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CONFERENCE THEME

INTRODUCTION TO THE CONFERENCE

Dr. Hanns H. Wolff

Technical Director, Naval Training Device Center and Conference General Chairman

Military training is as old as organized society.  For many centuries, it was conducted in the real environment using real military hardware.  Gradually, however, mainly in the first quarter of this century simulation was introduced.  For example, special exercise ammunition was developed and the new weapons platform, the tank, was simulated.

The years between the two world wars and especially World War II itself brought a basic change in military training.  It was in that period that our Navy started to replace training in the real environment by training in a simulated environment, by means of training devices, and training device technology and training methodology started to develop into a science and a technique.

We, here at the Naval Training Device Center, had, last year, the pleasure of commemorating the 30^th year of the Navy’s Training Device involvement, and the 25^th Anniversary of the establishment of the first specialized Training Materiel Command.

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

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN TODAY’S ARMY

General Ralph E. Haines, Jr.

Commanding General, U.S. Continental Army Command

I’m happy to be here on the Silver Anniversary of the Naval Training Device Center and gratified that this conference offers the opportunity for the services and industry to focus attention on the past 25 years of training simulation as a springboard for the future.

In acknowledging the 25^th Anniversary of the Naval Training Device Center, I am pleased to note that this has been a cooperative effort with the Army participating for the last 21 years.  The Army is appreciative for the excellent support that has been provided our training during this time.  You are to be commended for your fine work.

My purpose here today is to tell you “What’s Happening in Today’s Army”–with particular reference to the innovations in the Army’s training programs, and later in my discussion pass on to you information concerning the Modern Volunteer Army Program.

First, I would like to say that the Continental Army Command (CONARC), with its 13 training centers, at which newly recruited or drafted soldiers receive their initial training, and the 24 Army Schools, which train and educate officers and enlisted men to various levels of skill or knowledge, has the largest training responsibility of any U.S. Command world-wide.   At the end of FY 71, there were nearly 367,000 individuals trained in Basic Combat Training (BCT), 291,000 in Advanced Individual Training (AIT), and 271,000 in the service schools, for a total of 928,000.  So you can see CONARC’s mission, as the Army trainer is sizeable.  CONARC is responsible for determining training aids and device requirements, and operating the CONUS training aid center system.  The Training Centers and Army Schools, which constitute the “training base”, and the major users of training devices, today faces a dichotomy of effort deriving from the necessity to reorient our training toward requirements in other parts of the world, and yet continue to provide maximum support to Vietnam.  The country is psychologically in a post-war period even though we are still heavily involved in a shooting war.  Our training dollars have been decreased by budget constraints, with no reduction in mission, to maintain a high-level of combat readiness.  As a result, a great deal of command emphasis from the Chief of Staff of the Army, down through major commands, is being exerted to make maximum use of training devices in lieu of the actual weapon or item of equipment where effective training can be accomplished, and cost savings can be accrued.

Our primary aim must be the effective discharge of our responsibilities for the defense of our country.  By that, I mean that we train in the skills that relate directly to military duties and employ all means provided by science and industry toward the accomplishment of this training.

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

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TRANSFER OF INSTRUMENT TRAINING AND THE SYNTHETIC FLIGHT TRAINING SYSTEM

Dr. Paul W. Caro, Senior Staff Scientist

Human Resources Research Organization

Division No. 6 (Aviation)

Fort Rucker, Alabama

The Army’s Synthetic Flight Training System (SFTS), Device 2B24, has been referenced in a number of the papers presented here.  It is assumed at this point that the reader is generally familiar with overall SFTS design, and the extent to which it incorporates automated training features as well as manual features, which can facilitate the conduct of training, administered in a non-automated manner.  The device is unique in these aspects in the Army’s history of training device development.

Army regulations require that newly acquired equipment of the complexity of the SFTS undergo an extensive service test prior to type classification.  Type classification is a step necessary to the introduction of such equipment on an Army-wide basis.  An important part of service testing involves a determination of the operational suitability of the equipment.  In the case of the SFTS, the Human Resources Research Organization’s Aviation division was requested to support the service test, to be conducted by the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, by developing and conducting an SFTS Operational Suitability Test.  The test is in progress, and its findings are expected to be released later this fiscal year.  The present paper addresses one portion of the SFTS suitability test that portion dealing specifically with transfer of instrument training from the SFTS to the aircraft.

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

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EFFECTS OF TRAINING SITUATION ANALYSIS ON TRAINER DESIGN

N. R. Holen, Group Engineer

McDonnell Aircraft Company

One of the major branches of military training is maintenance training.  In formal schools for aircraft maintenance training it is seldom practical to train personnel in flight line and hanger procedures on line aircraft.  To aid in providing these skills, many training devices are employed.  These devices each simulate portions of the real maintenance environment the student will encounter in his future work.

The form in which the maintenance task is simulated depends upon the particular training situation or the “use requirements” of the trainer in supporting the overall training course.  The training situation therefore determines the general design of the device.  Trainers may take many forms, from elaborate mock-ups of major portions of the airframe or its electronic systems, to a simple practice stand where a student can perform a maintenance task until the skills become automatic.

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

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QUANTITATIVE TASK ANALYSIS AND THE PREDICTION OF TRAINING DEVICE EFFECTIVENESS

G. R. Wheaton and Dr. A. Mirabella

American Institutes for Research

Because of the enormous costs involved in the design and development of a complex training device, one can ill afford to adopt a “wait-and-see” attitude about the effectiveness of training which it provides.  The primary problem confronting individuals responsible for military training, therefore, is how to plan for, design, and develop a training device from the very start, which will prove to be effective for a particular set of training objectives.  But, given the requirements for training, how can one forecast or estimate how effective any specific design will be?  For example, as designed will the device facilitate or inhibit ease of instructor operation (i.e., presentation of problem materials, monitoring and evaluation of student performance, provision of feedback)?  Similarly, from the student point of view, will the design lead to rapid acquisition of skills and their positive transfer to the operational setting?

