Submission of proposals
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TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Weapons ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO-Air & Missile Defense OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to develop compact, rugged ultra wideband antenna technology that can be used in the DOD environment to produce small to medium caliber munitions (40-mm to 155-mm) capable of producing directed energy effects in addition to blast and fragmentation, as well as non-weaponized commercial ruggedized systems. DESCRIPTION: In the military environment, the radius of damage and the destructive power of conventional munitions is limited to that of the blast and fragments. The objectives of this effort are to extend the lethal range of munitions, increase the scope of the target set, and enhance destruction capability, through the development of multifunctional warheads. A directed energy component, such as high power microwave or ultra wideband signals can attack sensitive electronics and may have significantly longer lethal ranges than blast waves and fragments. One of the most critical technologies required to achieve these capabilities are compact antennas that can radiate energy over a broad frequency band and that can survive high g-force launches. Current capability in this technology area is highly limited, and additional applied research and development is critical in antenna's in order to enable development of this type of system. This type of enabling technology will also have significant commercial impact in compact ruggedized radars, and communications equipment. PHASE I: Identify potential compact ultra wideband antennas, such as fractal, plasma, and other innovative antennas, and conduct proof-of-principle demonstrations to: 1) verify that outputs are predictable and are consistent with predictions and 2) to assess their suitability for use in a variety of munitions to include packaging and ruggedization. PHASE II: Design, build, and test enhanced prototype compact, rugged, ultra wideband antennas and verify their capabilities. Design production process for mass production. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Compact, ultra wideband antennas are being considered for use in a variety of non-DOD markets such as deployable weather radars, ham radios, field radios, and cell phones. REFERENCES: 1) J. Benford and J. Swegle, High Power Microwaves, Artech House, Boston (1992). 2) A. B. Prishchepenko, “Electromagnetic Munitions”, 96UM0427 Moscow Soldat Udachi, No. 3, pp. 45 – 46 (1996).
A03-199 TITLE: Army Directed Energy Weapon Systems Deployability Enhancements TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Weapons ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO-Air & Missile Defense OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to develop enabling technologies in high energy chemical lasers, which will enhance their field utility and deploy-ability for the U.S. Army. High power laser weapon systems have the potential to provide precise, high probability of kill, low cost per kill, and multiple hits on target. They will also provide a force shield through protection of early entry forces, and engagement of rockets, artillery, and mortars. Chemical lasers have very high average power levels, but suffer from packaging and logistics issues. At these high power levels, multiple air and missile defense missions are achievable. Advanced HF/DF and COIL chemical lasers require improved hazardous chemical handling that is needed to reduce the vulnerability and improve the supportability of potential future military chemical laser systems. To fully realize these potential benefits, key enabling technological advancements are needed. DESCRIPTION: Directed energy weapon systems must be rapidly deployable, rugged, reliable, efficient, maintainable and sustainable. Fluorine (and Chlorine in COIL lasers), Nitrogen Tri-fluoride (NF3) and other toxic gas handling is a primary concern with proposed U.S. Army chemical lasers. Innovation is required to improve the performance of basic mechanical/chemical handling components such as valves, couplings, pressure regulators, and pressure vessels making them less likely to leak toxic/reactive gasses and more able to withstand battlefield conditions. Such improvements would make the weapon system less vulnerable with improved safety and reliability. For example, valves with extremely precise sealing ability and precision wear surfaces that prevent even minute particulates from entering reactive gas streams are needed. Materials research (or creative inorganic chemistry) into finding a metal hydride or similar material that could store NF3 and release it for extended time durations at relatively low pressures would also be of interest. Another interesting development would be making pressure vessels that were shock resistant or shock tolerant with mechanically robust passivation layers. Chemical lasers need these kinds of improvements in packaging and reliability to make the systems more robust and lessen the impact of logistics issues. PHASE I: Analyze and evaluate new concepts or designs and conduct proof-of-principle experimentation. PHASE II: Design, fabricate, and test prototype-scale device or components. Conduct parametric assessments. Demonstrate improvements of new concept/design over existing technologies. PHASE III: In addition to direct applicability to Army Directed Energy programs, enhancements to the reliability of chemical lasers with a wide range of average powers would have commercial applicability in industrial operations, materials processing, imaging, and remote sensing. Improved gas handling would also benefit the semi-conductor fabrication industry and the industrial gas process industries. REFERENCES: 1) Siegman, A. Lasers, University Science Books (1986) 2) Cotton, F. A. Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, 6th Edition (and earlier 5th Edition), John Wiley and Sons, (1999) 3) Steen, W. Laser Material Processing, Second Edition, Springer-Verlag, (1998). 4) Dowden, J. The Mathematics of Thermal Modeling, Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, (2001). 5) Bauerle, D., Laser Processing and Chemistry, Third Edition, Springer-Verlag, (2000) KEYWORDS: HF, DF, Chemical Lasers, Nd, Yb, Er, Solid State Lasers, Fiber Optics, Toxic Chemical Handling Equipment, Laser Diodes A03-200 TITLE: Advanced Virtual Environment Haptic Simulation TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Virtual Emergency Response Training System & VLET OBJECTIVE: Research and develop the immersive and haptic technologies and their interfaces to allow a Soldier, first responder, or medic to have a sense of touch and feel in a virtual environment. The systems would add a level of realism and fidelity to the virtual environment to further immerse an individual into the simulation. These applications would support Army operations in the areas of Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), first responder handling of a Weapons of Mass Destruction incident, and training for medical personnel. DESCRIPTION: Current immersive virtual environments do not have the capability of allowing the trainee to “feel” or interact physically with the environment that they are immersed in. This topic will address the capability and functionality of providing an immersed individual with a sense of full body feeling in the virtual world. These new capabilities would allow for the simulation of things such as: opening a door, feeling if a door is hot (fire in the room), feeling the heat from a fire, determining where you have been shot, taking a person’s pulse, feeling if a virtual person is breathing, determining if someone has a fever by touching their virtual head, and etc. Once these technologies and interfaces are developed, the virtual environments currently in use by the Army could be supplemented with the technology to add another level of realism. Current haptic capabilities allow someone to have a sensation on their fingertip or other area when they touch a virtual button or a virtual wall. Also, in order to prevent movement through an object such as a wall or a door the haptic device would be very bulky, cumbersome and in most instances tethered to the floor or wall. In the Army’s simulations, these same feedback senses need to be felt but with a compact, non-intrusive system that is not tethered to anything. Additionally, the feeling of a combat wound needs to be felt so that a soldier knows that he has been shot. COTS systems cannot provide this level of realism. PHASE I: Investigate haptic systems and interface requirements for basic tasks, environmental feedback, and medical diagnosis and treatment simulation applications for virtual simulation systems. Examples of such systems would be those supporting dismounted infantry, weapons of mass destruction responder communities, and the medical community. Develop a concept system design that would perform the following tasks: - Allow for the sense of touch, pressure, and temperature - Provide feedback to soldiers and/or medics in a variety of applications as described above - Programmable so that, as new requirements are identified, the system can be programmed with these new feelings (i.e., getting feedback from a bomb blast) - Be non-obtrusive or bulky - Be untethered
1) "Training Technology Revamps Infantry Training", by Chris Weirauch, MS&T Magazine, Issue 1 2002. 2) "Realizing the Transformation to the Objective Force," by Chris Renninger, Military Training Technology, Volume7, Issue 8 2002. 3) "Dismounted Infantry Takes the Virtual High Ground," by William Miller, Military Training and Technology, Volume 7, Issue 8 2002. 4) "Simulation Capabilities for Dismounted Infantry in the Urban Fight," Published paper by Michelle Mayo, Jim Grosse, and Brian Comer, July 2002. 5) "Immersive Simulations May Be The Key To Training The Objective Force’s Dismounted Soldiers In The Future" Published paper by James Grosse, Michelle Mayo, Brian Comer, and Bruce Knerr, August 2002. KEYWORDS: Haptic, first responders, weapons of mass destruction, dismounted infantry, MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain), medical, simulation, virtual environment A03-201 TITLE: Automated Tool to Model Software for System Performance Predictions TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEOSTRI - PM WARSIM - JSIMS Land OBJECTIVE: To develop a tool that automates the process of modeling large software programs for the purpose of predicting system scalability and for facilitating what-if design changes. DESCRIPTION: Large-scale software projects, such as modern DoD constructive simulations, face challenges meeting their target performance goals within reasonable budget constraints. One promising approach toward this problem is to create simulations of the software to understand the complex interactions between sub-systems and to predict how the software will perform under various system loads and hardware configurations. Software improvement efforts can be prioritized and directed by analyzing simulation results to determine which sub-system improvements would have the greatest system-wide impact. Creating a valid simulation of a large software system requires a significant and dedicated effort, increasing costs and inherently limiting time available to analyze the results of the simulation. The purpose is to accelerate the software performance analysis process through the development of a tool that automatically