THE ACADEMIC ANGLE


building the next generation of targeting devices and maneuver sensors.


THREE LINES OF EFFORT Te initial project, begun in fall 2011, encompassed three parallel lines of effort: a better, lighter tripod; a new graphical user interface (GUI); and a GUI emula- tor for developing and demonstrating the final products.


DESIGN TEAM


Professor Ken Funk, left, with MAJ Toby Birdsell, Katie Morowsky, Sarah McCrea and Daniel Gilruth of OSU’s Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering Depart- ment. Morowsky, McCrea and Gilruth, OSU engineering graduate students, helped assess design and usability during development of the Family of Weapon Sights. (Photos courtesy of PEO Soldier)


Soldiers need a stabilization device or tripod to locate targets accurately at dis- tance and enable a steady aim on target. Te tripods currently fielded create con- sternation at user juries because of their inflexible and bulky design.


While not specifying a tripod, PM SSL asked OSU to improve stabiliza- tion. OSU undergraduate engineering students designed, built and tested five different tripod prototypes, with guid- ance and supervision from Dr. John Parmigiani, research assistant professor. Ten, based on Army feedback, gradu- ate research assistants Anthony Nix, Josef Hortnagl and Patrick Dailey integrated the best ideas


from the undergraduate


designs to develop a vastly improved tri- pod. Improvements included a more ridged structure, a fine-adjustment mech- anism for azimuth and elevation, greater deployability and much more rugged over- all design, as well as changes to reduce size and weight, reflecting feedback from users.


CHEST TEST


James Haskell, a graduate research assistant, demonstrates one of the freestanding stabili- zation devices developed to aid a forward observer while operating the Vector 21 Laser Target Locator System, during a preliminary design review in spring 2013 at OSU.


102


Army AL&T Magazine


April–June 2014


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