools of today has provided a revolutionary approach for
many of DoD’s users, particularly within the acquisition, joint training and
joint experimentation communities. However, leveraging technology to assist
the warfighter with the “process of applying incremental review, analysis, evaluation,
and testing to M&S products to improve credibility” (Defense Modeling and
Simulation Office, DMSO, definition of V&V process) has not kept pace.
One area of M&S that has undergone the greatest metamorphosis is the
synthetic environment. In the short span of 10 years, what was a paper-like
digitized terrain map depicting a flat earth at “high noon” and devoid of
weather has evolved into a sophisticated synthetic natural environment.
Modern simulation synthetic environments continue to grow in size, geodetic
rigor, geographic fidelity, and application domain. The richness of these
data sets, while markedly improving their utility and widening their
applicability, increases the likelihood of error caused by feature
interaction and the sheer complexity of construction techniques. Although our
capacity to produce large and complex digital environments has seen great
improvement, there has not been an attendant growth in the development of
automated tools that can help ensure credible results. This paper addresses
V&V of federated synthetic environments. The first section exemplifies
classes of digital environment conditions that have proven to contribute to
anomalous simulation entity behaviors or incorrect analytical results. We
describe a utility to automatically locate such conditions as the first step
toward managing inter-simulation interactions within a federation. Then, we
discuss a methodology to assess interaction validity of the environmental
algorithms and data, across a federation. Finally, we describe this process
as an asset for event managers, aiding in the design of scenarios that will
avoid unfair fight situations.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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A DIS-/HLA-BASED, GENERIC PLATFORM
SIMULATOR THAT EXPLOITS PC TECHNOLOGY Joseph Steel, Cranfield University, Swindon, UK. With
the continuing decrease in cost of PC technology, plus its ever-increasing
capability, the development of medium-to high-level fidelity simulators, at
low-cost, has now become a reachable goal. This paper describes the
development of a real-time generic platform simulator for the PC. The
component-based architecture of the simulator allows different dynamics
models to be utilised at run-time. These dynamics models determine the
platform specific behaviour of the simulator. Thus, by making use of this
“plug-and-play” technology the bulk of the application software remains
unchanged for different platforms. This considerable eases the rapid development
of new platform simulators and reduces software maintenance issues. Based
upon PC technology, the simulator can be configured to make use of either the
OpenGL or Direct3D graphics libraries, thus exploiting the available graphics
hardware capability of the host platform. Likewise, the user-input interface
makes use of the DirectInput architecture from Microsoft. This allows for a
wide range of COTS input devices to be used with the simulator. To allow the
simulator to be used in a synthetic environment, the system makes can make
use of either DIS or the High Level Architecture and the Run Time
Infrastructure, using the Real-Time Platform Reference Federation Object
Model (RPR-FOM). In addition, the paper describes the current set of dynamics
models that have been implemented. These include models for a re-configurable
ground vehicle, a fast jet and a dismounted infantryman.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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THE ACCELERATED COMBAT TIMELINE Air Force Wargaming Institute College of Aerospace Doctrine,
Research, and Education Air University Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama TASC, Inc. Montgomery, AL In
order to teach students about campaign planning, the Air Force Wargaming
Institute (AFWI) together with TASC, Inc. has developed most of the code for
a two-sided simulated war game to allow players to input a joint operational
campaign plan and to see results of the plan after many days of warfare, with
no reduction in the fidelity of the simulation. This new innovative tool set
is called the Accelerated Combat Timeline (ACT). It consists of a Graphical
User Interface (GUI), which currently permits entry of air, ground and naval
portions of a joint campaign plan, together with an Air Tasking Order (ATO)
Generator, a Ground and Naval Order Generator, and a Situation Display. The
player enters the air campaign plan by specifying prioritized target sets, as
well as an apportionment and an allocation for the friendly aircraft. The ATO Generator incrementally plans 24
hours of aircraft sorties. As the battle progresses through these 24-hour
increments, the Situation Display is used to view statistics about the
campaign. The current simulation engine is the data driven Air Command
Exercise System (ACES) model used at FWI. It is capable of modeling the
battle to a fidelity determined by the data entered in the database. This
allows the user to tailor the fidelity of the simulation to the educational
objectives of the teaching faculty. The
primary advantages of the ACT system are: 1.
It allows players to see long term results of their campaign plan; 2.
ACT can be run for many game days or it can be stopped and restarted at the
end of each cycle. It can
also be rolled back to any previous cycle and restarted with new or modified
orders; 3.
ACT makes use of simple Excel charts as well as more sophisticated display
tools to show the state of
the game at any point; and 4.