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

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A MODIFIED MODEL FOR VISUAL DETECTION

Dr. Robert C. Sugarman, Research Psychologist

Harry B. Hammill, Research Physicist
Jerome N. Deutschman, Principal Engineer

Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Inc.

The requirement to predict the human ability to visually search and detect has occurred in a wide variety of problem areas.  At Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Inc. (CAL) specific areas involved both ground-to-air and air-to-air search for aircraft against a sky background and the search for small targets presented in simulator displays.

Models to predict human visual performance have been available for some time.  The purpose of our paper is twofold:

1)             To present a modified version of a widely known visual detection model and

2)             To compare the predictive capability of the modified version with both the original model and results of field-tests involving ground-to-air search for aircraft.

This work was sponsored by the United States Air Force under contract number F33615-68-C-1319.

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

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SEMICONDUCTOR LASER APPLICATIONS TO MILITARY TRAINING DEVICES

Albert H. Marshall

Research Physicist, Physical Sciences Laboratory, Naval Training Device Center

Systems using semiconductor gallium arsenide lasers have been developed in-house to train military personnel in M-16 rifle weapon firing against both pop-up targets and scaled model aerial targets.

The pop-up target system consists of two parts:  (1) a miniature laser transmitter, which clips on the barrel of an actual M-16 rifle; and (2) detectors and a receiver to score weapon, hits.  The system may be used to save ammunition costs, and to teach the correct sight picture, trigger squeeze, posture, and breathing techniques.  The trainee also uses his own weapon so he becomes quite familiar with its feel.  Because the laser system is eye-safe, no elaborate range safety precautions are necessary.  Safe training can be accomplished in inhabited areas with these systems.  Since the simulation unit can shoot in excess of one million shots on a small commercial battery; more training can be accomplished at a very low cost.

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

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DIGITAL RADAR LAND MASS DISPLAY SIMULATION

Robert A. Heartz

Senior Engineer, Apollo and Ground Systems, Space Division

General Electric Company

Simulation of radar Plan Position Indicator (PPI) displays is a critical requirement in training navigators, pilots, and bombardiers to identify targets and to interpret radar return signals from terrain and cultural areas.  Present radar landmass simulators use a transparency database read by a flying spot scanner.  This approach is limited by the difficulty in preparing the transparencies to meet the required resolutions and by the difficulties in updating transparencies to reflect cultural changes such as new bridges, large building, piers, and other features that are prominent in a quickly recognize his target and position.

The Digital Radar Land-Mass (DRLM) approach solves the resolution and flexibility problems.  In the digital approach, terrain and cultural features are reduced to a mathematical representation, such as line segments, and are stored in a digital memory.  A radar sweep is defined.  Representative radar return signals are calculated, based on the digitally stored data, and then are displayed on a PPI radarscope.

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

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DESIGN AND PRODUCTION OF ANTIREFLECTION COATINGS

Denis R. Breglia

Research Physicist, Physical Sciences Laboratory

Naval Training Device Center

Multilayer thin films are widely used in science and industry for control of light.  Optical surfaces having virtually any desired reflectance and characteristics may be produced by means of thin film coatings.  These films are usually deposited on substrates by high vacuum evaporation.  The applications range from high reflectance laser mirrors to high transmittance optical systems including interference filters, hot and cold mirrors, broad band reflectors and narrow band reflector, all of which are used in visual simulation systems and training devices.  This paper will be concerned with the design and production of multilayer, dielectric, antireflection coatings for use in the visible spectrum from 400 to 700 nanometers.

Everyone who has seen colors exhibited by films of oil on water, and by soap bubbles, has observed the striking phenomena of interference in thin dielectric films.  Interference in layers having fractional wavelength optical thickness remained a scientific curiosity until the 1930’s when methods were developed for depositing one or more layers of solid dielectric of controlled thickness.  The most common technique consists in vaporizing the dielectric in an over, placed in a highly evacuated vacuum chamber, and condensing the vapor on the relatively cool surface of the substrate.  Layer after layer of different materials of any desired optical thickness can be deposited in this way.  The performance of dielectric thin film coatings is predicted well by a theory to be described later, which treats each layer as a homogenous medium, with sharply defined plane boundaries.

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

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140-DEGREE CLOSE APPROACH OPTICAL PROBE FOR VISUAL SIMULATION

A. Nagler

Sr. Optical Systems Designer

Farrand Optical Company, Inc.

Optical pickups for flight simulators using TV displays have depth of focus limitations at close approaches to the model surface.  Tilt focus corrected optical probes have been developed in recent years to overcome this problem while maintaining relatively large entrance pupils.  Thus diffraction limitations and lighting problems associated with the pinhole approach are avoided.

A new 140-degree circular field tilt-focus (Schiempflug) probe has been developed that can operate to 0.2 inches altitude with an entrance pupil of 1-mm diameter.  The single channel device has a 17-mm diameter sensor format.

High-resolution levels have been obtained over most of the field and altitude range with a relative aperture of T/10.5.   The engineering feasibility model developed has full functional capability using hand-operated controls.

The study and development was performed by the Farrand Optical Company, Inc. New York, under the auspices of the USAF Human Resources Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio.

A fully automated model is currently under development.

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

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A NEW ASSESSMENT OF WIDE-ANGLE VISUAL SIMULATION TECHNIQUES

M. Aronson

Head, Visual Simulation Laboratory

Naval Training Device Center

Though two flight simulation techniques conferences took place in 1970 (the AIAA at Cape Canaveral, Florida in March and the RAeS at London, England in October), no objective appraisal of wide-angle visual simulation techniques was presented.  William Ebeling provided a brief examination of narrow field of view visual systems at the Second Naval Training Device Center and Industry Conference in 1967 and at an AIAA Conference in Los Angeles in March 1968.  The AIAA Simulation for Aerospace Flight Conference at Columbus, Ohio in August 1963 produced two extensive assessments of Visual Simulation Techniques, which are still referenced.  Since 1963, there has been some research accomplished on wide-angle visual system components, and also acquisition of operating experience in the military services, airlines, and aircraft manufacturing companies with 1962 state-of-the-art narrow angle FOV (Field of View) visual systems.  It therefore appears to be the time for another look at the stable of systems available.

