SOFTWARE OUTPOST
The Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Transformative Apps (TransApps) team had to adjust to the remote location of a combat outpost (COP) while providing software development support. Here, Zacharie Hall works on smartphone and handheld solutions at COP Kandalay in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. (Photo courtesy of CERDEC.)
Another quick fix arising directly from Soldier feedback was the use of QR (quick response) codes to share informa- tion from one phone to another. While each phone had the ability for the Soldier to draw on a map, there was no way to share that information across users. In contrast, everything could be put into the QR code, and another Soldier could use the camera to download and import the information.
“It was funny because they finally, when we gave them tablets to hook up with a big- screen TV in the pre-mission room, they
would do the same thing there. … There’s this giant QR code on the screen. All of the guys would bring out their phones, and you’d hear all this beep, beep, beep with them taking the picture,” Hall said.
As a result of the Soldiers’ immediate need for adjustments,
the TransApps team
used a combination of custom-developed software and commercial-off-the-shelf products to develop a solution as quickly as possible. The team then relayed that information back to DARPA so that updated versions of the apps would inte- grate those features.
Identifying smaller requirements as they emerged was a vital part of the team’s role downrange. “Those smaller problems don’t always get attention,” Kjellberg said. “While we were out there, we could address a smaller need in a quick manner. The problem is always changing. A lot of times, by the time we had the ability to react, if we weren’t out there, that need could change.”
IN-THEATER CONSTRAINTS While the team’s work resulted in field- ing useful apps to Soldiers and modifying them along the way, it was not without
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