SHAPING SYSTEMS TO THE SOLDIER
advisers get firsthand feedback from the Soldiers on the modifications they have made to their equipment, as well as insight gained supporting units dur- ing exercises and on the battlefield. Te engineering modifications happen offi- cially at some cost to the program, and Soldiers’ adaptations happen unofficially at some cost in battlefield risk. Neither is as efficient or ultimately as effective as we need it to be.
Training represents a cost that may not be as obvious as the costs of modifying a program. Training adapts Soldiers to their equipment. Te process of doing that with hundreds of thousands of Sol- diers requires a large training base—an expensive combination of facilities, people,
time and money—and these
resources will become more scarce if cur- rent budget predictions hold. Soldiers begin their careers in the training base and revisit it throughout their careers. Training continues at the unit level as NCOs help junior Soldiers understand mission realities beyond the scope of expensive, standardized training.
Te Army is taking advantage of tech- nological advances
to address these
training costs. It is exploring the use of virtual environments, augmented-reality tools and gaming in lieu of conduct- ing wide-scale realistic training events. RDECOM has developed a number of technologies to support this approach. Some are evolutionary, while others are revolutionary for a particular population or training scenario.
One such technology is the addition of 3-D vision and haptic feedback—using the sense of touch, as the controller in a race car video game does by buzzing or
shaking when the player’s car hits
a wall or another car—to the robotic arm technology that Soldiers use to detect and neutralize explosive hazards in Afghanistan. RDECOM research- ers and industry partners conducted an experiment at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, in which Soldiers training there showed a significant improvement in speed, accu- racy and operator confidence when using the 3-D interface and force-feedback hap- tic response system versus the 2-D vision and “factory” robotic arms.
Using the haptic response system, the Sol- dier feels it through the controller when the virtual Army unit hits an improvised explosive device (IED). Instead of training the Soldier to adapt to the equipment, we need to build equipment that can adapt to Soldiers and the conditions in which they find themselves. We need systems designed from the ground up with input and feed- back from our Soldiers—the Soldiers who will use these systems on the battlefields of tomorrow, and whose lives will depend on being able to operate them. Smart engi- neering and collaboration throughout the materiel development cycle can enable us to create such equipment and the best training systems to support it.
DIGGING TO THE FUTURE
In its research and development (R&D) of next-generation training tools, ARL’s Simulation and Training Technology Center, working with Dignitas Technologies LLC, has designed a collective training system for construction and combat engineers who operate excavators and bulldozers. The dynamic-terrain system provides a realistic, immersive experience in which Soldiers learn about soil resistance when digging and plowing; moving objects such as boulders, steel pipes, logs and crates; and supporting the detection and defeat of improvised explosive devices. (Image courtesy of Dignitas Technologies LLC)
MOLDING DESIGN TO THE SOLDIER Human systems integration and human factors engineering (HFE) hold the potential for these revolutionary gains. MANPRINT, for example, is the Army’s implementation of human systems inte- gration, under RDECOM’s leadership. Its stated mission is to optimize total system performance, reduce life-cycle costs and minimize the risk of Soldier loss or injury by considering the impact
118 Army AL&T Magazine July–September 2014
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