The question to be answered is–What are the advantages or disadvantages of the various systems and components available now?

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

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CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

AN ASSET TO TRAINING DEVICE PRODUCTION AND NAVY SUPPORT

J. J. Regan

Modification and Maintenance Engineering Department

Naval Training Device Center

Configuration Management!  The terminology in itself is enough to foster apprehension when found to be specified as a proposal requirement.  Just what is this requirement that the Office of the Secretary of Defense has labeled “a complex, massive and detailed undertaking?”  Is it a revolutionary breakthrough in the field of management?

The Navy has defined configuration management as a discipline applying technical and administrative direction and surveillance to identify and document the physical characteristics of a configuration item; control changes to those characteristics, and record and report change progressing and implementation status.

Configuration Management new?   Eli Whitney in the early 1800s introduced techniques for the production of firearms with interchangeable parts.  The technique!  Identify in detail each part and hold manufacture to that identity.  Of course, those were the days when life and weaponry were simpler.

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

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THE UNIVERSAL DISPLAY PANEL

Donald E. Reed

Electrical and Mechanical Trainers Division

Naval Training Device Center

The purpose of this paper is to present the latest technology in the development of backlighted animated display panels.  By using new industrial components, the design of animated display panels has produced a new breed of programmable training devices.  The new Universal Display Panel provides a programmed animated panel with both flexibility and simplicity of operation, which has not been obtained before.  The new Universal Panel actually increases training effectiveness, and provides student participation, at reduced training costs.

The Universal Display Panel is a backlighted vertical panel that can light up any section of an attached illustration (see figure 1).  The attached illustration is made to appear to operate by an internal programmer than controls the lights behind the illustration.  Almost any illustration can be presented on the face of the panel, such as, electrical, electronic, hydraulic, system block diagrams, and Pert charts.  The internal programmer is removable and changeable (see figures 3 and 4).  The programmer can be controlled from the device control panel, remote control, from the face of the illustration and from a cassette recorder.

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

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REAL-TIME PROJECTED DISPLAYS

R. E. Thoman, Manager, Display Systems Engineering

Electro Dynamic Division, General Dynamics Corporation

There has long been a need for a real-time dynamic projected display for large screen applications involving group viewing.  The majority of the present systems utilize a form of slide projection or an oil film light valve.  Slide projection makes use of silver film, Kalvar  film, or a coated glass slide.  These systems provide the brightness required and are near real-time.  The film systems suffer from the problems associated with chemical development, film transport, and consumable costs if the system is frequently updated for real-time operation.  Coated glass slides are utilized in a system where the image is scribed onto the slide in the projection gate.  This provides the capability for continuously updating the current position on a given frame.  A new frame must be generated when the viewer wishes to change the display content, for relocation of target tags, and when the historical data grows to the magnitude that tends to confuse rather than aid the viewing audience.  Several modulated oil film light valve systems have been developed and are in use.  Because of the nature of the modulation mechanism, it is necessary that these systems be operated in a scanned mode, thus limiting their application to those where scan or television type data is readily available, or can be made readily available.  Most of the systems operate at a 525-line television standard, although a few of the older systems have been modified to operate at a 945-line standard.  The resolution overall in either case fails in the 400-600 line range.  The newer systems have the advantage of a considerably simplified tube not requiring continuous vacuum pumping.

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

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BUILT-IN TEST (BIT) FOR TRAINING DEVICES

L. A. Whalen and M. P. Gerrity

Aerospace Engineer and Electronics Engineer, Respectively

Naval Training Device Center

As trainer electronics grows in scope and complexity, a similar growth is required in the equipment needed to check it out.  The importance of speeding the repair of trainer systems is being accentuated by the increasing complexity of computer systems, microminiaturization, incorporation of operational equipment and GFE, and the demand for realistic, cost-effective training.  Many approaches are being investigated; including sophisticated off-line test equipment, built-in test (BIT), and fault-analysis systems that isolate the fault to a single black box.  For some applications, automatic test equipment (ATE) are being considered that can be used to isolate the fault within a black box, indicate the needed repair, and check out the required unit for proper operation and adjustment.

Little thought and time were devoted in the past to the design of test and checkout equipment.  It is now evident that the same consideration should be given to the design of a test equipment system as we give to the design of the trainer system.  A thorough analysis must be made of the training requirement and of the mission of the test system and its environment.  Trade-offs must be made between the constraints of cost, time, operator skill levels, accuracy, repeatability, and user confidence to arrive at an optimum test system.

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

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THE DRAGON ANTITANK MISSILE SYSTEM

TRAINING EQUIPMENT AND GUNNER TRAINING

J. Whitman

Supervisor, Training and Field Service

McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company TI-CO

The requirement for a medium range antitank/assault weapon that would provide the infantryman with an improved capability against tanks and hard targets over that provided by its predecessor, the 90MM recoilless rifle, was stated in a Qualitative Development Requirement Information document released by Ballistic Research Laboratories in October 1962.  A United States Army Combat Developments Command Small Development Description, dated October 1968, identified the requirement for a Conduct-of-First Trainer to be used with this system.  To meet these requirements, McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company, TI-CO, developed the DRAGON Weapon System and its allied training equipment.

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

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INNOVATIONS IN LAND COMBAT TRAINING

B. L. Sechen, Deputy Director

Army Training Device Agency

Since the last Industry Conference, we, at the Army Training Device Agency, have been getting a good deal of exposure throughout the Army.  In the last 12 months we have had most of the CONARC Training Center Commanders visit us; in addition, General Westmoreland attended a demonstration of our Synthetic Flight Training System prior to its installation at Fort Rucker.  On 1 July of last year, we changed our name to be more descriptive of what we do.  (See figure 1.)

