Embedded Training for the FCS and More
Embedded Training is Being Developed as an Integral Part of the Army FCS. Optimizing Current Bandwith Limitations will Greatly Assist in Realizing an Embedded Training Capability.
by Erin Flynn Jay
Soldiers of the Army’s Future Combat System Brigade Combat Team will use embedded training, giving them the ability to train anywhere and at any time. Today, many warfighters do not have that option as most training packages are not embedded on platform computer systems or updated automatically over a network.
“Embedded training is being developed as an integral part of the FCS manned platform and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) architectures,” said Greg Manross, assistant product manager, FCS Training Common Component, U.S. Army PEO STRI.
Embedded training is enabled by the FCS network. It will provide future soldiers with the ability to have individual and collective training products at their fingertips. “By updating training packages through the network and embedding those onto the hard drive of the soldier’s vehicles, the Army will provide the ability to train anywhere, anytime on the equipment the soldier will actually fight on,” Manross said.
In a FCS brigade, soldiers will train in the live, virtual and constructive mode, while all individual and collective FCS training products will come in one of three forms of training support packages (TSPs). A TSP is a complete package of training material needed to teach individuals, teams and units how to perform their individual and collective tasks associated with planning, preparing, executing and assessing operations, Manross said. Individual training will come in the form of interactive multimedia instruction courseware and integrated electronic technical manuals and collective training will come in the form of constructive or virtual simulation- based TSPs.
These individual and collective TSPs will be embedded in the computer system on board the FCS vehicle and soldiers will access them through what is called the Warfighter Machine Interface. The Warfighter Machine Interface’s primary job is to present relevant and timely battlefield information to the soldier, but it will also provide context-sensitive presentation management and simple, consistent role-based presentations such as training scenarios, Manross told MT2.
For example, if a gunner of a FCS Mounted Combat System vehicle wanted a specific set of gunner training information, the soldier would use the vehicle’s Warfighter Machine Interface to access the specific training package embedded on the vehicle’s computer hard drive. The soldier could then perform the training using the actual vehicle he is assigned to and in any location. Today, the gunner would not have that option as training packages are not embedded on platform computer systems or updated automatically over a network—he would have to conduct the training at a specific location and time.
Since the Army FCS program began, nearly 10 years ago, embedded training has been designed and integrated in conjunction will all FCS brigade combat team network and hardware development efforts. To fulfill the brigade operational concept, the network and its hardware platforms, specifically the manned ground vehicles must be capable of supporting operations, mission rehearsal and training of separate audiences (soldiers, units, leader/staff teams) simultaneously.
FUTURE TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
Manross explained future training requirements:
The FCS will have a networked, embedded, virtual, full-task training (FTT) capability to support individual, crew and multi-echelon training without reconfiguration of the equipment. The FTT will provide a synthetic operating environment to conduct training. The FCS embedded training systems will simulate, replicate or access tactical, target, threat and other operational data received and processed by the system.
The embedded training systems will provide interfaces that allow it to interoperate within the FCS family of systems, with training aids devices, simulators and simulations, and with the legacy and interim synthetic training environment that includes live, virtual and constructive simulators/simulations.
The FTT will support training at the soldier (operator/maintainer), crew and small unit level to include the dismounted infantry elements of FCS.
The FCS embedded training capability will replicate friendly and enemy weapons effects and provide simulation/ stimulation of other system effects. It will generate, send, and receive engagement data that conforms to the Army command training instrumentation architecture and joint instrumentation systems.
FCS will interoperate with current systems (multiple integrated laser engagement system and combat training center-instrumentation system) and future Army (OneTESS) and joint engagement simulation systems via a high-level architecture construct. Tactical engagement simulation system (TESS) provides realistic simulation of the tactical environment during forceon- force and force-on-target tactical training exercises. FCS C4ISR system will be capable of transmitting tactical engagement data.
FCS embedded training capability will provide individual training via TSPs executed on the organic equipment of the vehicle. This individual embedded training capability replaces the overhead associated with the on-line training being conducted in brick and mortar facilities. FCS embedded training will also provide a distributed means of maintaining the most current training information instantly across the network to all the FCS units.