The modular design, which allows for adapting ACT components to other
adjudication engines.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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REPRESENTATION OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
IN CZECH ARMY VR Group, a. s. Prague, Czech Republic Military Academy in Brno, Military Land
Information Department Brno, Czech Republic Distributed
simulation grows to be a significant part in individual and collective
training in the Czech Army. It is necessary to prepare non-visual terrain
databases for ModSAF, which is the primary simulation tool for training
commanders and their staffs at National Center of Simulation and Training
Technologies (NCSTT) in Brno. Visual terrain databases for virtual simulation
tools in Brno and for virtual simulators at the Training Center of Ground
Forces (TCGF) in Vyskov are also needed. The main effort is to prepare both
types of terrain databases correlated to each other and also build and
preserve their links to digital source data used within Czech Army. SEDRIS,
which was initiated in 1994, is fundamentally about two key aspects:
representation of environmental data and the interchange of environmental
data sets. Using SEDRIS could be the ideal way to maintain all three
described types of natural environment representation in the field of
modeling and simulation in the Czech Army.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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BUILDING AN INTEROPERABILITY
SPECIFICATION FOR THE MARINE CORPS Science Application International
Corporation Orlando, Florida The MITRE Corporation Camp Lejeune, North Carolina This
paper describes an ongoing effort to define an interoperability specification
for the Marine Corps, specifically the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF)
training community. The focus of the research effort is on combined arms
training in a distributed Modeling and Simulation (M&S) environment. The
interoperability specification is built upon the High Level Architecture
(HLA), and it includes the development of a Conceptual Model of the Mission
Space, an HLA Federation Object Model (FOM), and an interoperability
agreements specification to compliment the FOM. The development of this
specification is addressing a wide range of considerations. It is addressing
Marine Corps operations, doctrine and programmatic considerations, which
emphasize the need to address a heterogenous set of mission domains in order
to support such concepts as asynchronous warfare and operations other than
war (OOTW). It is addressing issues of fidelity related to modeling the
warfighter's perspective of the mission, support of an integrated learning
methodology to facilitate control of the environment and measurement of
performance and effectiveness, and support of scalable training at both the
team and individual levels. This project is also addressing issues related to
compatibility with training systems that are currently in the development
cycle, as well as implementation of a flexible and evolutionary design to
accommodate technological advancements. The primary purpose of this
specification is to facilitate standardized interoperability of future Marine
Corps training systems. This paper is a follow-up to one that was published
last year entitled "Baseline Interoperability for Marine Corps Air and
Ground Simulators: The Marine Air Ground Task Force Federation Object Model
(MAGTF FOM) ".
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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HIGH-LEVEL VIRTUAL REALITY NAME SERVICE
(VRNS) Michael D. Myjak, Sean T. Sharp The Virtual Workshop Titusville, Fl Rapid
deployment of Dynamic Federated Simulations still eludes us. Today, our best
approach is one based upon convention. First we have to agree upon the
Federation Object Model (FOM) (step 1). Next, we have to agree upon the
process of starting the federation execution (step 2), followed by the joining
of federates where in some cases, federates must be joined in some predefined
order (step 3). Then the process continues with the publication and then
subscription of objects, followed by the registration of object instances
(steps 4, 5, & 6). Finally, we're prepared to run the federated
simulation (step 7). But is this mechanism optimal?What if there were a
better approach to development and deployment of federated simulations? At
The Virtual Workshop, we’ve been researching a new mechanism by which to
build, deploy, and distribute FOM and Base Object Model (BOM) information to
federates and federations, dynamically. We call this service the Virtual
Reality Name Service (VRNS). VRNS provides a mechanism by which object data
and metadata can be stored in a namespace database, outside of the classical
tabular FOM “Spreadsheet”. Through VRNS, we can store object class
information, object instance information, even object behaviors, in terms of
the protocols that operate upon them. More over, through VRNS, all of these
attributes can be updated dynamically, even during federation run-time. This
has many implications for new types of federated simulations, where late
joiners are supported, or dynamic behaviors are implemented. In this paper,
we describe our approach to developing the Virtual Reality Name space.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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ADDRESSING REALISM IN DETERMINING
REQUIREMENTS FOR SIMULATION BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS Jerry Gordon, Scott Casey, Dr. John Burns Sonalysts, Inc Orlando, Florida Naval Air Warfare Center Training
Systems Division Orlando, Florida Research
has shown that simulations that are more realistic provide better knowledge
transfer and richer educational experiences. Consequently, the challenge for
simulation designers has been to “create a more realistic model.” Unfortunately, the concept of realism is a
subject of much debate and differing understanding. At the lowest level,
realism deals with the physical representation of entities within the
training space, i. e. do they look right. Simulation designers have attacked this
level of realism with success. However, higher order concerns of realism are