Getting General Haines and General Hunt here today is indicative of the command interest in training devices and simulators.  Fortunately, I had some prior knowledge of General Haines’ presentation so I intend that my paper be considered an extension of General Haines’ remarks with emphasis on the need for training devices and simulation techniques for land combat training.

I have divided my paper into several parts.  Initially, I would like to tell you a little about the Board for Dynamic Training; secondly, what I saw in Europe at several foreign training centers last September; thirdly, a discussion of cost-avoidance on a trainer in use in Europe; and lastly, what the future looks like for land combat training device developments.

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

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UNDERSEA WARFARE TRAINING DEVICE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE NEXT QUARTER CENTURY

Alan J. Pesch

Chief, Man/Machine Systems

Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics

Reasonably accurate projections of the result of any multivariate, dynamic process are generally difficult to perform and are rarely made without recourse to large remnant terms.  So it is with regard to forecasting training device requirements for the next twenty-five years.  What is possible, and perhaps more meaningful, is the projection of current trends in naval missions, hardware, technology, training techniques, and personnel, and relating these trends to training device requirements.

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

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THE FERRAND GROUND EFFECTS PROJECTOR*

Joseph A. La Russa

Vice President, Advanced Engineering

Farrand Optical Company, Inc.

The Farrand Ground Effects Projector is an outgrowth of the Mission Effects Projector, which we designed and built for the Apollo Mission Simulators.  Mission Effects Projectors were used to provide full color visual simulation for the NASA Apollo Simulators from the launch pad out to and including earth orbit, translunar trajectory and lunar orbit through the use of strip film.  From lunar orbit to lunar touchdown a LEM Visual Simulator was used which the Farrand Optical Co., Inc. also designed and manufactured for NASA.  The Ground Effects Projector, however, is specifically designed to provide real worldviews for aircraft flight simulation.

The Mission Effects Projector and the new Ground Effects Projector have very much in common in that they both utilize very wide full color strip film in multiple cassettes and their optical systems, as well as their functioning, bear a close resemblance to each other.  The basic difference between the two systems lies in the fact that the Mission Effects Projector, in simulating orbital flights utilizes two-dimensional ortho-graphic color strip film and distorts the imagery to provide a spherical earth view whereas the Ground Effects projector utilizes continuous full color strip film to provide a full color presentation of simulated aircraft flight and rather than the generation of a spherical earth’s view we now provide a perspective generation with vanishing points at the horizon.

*Patents Pending

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

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ADVANCES IN SONAR AUDIO SIMULATION

J. Wrobel, Project Engineer

Naval Training Device Center

In order that students accept a training device, it is imperative that such a device provide realism, or else it will be merely treated as a sophisticated toy.  This is particularly true when the training device patterns specific operational equipment.  Such things as the response to control movement, color of displays and readouts and the “feel” of the trainer contribute to the Aesthetic relationship between the trainee and the device.  This has manifested itself in the past, where because of the in-depth realism provided, enlisted naval personnel were willing to sacrifice liberty hours in order to spend more time with the training device.  What better index of favorable acceptance could one find?

One area of simulation, that has always posed problems, is that of audio sonar simulation.  The human ear is an extremely sensitive sensor and very difficult to fool.  The human ear is responsive to transients of very short durations, in the order of tens of milliseconds.  Compound this with the wide variations in hearing response–both in amplitude and frequency–that occur between individuals by virtue of heredity, age, and history effects.  Thus, if one generates an audio signal, that is not authentic, it will be evaluated as non-realistic by experienced listeners, but in-turn, differently by each individual.  To rely on a collection of personnel in evaluation of sonar audio simulation realism can be an extremely frustrating experience.

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

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MULTIPLE OSCILLOSCOPE TRACE

GENERATION FOR ANALOG COMPUTERS

Klaus W. Lindenberg, Assistant Professor of Engineering

Paul E. Speh, Senior Analog Computer Programmer

College of Engineering, Florida Technological University

In many training and simulation situations, which utilize analog computers, it is desirable to have the option of viewing multiple, independent displays on a single cathode ray tube.  However, most small analog computers are equipped only with a single trace capability oscilloscope and the added expense of purchasing a multitrace unit often cannot be justified.  Furthermore, general-purpose multitrace oscilloscopes are limited in the number of traces, which can be produced and do not usually permit one to generate simultaneous X-Y and X-t displays.

At Florida Technological University the analog computer system consists of an Applied Dynamics Corporation model AD-5 computer equipped with four remote, timeshared terminals, each of which is equipped with a single trace storage oscilloscope for display.  While investigating a manual tracking problem we found that at least three independent traces were required at each of the four terminals.  Therefore, a multi-trace display system operating under computer control and utilizing the existing single trace oscilloscopes was designed.  The main design requirements for the system were first, that is provide maximum applications flexibility since the computer is used by a number of individuals for research as well as instruction.  Second, the tracking problem being studied called for a minimum of three traces, each to be independent of the others with respect to amplitude, position, and timing.  Third, the limited computing power of the machine necessitated a design, which would not decrease the machine’s computing capability significantly.  The figure depicts the system, which was finally chosen.  This system is completely under machine control and requires neither external circuitry nor machine integrators.

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

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ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY OF TRAINING DEVICES

R. N. Hokkanen

Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineer

Naval Training Device Center

Whenever a training device containing electronic equipment is operated in its intended operational environment, at designed levels, without degradation due to interference, it is called electromagnetically compatible.  This paper will give some background history on interference specifications, their application to training devices, several problems that have occurred, present status of trainer EMC, and a forecast of what contractors may expect in the EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) area in the future.

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

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NEEDED:   A STRATEGY FOR THE APPLICATION OF SIMULATION IN THE CURRICULA OF PROPOSED TRAINING SYSTEMS

Richard Braby, Ed.D.