WHAT IS NEEDED FROM INDUSTRY
Industry can provide assistance in the realization of embedded training in a number of areas. “Currently bandwidth is a limiting factor in the transmission of data across the network. Optimizing or overcoming current bandwidth limitations will greatly assist in realizing an embedded training capability,” said Manross. “Also any industry assistance in increasing the frequency spectrum will greatly enhance the ability to conduct embedded training. Finally continued industry work in computing resource efficiency in the areas of weight, size and memory capacity will be a tremendous benefit in increasing the capabilities of FCS platforms and the embedded training on those platforms.”
OTHER ET DEVELOPMENTS
ET strategies are evolving for other programs. The new generation of trainer and front-line aircraft seek to embed only software to achieve the training functionality, but for older aircraft new hardware must be produced and integrated into existing avionics, said Dave Spooner, Thales Training & Simulation, an international electronics and systems group, addressing defense, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Examples of the new generation of aircraft with embedded simulation include the Aermacchi M346 and Lockheed Martin F-35 where Cubic has been awarded a development contract to embed a version of its Air Combat Training System, which is externally pod-mounted on other aircraft.
Embedded simulation has been discussed in the flight simulation and training industry for decades. Even today, very few aircraft are flying with any embedded simulation and those that do generally have only single systems, such as radar or electronic warfare. Spooner said that problems to be overcome by aircraft suppliers include:
Aircraft certification and software integrity: Since the embedded software reacts to pilot control there is an almost unlimited combination of code arising from the combination of original flight qualified software and the new embedded software. All combinations must be rigorously tested to guarantee integrity under all conditions—a significant cost and time burden.
Flight safety: If real-world conditions deteriorate can the student pilot identify real from virtual and take corrective actions?
Security: Maintaining total security of the trainer aircraft and its datalink during training and evaluation sorties is almost impossible to guarantee, unlike those conducted in a ground-based simulator.
“Embedded simulation enables aircraft manufactures to add significant training value to their products,” Spooner continued. “For the user it provides a flexible airborne training environment which challenges the student in an immediate and relevant manner. Obstacles exist which need to be overcome; however, a new dawn of pilot training is imminent.”
THERMITE USEFUL FOR EMBEDDED TRAINING
The Thermite line of computers was developed to meet a need for failproof high-performance computing in rugged world of military vehicles, soldier-worn applications, and the like. These environments, with their rigors of shock, vibration, moisture and dust are fatal to conventional electronics, but the Thermite’s sealed, conduction-cooled design is impervious to these threats.
“A natural use of Thermite is for embedded training, i.e. conducting a training scenario for the soldier in his vehicle, presenting synthetic challenges, and letting him use vehicle controls as he would during a live exercise,” said Rick Davis, principal engineer, Applications Engineering group, Quantum3D, a developer and manufacturer of realtime visual simulation and computing systems.
“The graphics capabilities of Thermite lend themselves quite naturally to generating synthetic terrains and targets, and generous computational power lends itself to vehicle interfaces, scenario sequencing, and simulated opposing force,” Davis said. “Soldiers today are already accustomed to an indirect view of the battlefield, e.g. through video monitors, and so it’s a simple matter to replace real-world feeds with computer-generated imagery for training purposes.”
Central to the Thermite family is the TVC 2.0—it’s based on the Intel Pentium M processor and incorporates the advanced graphics from ATI, graphics power on par with a respectable laptop. It’s designed to run on batteries or vehicle power. Like the whole of the Thermite line, this platform runs Windows XP or Linux, making it easy to leverage mature image synthesis and training software available for these environments, and to quickly field solutions.
“The Thermite TVC 3.0 is a jump in central processing unit and graphics processing, exhibiting up to five times the horsepower of the TVC 2.0, and is suited for cases where training requirements drive higher scene complexity, higher frame rates and higher graphics realism,” Davis said. This platform steps up to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor and a faster NVIDIA graphics processing unit. Given its larger power consumption, it lends itself to running off of vehicle power, and is designed for operation on 28 volts.
At the low end of the Thermite line is the Thermite TL (“thin and light’). Its small size and moderate power consumption make it welcome in battery-powered, soldier-worn applications. Coupled with a monocular or headmounted display it suggests itself for proficiency training of the individual soldier.