often overlooked in simulation design. Entities may look real, but they must
also act real, and act real for realistic reasons. Unfortunately, these first
and second order effects are often hard to detect during requirements
analysis. Simulation designers have not yet established a structured method
for determining them. However, they are critical to produce a good simulation
for use in a context based learning environment, especially for those used in
training decision- making skills. The identification of realism concerns will
have an impact on a number of design, control, and interoperability concerns
as well. This paper proposes a structured approach for identifying and organizing
training system requirements that address the physical, first, and second
order concerns of realism.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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A COMPOSITION PARADIGM FOR VIRTUAL OR
CONSTRUCTIVE PLATFORM ENTITY DESIGN SAIC Orlando, Florida STRICOM Orlando, Florida IST Orlando, Florida This
paper describes an approach to implementing virtual or constructive platform
entity design using a component based framework architecture. The approach is
being implemented as part of a research effort to develop a framework that
allows a user to compose and recompose applications for a distributed
modeling and simulation (M&S) environment, and to further compose
applications into a reusable packaged execution environment. The purpose of
the project is not to develop virtual or constructive applications but to
develop the composition framework. However, some virtual and constructive
platform entities are being developed as test cases for the framework. This
paper focuses on the use of this experimental framework to develop these
virtual or constructive platform level entities for the synthetic
battlespace. It examines alternative component design and composition
methods, which can be used to support a wide variety of application domains.
Examples of these application domains include distributed mission training,
doctrinal policy analysis within a particular theater or tactical situation,
or engineering design alternative analysis of a particular system or
subsystem, to name but a few examples. The paper discusses issues related to
component design, storage and retrieval of components from a repository,
composition of components into a complete application, and interoperability
issues related to executing a composed application in a distributed M&S
environment. The purpose is to provide lessons learned and information exchange
for the benefit of projects that are concerned with developing virtual and
constructive entities.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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ARCHITECTURE OF A COMMON MILITARY
SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT FOR SIMULATION AcuSoft Inc. Orlando, Florida Functionality
of a Military Scenario Development Environment (MSDE) is traditionally
implemented in a proprietary fashion. Virtually every simulation system in
existence today utilizes a specific exercise file format that is unique to
that system. Each time a new simulation system has been developed, scenarios
have been created in proprietary formats to support exercises in that
simulation. All too often, these exercises are re-created by re-keying data
out of other existing simulation exercise files or training packages. Such
redevelopment of exercises is time consuming and costly. Frequently,
simulations share similar architectures, and even training objectives. Each
utilizes data and data structures that model real world weapon systems,
organizations, time, and environment. A great number of standards are
available that support modeling of complex systems. Relational database
standards define rules of referential integrity for data. Extensible Markup
Language (XML) provides for data type definitions in portable ASCII format.
Microsoft Office provides standard desktop interfaces typically used by
customers and users of military simulations for planning and after action
review (AAR). Other standards exist or are developing that support
integration of simulation with native C4I systems. This paper describes how a
common MSDE software capability could provide for interoperability of
simulations across disparate platforms in a fashion that integrates the
desktop applications and C4I systems already in common use by the simulation
end user.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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PHYSICS BASED MODELING OF A HELICOPTER
GAS-TURBINE PROPULSION SYSTEM FOR TRAINING SIMULATION Simulation and Research Services
Division, SAIC Hampton, Virginia Simulation and Research Services
Division, SAIC Lexington Park, Maryland Mathematical
modeling of complex, non-linear physical systems has often been limited by
computational requirements. Simple tools have resulted in the development and
use of simplified models, making use of gross approximations and focus on
“effects modeling”, where the final output of the model is more important
than modeling of the physical properties which govern the behavior of the
system. This approach has been observed on many training simulations, which
were among the first devices requiring real-time computation, and hence
required simplification of complex systems in order to function with limited
computational capability. Today, however, though computational horsepower
continues to grow exponentially, many trainer systems continue to rely on
simplified “effects based” modeling approaches. Limitations of these models
are not always obvious, since they can often be tuned to match a specific set
of criteria data very well. Without a foundation in physics, however, these
models quickly lose fidelity when operated “off condition ”, or when
malfunctions are introduced. The
development of a physically representative model of the aircraft’s engines
has resulted in increased trainer fidelity, while reducing the amount of
software required. Whereas previous model required “special” operation for
startup, shutdown, and malfunctions, the improved engine model is able to
replicate engine performance throughout the operational envelop using the
same set of core engine component models during the entire run cycle.