Land/Sea Trainers Applications Division

Naval Training Device Center

During the past year Naval Training Device Center personnel have been reviewing curricular materials which have established how the major Navy training simulators are used.  This experience has convinced me that simulators are making a significant contribution to Navy training.  Yet as I have studied simulator use patterns, it has become apparent that modern simulation technology has provided training capabilities that have yet to be absorbed into the working curricula of training activities.  Tradition, rather than analysis, remains the prime rationale for designating which training objectives should be accomplished in simulators.

The study of simulator curricula is a part of a continuing device utilization measurement program, established under OPNAV Instruction 10171.4A.  Within this program we are attempting to identify the purposes for which training devices are being used, the instructional methods being employed, and the relative cost of these various employment patterns.

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

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TRADEOFF CRITERIA FOR SPECIFICATION OF PRIME OR SIMULATED COMPUTERS IN TRAINING DEVICES

A. E. Mergy

Manager, Training Equipment Engineering

Hughes Aircraft Company

Prior to the establishment of a simulator specification of r a new system, a comprehensive analysis of the training requirements and the intended utilization environments must be accomplished in order to assure the training effectiveness of the resulting hardware design.  Too frequently the exigencies of time and budgets result in shortcuts or guesstimates replacing the required analysis and budgets result in shortcuts or guesstimates replacing the required and planning.  The result is an underestimate of the required training requirements and the functional performance capability of training equipment.  Similarly, we tend to forget that each new weapon system and its integral subsystems must be significantly different in capability and performance, than its predecessor, in order to exist in today’s restrictive and highly competitive defense budget environment.  For a program to have survived requires, not only, a significant step function improvement, but also requires that the threat environment, in which it is to perform, must have achieved a similar increase in sophistication or complexity.  Unfortunately, we have not been able to re-design the man to achieve step function increases in capability and performance.  The logical alternative has been to imbed in almost every system highspeed computational elements to perform those logical and analytical functions, which man has found himself incapable to perform, in the increasingly more complex tactical environment.  By design intent, each system’s resultant utilization or employment is significantly different than its most similar predecessor.  Similarly, the training requirements are significantly different.  For the same reason that shortcuts are not taken in prime equipment design, shortcuts must not be taken in the analysis of training requirements upon which equipment specifications are to be based.

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

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INSTRUCTOR CONSOLE INSTRUMENT SIMULATION

I. Golovcsenko and J. L. Booker

Computer Laboratory, Naval Training Device Center

The application of computer-generated displays to training device instructor consoles was until recently a relatively unexplored area.  The traditional use of digital computers for control of instructor console instrumentation, such as repeater instruments, pushbuttons and indicator lamps, is well known in the training device industry.  Several introductory attempts at improving speed of simulation response and extending the content of instructor communication, with the simulation computer, have utilized computer generated alphanumeric display.  However, utilization of highly interactive, computer-generated graphic displays in instructor console applications have not yet been developed.

The objective of the aircraft instrument simulation on the Naval Training Device Center’s in-house display system was to verify the capability of using interactive, computer-generated graphic displays in instructor console applications.  The concept was verified by satisfactorily simulating the instructor console instruments for the F4 Phantom flight simulation on the TRADEC display system.  (TRADEC) is an acronym for the in-house Training Device Computer facility at the Naval Training Device Center (NAVTRADEVCEN).

The F4 flight instruments cover the full range of complexity and diversity found in modern simulator systems.  In addition to the feasibility demonstration, the display programs developed for simulating the individual instruments will provide facilities to perform experiments in man-machine interface, instructor console design, display format, and instructor communications.

Availability of the TRADEC display system interfaced to the sigma 7 computer provided an excellent opportunity to accomplish a complete simulation of the TRADEC F4 instructor console on the display system.

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

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STATUS OF COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY FOR VISUAL SIMULATION

M. G. Gilliland

Apollo & Ground Systems Department, General Electric Company

The basic task of visual simulation for training is the provision of out-the-window scenes for the pilot, which respond realistically to his control movements.  Many requirements are placed on the visual scene so produced, the most important being that the scene respond in real time and that it provide the appropriate visual scene to the pilot to make him think that he is actually traveling through the simulated environment.

Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) technology approaches the task of providing suitable out-the-window scenes by using special purpose digital computing hardware to scan a mathematical environment model.  The scene so produced is presented on a television output device, with the picture being updated thirty times per second.

CGI systems possess certain significant capabilities not easily attainable with other visual simulation techniques.  Among these is the ability to move in the environment with full six degrees of freedom, availability of an extensive operating area within the environment, and freedom from optical or mechanical system limitations.  Because the environment is really a mathematical description in computer memory, there is no limitation on where the pilot can go or on what attitude he can get into.  Since the mathematical scanning process used to present the scenes on the display device is performed with a theoretically infinitely small aperture, there are no depth-of-field problems.   The image is in focus throughout the scene.

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COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION

(THE SFTS AS A COMPUTER-CONTROLLED TRAINING DEVICE)

E. Trundle

Senior Training Analyst, Training and Education Processes Department

The Singer Company, Link Division

I would like to open by giving credit to John Walsh who is now working for the General Counsel’s Office of the FAA.  John was primarily responsible for the conceptual development and implementation of Automated Training in the Link Synthetic Flight Training System, (SFTS).

Many training devices utilize computer driven equipment to provide training in tasks related to the operation of aircraft, locomotives, and spacecraft or weapon systems in a total system called a simulator.

The SFTS is more than a simulator.  It is a total training system, which utilizes four UH-IH helicopter simulators as a part of the training system.  The other parts of the system use feedback response from each of the four simulators to determine what the system should indicate to the instructor, the simulator, and the student(s).