creates a simulation of large software systems. The automated process would include four distinct phases: 1) modeling the structure of the program, 2) measuring program performance, 3) appropriately fusing performance data to the model to create an accurate simulation, and 4) predict system scalability. PHASE I: Investigate current software tools for their capability in process modeling for constructive simulations. Develop techniques for measuring the overall software program performance, fusing performance data to the individual models and providing the ability to predict the system’s scalability. The results of phase I would be the integration of the techniques into an architectural design concept of an automated tool. PHASE II: Develop a prototype tool based on the Phase I architectural design concept. Test the automated tool by selecting programs of varying sizes and complexity to show how the tool models the program structure, measure the program performance, predicts the system’s scalability and fuses the data into a final simulation. This tool should interface with existing commercial automated case tools. PHASE III: Commercial development efforts could also benefit by simulating their own software to achieve better performance predictions and better analysis insights. This tool can be utilized on any software program that has to perform real time or faster than real time, for example, commercial flight software, mission critical software, internet/financial software, etc. The goal is to help the software crisis by automating the simulation of the software and predicting system performance. Analysis of performance-constrained DoD simulations could proceed more rapidly and with greater insight. The automated tool will mitigate the risk of system performance by identifying where software improvements can be made and have the greatest system-wide impact. REFERENCES: 1) Cluff, C., Kirk J. Simulation Simulation: Theory, History, and Practical Use Proceedings Huntsville Simulation Conference, 2002. 2) Richardson, R., Wuerfel, R., RTI Performance Testing, DMSO, 28 September 1998. 3) Garrido, J. M., Object-Oriented Discrete-Event Simulation with Java, Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers, 2001. KEYWORDS: automated tool, model, software, simulation, system performance, prediction, analysis, constructive, scalability. A03-202 TITLE: High-Precision, Expendable, Six Degree-of-Freedom Sensor TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO STRI/PM TRADE (OneTESS Program) OBJECTIVE: Design and build a six degree-of-freedom sensor that can be manufactured at very low cost and is capable of very accurate measurement of three linear and three angular acceleration components. The sensor must be small in size, light weight, consume little power, and shock resistant, to be suitable for embedment into weapons such as the XM29. This capability is a key enabler for line-of-sight and non line-of-sight (NLOS) tactical engagement simulations - an FCS ORD Key Performance Parameter for training. DESCRIPTION: Tactical engagement simulations conducted during training exercises are currently accomplished with lasers (MILES) that have serious disadvantages: they are not intrinsic to the design of the weapon (appended), are heavy, consume lots of power, and cannot simulate NLOS engagements between the shooter and the target. What is required is a small, light weight, low power sensor that can be embedded into a rifle with a cability to determine a pointing vector at, or near, the weapon's own ballistic accuracy. The government has spent considerable amounts of R&D funds developing micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMU), however, technical barriers beyond size are also high risk. For instance, MEMS IMU performance is inversely related to size and their fundamental limits are determined by thermal noise. Additionally, even with significant reductions to size, weight, and power through MEMS technology, the combination of low price, to the point of being expendable, and high performance are also significant barriers. There are potentially different approaches to sensor development that can deliver high performance yet mitigate or even eliminate significant disadvantages that MEMS-based IMUs have, such as high drift rates, calibration requirements, high cost ($1200 and up) and sensitivity to temperature changes. The goal of this sensor development will be to achieve a drift rate of less than 0.3 degrees per hour and a size, weight, and power suitable for embedment into dismounted soldier weapon systems and unmanned platforms. It must be low cost (less than $200 per unit in quantity), be shock resistant, require little or no calibration, and be insensitive to temperature changes. PHASE I: Define sensor capabilities/characteristics, create a design concept, perform a design analysis (with tradeoffs) that includes an assessment of the feasibility to meet the tactical engagement simulation requirements (accuracy, size, weight, power consumption) and cost goals. PHASE II: Fabricate and test a prototype sensor. Write a report that evaluates the prototype's capabilities, limitations, and addresses its feasibility to meet tactical engagement simulation requirements (accuracy, size, weight, power consumption) and cost goals. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: As an input/interface device for FCS, remote controlled toys, computer aided drawing, computer gaming, underground boring, and as a navigation aid for unmanned platforms in GPS denied environments. REFERENCES: 1) "Applications of Magnetic Fluids for Inertial Sensors", M. I. Piso, Romanian Space Agency Research Cnter, Bucharest, Romania. 2) "Magnetic Liquid Accelerometers", M. I. Piso, Romanian Journal of Physics (1995).