Further, because each mechanical component of the engine and its control
system are modeled in a physically representative manner, malfunctions may be
inserted at the component level, allowing appropriate failure responses to
cascade through the system. This
paper first presents the shortfalls of the previous propulsion system model.
A very brief introduction to gas-turbine engine thermal dynamics is followed
by examination of the UH-1N engine and engine control components and the
methods by which they are modeled. Methods of resolving unknown engine
parameters (compressor-turbine matching) are then presented, followed by
verification and comparison of the results with the actual engine performance.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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USING DYNAMIC INTERFACE MODELING AND
SIMULATION TO DEVELOP A LAUNCH AND RECOVERY FLIGHT SIMULATION FOR A UH-60A
BLACKHAWK Northrop Grumman/Logicon Operations
&Services NASA Ames Research Center JSHIP (Information Spectrum, Inc. ) Patuxent River, Maryland Joint
Shipboard Helicopter Integration Process (JSHIP) is a Joint Test and
Evaluation program sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Under
the JSHIP program is a simulation effort referred to as the Dynamic Interface
Modeling and Simulation System (DIMSS). The purpose of the DIMSS project is
to develop and test the processes and mechanisms that facilitate
ship-helicopter interface testing via man-in-the-loop ground-based flight
simulators. Specifically, the DIMSS charter is to develop an accredited
process for using a flight simulator to determine the wind-over-the-deck
(WOD) launch and recovery flight envelope for the LHA/UH-60A ship/helicopter
combination. DIMSS is a collaborative effort between the NASA Ames Research
Center and OSD. OSD determines the T&E and warfighter training
requirements, provides the programmatics and dynamic interface T&E
experience, and conducts ship/aircraft interface tests for validating the
simulation. NASA provides the research and development element, simulation
facility, and simulation technical experience. This paper will highlight the
benefits of the NASA/JSHIP collaboration and detail achievements of the
project in terms of modeling and simulation. The
DIMSS project consisted of three phases that follow an approved Validation,
Verification and Accreditation (VV&A) process. The first phase will
support the accreditation of the individual subsystems and models. The second
will follow the verification and validation of the integrated subsystems and
models, and will address fidelity requirements of the integrated models and
subsystems. The third and final phase will follow the verification and
validation of the full system integration. This VV&A process will address
the utility of the simulated WOD launch and recovery envelope.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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ADVANCEMENTS IN QUANTITATIVE SIMULATOR
EVALUATION Science Applications International
Corporation Lexington Park, MD The
increased demand on simulators to replace live training has led to an
increase in the capability and complexity of the cueing systems in
simulators. Testing higher fidelity simulation requires even higher fidelity
testing, evaluation and analysis methods. The increasing complexity of the
cueing systems presents difficult challenges for rigorous simulator testing. There
are issues that must be addressed regardless of what cueing system of the
simulator is being analyzed, and there are issues unique to each area. Issues
affecting every area of testing include sensor accuracy and bandwidth,
attachment and alignment of sensors, repeatable stimulation, and verifying
sensor calibration. Motion testing is complicated by mechanical noise, large
platform displacement, and acceleration limitations. Visual effects including
non-standard video formats, variable frame rates, high- resolution displays,
fog and other visual effects make visual system analysis difficult. Control
loading analysis is easily affected by the sensors used and can use multiple
sensors for a single measurement. Cockpit instrument analysis is complicated
by the replacement of analog sensors with digital or computer- generated
displays. Integration of the testing system with the simulator via digital networks
is a very power analysis tool, but introduces numerous difficulties and can
impact the performance of the simulator. Very powerful and inexpensive data
collection systems can provide overwhelming amounts of data in a very short
amount of testing. Special consideration must be made for the methods of
testing done on the actual aircraft or previous simulator testing and the
methods currently used. Actual
results from simulator testing are used to illustrate issues. Methods to
determine acceptable sensor performance, to reduce and quantify attachment
and alignment errors and perform repeatable stimulation are discussed. Case
studies are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of different
instrumentation for motion platform, control loading, and cockpit instrumentation
testing. Special emphasis is given to visual analysis solutions and the
development of the Visual System Sensor (VSS).