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SAFETY ASPECTS IN AVIATION PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAINING DEVICES

Hans W. Windmueller

Land/Sea Trainers Modification Division

Naval Training Device Center

This topic has been selected for discussion because of the rather unique problems associated with safety, when dealing with a group of devices, which we commonly refer to as Physiological Trainers.  Safety, of course, is a subject that is written, shown, talked, and even preached about by virtually every segment of our society.  However, in these trainers safety becomes the primary design criteria with all required hardware acting to support this one goal.

In this paper, it is intended to discuss this “safety as a design goal” by first briefly discussing Physiological Trainers and their training objectives, and then give a summary of a few of the more “notorious accidents” which bear directly on engineering design as applied or, in these instances, misapplied to physiological training environments.

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AUTOMATED GCA-FINAL APPROACH TRAINING

J. P. Charles and R. M. Johnson

Logicon, Inc.

Recognizing that recent results from training research and development programs as well as from advanced digital technology could contribute to the solution of training problems, the NAVTRADEVCEN in 1969 initiated a program to test the feasibility of implementing some of these advances.

As part of this effort, Logicon, Inc. analyzed the feasibility of automating portions of weapon system trainers (WST) and prepared some design guides to illustrate implementation on selected flight profile segments.  The F-4 trainer was chosen as a sample case.  The initial effort involved a survey of typical trainers in operational use.  This review of on-going training utilizing WSTs concluded that in large:

3)          WSTs were being used primarily for cockpit orientation and procedures training.

4)          There was a lack of a well-defined approach for utilizing WSTs.

5)          There was a lack of performance criteria and measurement.

The instructor’s role was not well defined and their approach to training varied widely, especially in student evaluation.

1)          The study indicated that the major technical problems in automated training involve:

2)          The development of computer programs to evaluate student performance and restructure the training courses in real-time. 

3)          The implementation of computer control of all training steps and functions.

The next effort undertaken, by LOGICAN, INC. was to demonstrate technical feasibility, the problem being stated as one of implementing sufficient automated weapon system training to demonstrate technical feasibility in terms of computer programs and crew station development, within realistic and practical constraints.

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Papers published but not presented:

ROLE OF DIGITAL COMPUTER MODELS IN TRAINING DEVICE DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES

C. F. Asiala

McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company–East

The need to evaluate student and instructor workload with more precision during training device design increases with the cost and complexity of new systems.  Paper and pencil methods are adequate to evaluate total student and instructor workload early in the design, but have weaknesses when applied to task distributions, probability effects, and simultaneous evens.  Computer methods have been developed to given equipment designers early quantitative data on student and instructor workload capability (Asiala, 1969; Chubb et al, 1970; Clausen et al, 1968; Nelson and Jackson, 1968: Siegel and Wolf, 1969; and Topmiller, 1968).  This paper describes a model which provides more realistic student and instructor workload data.  The model has these advantages compared to other available models in that it:

1)          Provides required core independent of the number of requested replications

2)          Supplies visual, right and left hand, feet, communication, and auditory and visual information processing loadings besides the total task loading

3)          Considers simultaneous tasks

4)          Provides task distribution

5)          Simulates human failure rates and learning curve variations.

Analytical and computer techniques are combined in the model to aid in determining student and instructor display and control requirements, station configurations, and allocation of tasks.  In addition, it provides the effect of automated and manual operations on task loading, queuing delays and reliability, the impact of diverse add-on requirements, and the performance measurement criteria.

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MEASUREMENT OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER PERFORMANCE

Dr. R. Biser and H. Mencher

Avionics Laboratory, USAECOM

Fort Monmouth, New Jersey

S. Berg, W. Patterson, J. Mikula

American Electronic Laboratories, Inc.

To supply technical support for the concept formulation of an Air Traffic Management System, a test vehicle was developed to evaluate certain automated enroute air traffic control concepts in a tactical environment.  Designated the Semiautomatic Flight Operations Center (SAFOC), it was evaluated by its ability to control simulated Army air traffic, flying according to realistic tactical scenarios.  The target simulators at the National Aviation Facility Experimental Center (NAFEC) provided the air traffic input, and automatic data collection techniques gathered the output.

One of the primary purposes of the evaluation was to test the ability of air traffic controllers to work with automated equipment while retaining the final decision on any control commands.  It is felt that the data collection, reduction, and evaluation techniques to be described in this paper are of general interest in establishing and quantifying human performance measures in a semi-automated environment.

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USE OF DIGITAL COMPUTERS FOR REAL-TIME SIMULATION OF TACTICAL RADAR

C. J. Blanding

The Singer Company, Link Division

Tactical radar training devices have historically been restricted to the use of multiple servomechanisms to mechanize the radar antenna scan and stabilization equations for use in target and landmass simulation.  It is now possible (and, in fact, preferable) to perform the complete antenna simulation using a small general-purpose digital computer and a small amount of special digital hardware.  A recent training device has demonstrated the outstanding advantages of this approach.  Before discussing this new technique, we should establish the system requirements and discuss some of the previous simulation techniques.

Typical radar training devices are operated as a sub-system within an aircraft-training device.  The radar simulator will receive information defining the aircraft position (latitude and longitude), the aircraft attitude (pitch, roll, heading, etc.), the gyro attitude, and the radar mode of operation.  The radar simulator must then provide accurate positioning of the landmass data (a photographic filmplate), simulate the motion of the antenna, as performed in the actual aircraft system, and provide accurate real-time antenna position information to the target generator (in aircraft reference), the landmass video generation subsystem (in earth reference), and the radar indicator (in gyro reference).

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DIGITAL RADAR LANDMASS SIMULATION

Alexander J. Grant

Electronics Engineer, Computer Laboratory, Naval Training Device Center

What is landmass radar?     Landmass radar may be defined as any radar that scans the ground for the purpose of navigation and or target identification.  Landmass radar may be either airborne or shipboard (surface).

The airborne landmass radar, which is used only for navigation purposes, provides the aircraft navigator with information about the terrain and reflectivity of the scanned area of a more or less gross nature.  For example, the outlines of cities, hydrographic features, ridge lines and shadows caused by intervening peaks are observed, and by comparison to the maps and charts, the flight of the aircraft is navigated.

