MOVE ASIDE
Eliminating disparate systems on the MMVP Type II variant of the MRAP, shown here during route clearance training in June 2018 at Fort Drum, New York, means that each operator can have access to all of the sensors on the vehicle from the display at his or her station. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Avery Cunningham, 172nd Public Affairs Detachment)
THE INITIAL DESIGN Te Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) family of vehicles, which includes the MMVP Type II, provides Soldiers with highly survivable, multimission platforms capable of mitigating improvised explo- sive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, explosively formed penetrators, under- body mines and small arms fire threats, which produce the greatest number of casualties in overseas contingency oper- ations. However, earlier versions of the vehicles had disparate systems for each vehicle operator or combat engineer, such as the driver, the second-seat operator for night vision, the gunner who controls the remote turret gun, and other opera- tors managing various functions of the MMVP Type II, sensors, interrogation arm and a semiautonomous robot.
Each crew member has a separate mission, which meant no crew member had access to what the others were seeing and oper- ating. If one were incapacitated for any reason, the others could not take over that person’s role without leaving their console. As well, each user interface was specific to that station—meaning that another crew member might not immediately be
able to operate another’s console interface when needed.
By moving from disparate systems on the platform for each operator in the MMVP Type II vehicle, each could work at his or her crew station with access to all of the sensors on the vehicle, including video sensors and even the tactical Single Chan- nel Ground and Airborne Radio System. With the MVD software presenting a consistent, modular user interface to all crew stations, any operator can perform the functions of or get access to the func- tions of any other crew station. (See Figure 1, Page 121.) Tis helps balance workload and increases situational awareness, as additional eyes can see each video feed and sensor input on any display.
CONNECTING THE SYSTEMS Tese kinds of modern military systems present significant challenges. To make the MVD system possible requires networked, high-performance, interconnected smart display systems, sensors, video processors and a server mounted inside the MMVP Type II vehicles on which to run the Army-created software. Tis software is hardware-independent and uses a modu- lar, plug-in-based VICTORY-conformant
Army architecture—meaning new enabler systems can be added without modifying the existing code. One goal was eliminat- ing the stovepiped nature of individual systems that do not interoperate or inter- communicate.
Te first challenge was technical. Tradi- tionally, disparate systems come from different contractors and, almost by defi- nition, are not interoperable. For many reasons, including bidding, contract and development times, military systems are typically deployed using computer technology that is one or two (or more) generations behind what is offered in current consumer devices. Tis MVD application, however, required the process- ing of extremely high volumes of video encoded as data messages with very mini- mal delay (low-latency processing), which demanded the best-available and latest- generation technology from the civilian world. For example, servers running Intel’s latest processors were needed; however, they are not battle-hardened.
From the operator’s standpoint, delays of as little as a single video frame from when something happens outside the vehicle to when it’s displayed on the
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