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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THE APPLICATION OF STATISTICAL USAGE
TESTING TO IMPROVE VALIDATION OF SIMULATION SYSTEMS Robert M. Patton and Gwendolyn H. Walton University of Central Florida School of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science Orlando, FL, U. S. A. U. S. Army Simulation, Training and
Instrumentation Command Orlando, FL, U. S. A. There
are a variety of approaches to validation of simulation systems, each
attempting to solve one or more specific issues. When viewed as a whole,
these approaches can address a broad spectrum of issues. However, regardless
of the validation approach, scalability and input domain explosion make it
impossible to exhaustively test simulation systems. Improved methods are
needed. This
paper describes a case study that demonstrates the application of statistical
usage testing methods to provide quantitative support for test planning and
user testing of a commercially available combat simulation game. First,
typical approaches to validation of simulation systems are discussed with
respect to some of the challenges of simulation system validation. Then the
case study is used to provide a brief introduction to statistical usage
testing and to illustrate the applicability of usage modeling and statistical
usage testing to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of test planning,
management, and analysis of test results. Results from the case study include
suggestions for applying usage model analysis methods to iteratively improve
usage models and support more efficient and effective achievement of specific
test objectives.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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VERIFYING AND VALIDATING THE AEGIS AIR
DEFENSE WARFARE HUMAN PERFORMANCE MODEL Micro Analysis and Design, Inc. Boulder, Colorado Naval Air Systems Center Training Systems Division Orlando, Florida In
some industries, simulation and modeling techniques are a widely accepted,
integral part of system design, while in others these techniques may be
perceived as expensive, unreliable, or inconclusive. Within the Manning
Affordability Initiative (MAI), which was funded by the Office of Naval
Research and managed by the DD-21 Program Office, we have attempted to
demonstrate that simulation and modeling techniques can play a significant
role during the design of future combatants, especially in light of future
Naval goals to optimize shipboard manning. The MAI used a warfighter-centered
design approach to developing a prototype air defense warfare (ADW) system,
and human-in-the-loop data was collected from the watchstations in use today
and from the prototype watchstations. Under a simulation experiment, the
Integrated Performance Modeling Environment (IPME), a discrete event
simulator, was utilized to represent a demanding ADW scenario, and models
were created to simulate performance for ADW teams using today’s watchstation
and then to predict the impact on performance that can be expected from the
prototype. These complex models include multiple operators, dynamic operator
task assignment configurations, workload tracking, internal and external
communication network activity, and processes such as air track detection,
track identification and re-identification, monitoring of changes in track
profile, threat evaluation and engagement. This paper discusses the process
of calibrating, verifying and validating models of the current and prototype
watchstations, and present the conclusions made.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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Military Academy in Brno, Czech
Republic System
MILES is a well-tried mean of army units training till battalion level. For
evaluation of point of impact at direct fire weapons MILES applies a laser
beam, transmitted by the firing weapon. Means and warriors are provided with
sensors evaluating any successful hit. Within increasing of battle
effectiveness of a dismounted warrior an Objective Individual Combat Weapon
(OICW) has been developed. Integral part of the OICW is a grenade launcher
whose grenade explodes in the air above the target. This is the reason why at
training of warriors in MILES neither hit nor annihilation of a target can be
indicated by means of a laser beam. Effects of an OICW grenade launcher must be
introduced into the MILES training system as a calculation pursued by the
MILES system computer. Process of evaluation of grenade launcher fire must
cover following operations: · Allocation of the exact position of the weapon and the
target at the instant of fire. · Calculation of grenade explosion point and of effects of
explosion towards the enemy. · Transmission of a signal to the hit warrior after a
successful shot and blocking up his weapon. Data
for calculation may be divided into several groups such as data describing
the position of the weapon and the target, technical parameters of the weapon
and environmental influences. For appraisal of calculation accuracy one must
also know the errors of sensors at the estimation of coordinates and of the position.
Position of the weapon and the target comprises the accurate coordinates of
the weapon and the enemy target, azimuth and elevation of the grenade
launcher barrel and the distance between the weapon and the target measured
by a laser range finder at the instant of fire. Required technical parameters
of the weapon and environmental influences depend on method of shell
trajectory designation and designation of point of grenade explosion. When
this is done by methods of exterior ballistics calculations then muzzle
velocity, mass of grenade, temperature, air humidity, velocity and direction
of wind must be given. When neglecting ballistic influences then only grenade
muzzle velocity satisfies. Besides, experimentally given curve of grenade
trajectory, stated in tables, may be used for calculations. But in any case
one must know the radius of grenade annihilation effect and of injuring
effect From the point of view of calculation one must know the error in
estimation of position of the weapon and the target, error in measuring of
azimuth and elevation and pertinent error of the laser range finder. Next the
data transmission velocity between OICW, MILES computer and the target is
important. These are the questions discussed in presented paper.
This
paper is available on the 2001 I/ITSEC CD ROM.
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