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WIDE-ANGLE PROJECTION TELEVISION

E. F. Kashork

Visual Simulation Laboratory, Naval Training Device Center

This paper will discuss, in general, wide-angle projection television as a tool for producing visual displays for training devices.  It will describe the defining parameters and provide two solutions to the problem of using wide-angle projection TV for providing a visual display of the real world-both methods of which exist here at the Center.  Two other potential solutions will be briefly discussed.  Typical applications will be offered.

A feasibility study performed for the Center (1) on the use of wide-angle television for visual simulation indicated the following as requirements for the display:

1)       Observer should see an image which appears at optical infinity, and

2)       Field of View (FOV) must be adequate to take care of head motion, and

3)       Brightness must be at least five FTL, or greater, and finally

4)       The image should subtend an angle of 180 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees vertically.

The study went on to say that it is known that the eyes are accommodated at infinity, when seeing objects at 100 feet, or more, and a simulated display should present an image at infinity.

A second, more recent study (2), agreed that a scene focused at infinity was one focused at 50 feet.  The study further found that an image at 10 feet distance cannot be distinguished from one at infinity is it is displayed on a screen of sufficiently large angle, and if there are not connecting structures between the observer and the screen to give distant cues.

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COMPUTERIZED OPERATIONAL TRAINING FOR AEROSPACE SYSTEMS: AUTOMATED PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION (API)

R. T. Murray

Air Operations Division, System Development Corporation

This paper concerns the Automated Programmed Instruction project developed and produced for the United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command by the System Development Corporation.  In 1965, the System Development Corporation commenced a project to determine the feasibility of implementing the concept of computer-assisted instruction into an operational air defense computer.  This early research was conducted on the BUIC Air Defense System computer.  BUIC, an acronym for Backup Intercept Control System was then in the BUIC II phase.  This early SDC research culminated in a determination that the concept of computer-assisted instruction could effectively be implemented into an operational system.  In essence, the determination that individualized training based on accepted concepts of computer-assisted instruction could be accomplished, using a military air defense operational computer, as the teaching medium.

Following this feasibility study, the Aerospace Defense Command requested that SDC undertake a project to implement this type of training into the BUIC III advanced air defense system.  The air Force termed this training concept automated Programmed Instruction, or API.  The reason for using the term API rather than the acronym CAI which stands for Computer-Assisted Instruction was that API was totally based on the teaching concepts of programmed instruction, as developed during the 1950’s.  The SDC Automated Programmed Instruction training vehicle therefore was an application of proven training concepts and advanced computer technology.  In API training the computer presents instructional information to the student, quizzes him as to how well he learned the information, presents an immediate feedback as to the correctness of his response, and when he makes an error, provides remedial instructions.

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A PRINTER PLOTTER PROGRAM FOR DIGITAL SIMULATION STUDIES

K. L. Prime and C. S. Bauer

Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems

Florida Technological University

Many computer simulation experiments involve the generation of large quantities of output data, resulting in extensive tables of numerical information.  These tables are often difficult to interpret without considerable effort on the part of the reader, particularly with respect to the detection of variable trend perturbations in long strings of data.  To alleviate this difficulty, a computer subroutine was developed to provide immediate printer plots of data arrays generated in simulation program runs.  These plots allow the immediate examination of experimental run results, and provide the user with an easy-to-read tool for determining requirements for additional computer runs.

The program will plot up to five simultaneous data curves, with automatic plot variable scaling on each curve to achieve maximum output resolution in each instance.  If the user wishes to plot any number of curves less than the five maximum allowed on a given set of axes, it is only necessary to fill the unused arrays appearing in the call statement with some common constant value, and the curve for this array or group of arrays will not be plotted.  Similarly, simulation program outputs with more than five variables can easily be accommodated with multiple calls to the plotting program.

The plot routine was written in IBM 1130 FORTRAN, but should be acceptable to any FORTRAN compiler with an alphanumeric capability and provisions for a DATA statement.  In fact, the authors use the same program deck on both IBM 1130 and IBM 360/65 computer runs, with the only change required being the appropriate selection for the FORTRAN logical unit number for the output printer.  A complete listing of the program appears in Figure 1.

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REAL-TIME SPECTRUM ANALYSIS OF SONAR SIGNALS

USING A COMPUTERIZED ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS SYSTEM

F. A. Ryder

Hydrospace Research Corporation, South Florida Laboratory

For some time, the sea-going computer has been proving its worth in a wide variety of applications.  In this presentation, we describe an acoustic analysis system built around a small general-purpose computer, and consider the role it has played, and the influence it has exerted in extensive at-sea tests of a sophisticated sonar system.  Particular attention is paid to the use and value of on-line acoustic data in improving operator effectiveness in Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (TDT&E).

The acoustic analysis system, Hydrospace Research Corporation System 1360, is shown in its shipboard installation in figure 1.  The system is a specialized hybrid of analog and digital subsystems organized so as to provide effective acquisition, on-line processing and output of acoustic data in standard format, for immediate use by the operator.  This capability is of obvious value in field experimentation as well as in operational usage.  Based on the on-line spectral data, the operator or experimenter can verify overall acoustic system performance over the frequency range of interest, detect abnormalities, modify procedures, etc.  In addition, the ability to acquire, present, and compare data under changing conditions in the course of exercises, constitutes an effective mechanism for training and familiarization of new personnel with sonar information in general and with specific characteristics of acoustic gear.

To illustrate the benefits of a rapid on-line analysis capability from the standpoint of operator effectiveness, we should first outline certain unique aspects of the sonar evaluation program referred to above.