A03-203 TITLE: Trainning Performance Assessments for Mixed Initiative (Manned/Umanned) Team TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems OBJECTIVE: To develop a method and mechanism to assess and determine criteria for successful performance of unmanned systems and manned/unmanned teams in both the real world and in training environments. The OneSAF Testbed Baseline (OTB) in conjunction with the Advanced Robotics Simulation Science and Technology Objective (STO) Program are possible baselines for the research effort. The resulting work must facilitate performance assessment & measurement of unmanned systems and manned/unmanned teams. DESCRIPTION: The Objective Force will employ robotic systems in intelligence collection and as a force multiplier. Many tactical robotic systems are difficult to utilize; requiring a high level of operator training and control to optimize their tactical employment. Currently, the training of procedures and tactics for the employment of new robotic systems in the battlespace are limited and need to be developed and refined. The Army currently does not have the capability to evaluate and understand the effectiveness of Mixed Initiative teams of manned and unmanned systems. Simulating robotics systems within Computer Generated Forces (CGF) will provide a low overhead driver and analysis capability for Future Combat System development. It is critical that the Army understands how to best fuse the strengths of the human with the strengths of the unmanned systems. It is equally important that we develop appropriate metrics to assess the performance of these teams. Current robotic control technologies cannot meet future requirements based on more demanding deployment criteria and more hazardous threat environments. Improved understanding of the Mixed Initiative team resulting from this research will provide corresponding advantages to the commercial simulation business, and burgeoning entertainment market as well as applications to Homeland Defense activities. Phase I: Develop a method and mechanism for performance assessment of manned/unmanned systems within the Advanced Robotic Simulation Environment. The resulting work must consider the man/machine interface as well as team performance metrics for Mixed Initiative teams. Phase II: Enhance and complete the method and mechanism developed in Phase I and conduct performance assessment experiments with Mixed Initiative teams in both the laboratory and in the field. The experiments should support an operational scenario and, when possible, include teams of soldiers and unmanned systems. If possible, the government will provide access to operational settings for the experiment (such as the MUCT site at the Unit of Action Maneuver Battlelab in Fort Knox, Kentucky). Phase III: The performance assessment tool could help the emergency response team to decide when to utilize mixed initiative team on a particular type of mission (such as in a contaminated urban area, bomb disposal, etc). As robotic systems get integrated into the entertainment, homeland defense and future military environments the performance assessment tool will play a critical role in building and assessing mixed teams. REFERENCES: 1) Bialczak, R., Ph.D., Nida, J., and Pettitt, B., and Kalphat, H. M., “Comparison Methodology for Robotic Operator Control Units,” Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems, The National Institute for Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, August 2002. 2) Kalphat, H. M., and Stahl, J., “STRICOM’s Advanced Robotics Simulation STO: The Army Solution to Robotics M&S,” Proceedings of the Eleventh Conference on Computer Generated Forces & Behavioral Representation, Orlando, FL, May 2002. 3) von der Lippe, S., Franceschini, Robert, Ph. D., Bialczak, R, Ph.D., Nida, J., and Kalphat, H. M., A, “The Robotic Army: The Future is CGF,” Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Computer Generated Forces & Behavioral Representation, Orlando, FL, May 2001. KEYWORDS: Robotics behaviors, team performance, unmanned vehicle, CGF, SAF, OTB A03-204 TITLE: Adapting Intelligent Tutoring System for Assessing Collaborative Skills TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM Digitized Training OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research is to investigate how Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS), which have been historically oriented toward providing instructor-less individual training, can be utilized to provide coach-less team training. This research will produce an advanced ITS capability which can be incorporated in PC-based or web-based simulations and provide an effective training mechanism for massively multi-player games. DESCRIPTION: This topic seeks to extend the state of the art in ITS development by selecting an existing ITS that focuses on an individual task performance and expanding the ITS to incorporate small group performance. Conventional ITSs consist of three models: Student, Expert and Instructor. This topic will research what innovative work is required to develop a team training ITS. The resulting ITS will go beyond providing individual-level instructor-less assessment and feedback, instead focusing on the collaborative training needs of various Army teams (e.g., infantry squad, armor company, battalion staff). The research will document the differences in developing ITS models used to support an individual training event vice the models used to support a team training event. The models will focus not only on the individuals in a group, but will also focus on the team as an individual entity. The lessons learned from this research will be invaluable in developing more sophisticated, collaborative ITSs in the future. This topic is focused on the technology required to produce an ITS, as opposed to the psychological side of human team performance and behavior. 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