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ELECTROACOUSTIC SIMULATION OF COMBAT SOUNDS

PRESENT STATE-OF-THE-ART AND FUTURE GOALS

Allan P. Smith

Head, Audio Test and Evaluation Facility, Naval Training Device Center

Electroacoustic simulation of combat sounds is of considerable interest in military training.  The cost of weapons and ammunition, personnel required to operate the weapons, and danger to the trainee, are some of the reasons why the use of operational weapons for training activities is undesirable.  The electroacoustic simulation of combat sounds such as rifle or artillery fire is a two-part process that requires recording the sound of the weapon to be simulated, and the electroacoustic reproduction of the sound recording.  Advantages of the electroacoustic recording and reproduction of combat sounds are as follows:

1)          Once the master recording of a weapon sound is made, unlimited copies of the recording can be made to supply numerous users as well as the establishment of a library of combat sounds, which would serve many training locations.

2)          After the initial equipment investment, operation of a combat sound reproduction system is economical.  Automation of the reproduction system can free instructors for other training functions.

Before the state-of-the-art technology in electro-acoustic recording and reproduction systems can be discussed, it is necessary to define the nature of combat sounds, and the goal to be achieved in the electro-acoustic simulation process.  The sound produced when a rifle is fired is essentially a high intensity pulse of energy, which has a steep wavefront and rapid decay.  Peak sound pressure readings of 180 decibels have been measured at the muzzle of a rifle as it is fired.  Because of the sharp wavefront of the pulse, it is estimated that the bandwidth of the sound is from d.c. to beyond audibility (15 kHz).  The sub-audible component of the pulse produces a pressure wave that is felt rather than heard.  The exact degree of electro-acoustic simulation of combat sounds will largely depend on the end use of the simulation.  To simplify the establishment of acoustic requirements for an electro-acoustic simulator of combat sounds, three categories or degrees of simulation are defined as follows:

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APPLICATION OF ADVANCED SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY TO PILOT TRAINING

J. F. Smith and D. W. Simpson

The Singer Company, Link Division

For many years flight crew training followed a very traditional pattern; pilots were required to practice maneuvers in an aircraft for the purpose of developing skill levels sufficient to pass a rating check.  Each new training program was modeled after those preceding; changes were minimal.

Later, as a result of the ingenuity of personnel concerned with training problems, the use of ground training devices was introduced into pilot training programs.  These trainers were first used for instrument flight training and later for procedures training.  After several evolutions of ground-based trainers, each possessing increased training capability, managers of pilot training programs became increasingly aware that simulators provide a suitable training environment and achieve many training objectives in a more efficient manner and with greater safety than the aircraft they simulate.  At the present time, flight simulators have progressed to a point where airline training center managers foresee using little or no aircraft time in upgrading pilots to new equipment qualification.

Even with increased emphasis on the use of ground training devices little attention was given to the role of the instructor.  Simulator flight instructors were also burdened with such tasks as problem control and simulator operation, and thus were too overburdened to apply their instructional talents effectively.  The result was less than maximum effectiveness in the use of modern ground training devices.

With the advanced digital computers and programming techniques now available, solutions to these instructor problems exist.  Automated instructor aids such as problem initialization, malfunction insertion, and objective performance evaluation can relieve the instructor of much of his auxiliary workload, allowing him to assume his unique role as a manager of training.

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SIMPLIFYING DYNAMIC VISUAL DETECTION SIMULATIONS

Dr. Robert C. Sugarman, Research Psychologist

Harry B. Hammill, Research Physicist

Jerome N. Deutschman, Principal Engineer

Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Inc.

As part of a larger program at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Inc. (CAL), it became necessary to use empirical data for the validation of a mathematical visual detection model, but more importantly to gain insight into the nature of visual detection of aircraft having a fragmented variation in brightness.  The study of structured targets is of great interest because their detection cannot be validly derived by considering them to be equivalent to an unstructured target with uniform brightness equal to the average brightness of the structured target.  Particular attention was paid to glint) specular reflection of the sun) and to brightness patterns caused by shadows cast by aircraft structures.  Specifically, we were studying the detection of aircraft by ground observers.  The required data were the instantaneous probabilities of visual detection of the aircraft at every point along its flight path.

In our search for such data, we found that previously reported laboratory studies used unpatterned (or unstructured) targets while field studies, using real aircraft, generally had poor documentation of the brightness variations of the target and the sky background.  Hence, it was decided that a very basic experimental effort was needed.  Essentially it consisted of the acquisition of data in the laboratory using human observers and simulated aircraft.  The subsequent use of the data to make quantitative comparisons within two families of structured targets with arbitrarily chosen parameters and to spot check the predictions obtained for the CAL visual detection model for unstructured targets.

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VISUAL AND MOTION EFFECTS ON AN EXPERIMENTAL WIDE-ANGLE AIRCRAFT SIMULATOR

E. Swiatosz

Visual Simulation Laboratory, Naval Training Device Center

Traditionally the piloting of an aircraft was considered essentially a visual process.  This is because the eye, coupled with the computational ability of the brain, provides the human with his most powerful sensor.  Although much information is available on an n individual area, such as visual, much of the information on the various sensory cues are fragmentary.  (Cues being defined here as information which is useful to the operator in controlling a vehicle and in making decisions as to the state of the vehicle).  It was due to the prohibitive and complicated nature of combining cues that little information had been obtained on the interaction of visual and motion cues in the control of aircraft.  For this reason past motion system performance and pilot’s vestibule reaction to motion were not adequately defined nor fully understood.  The early trainers were limited to attempts to create realism effects such as engine induced vibration or low intensity rough air.  These movements were not correlated with pilot control, or with the visual display.  Hence, false or conflicting motion cues would be introduced with resulting negative training effects.  One of the objectives of continuing research would be to consider techniques, which would avoid conflicting or false cues imposed by the limitation of simulation equipment.  However, as described in recent Human Factor reports, (1,2), the subject of the interaction of visual and motion cues is complex and difficult.  This difficulty stems partly from the limitations of the hardware, but to a great extent it stems from the complexity of the human factor elements, and lack of information on their interactions.

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