Charles River Analytics was awarded a follow-on contract from the U.S. Army for their work on modeling and simulation with GATIR (Graphical Authoring Tool for Inference Rules). Charles River will work with the Modeling and Analysis Team at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) in Natick, MA, to develop state-of-the-art computer-based modeling and simulation techniques for developing new equipment and tactics for Soldiers.
“One of the goals of the Modeling and Analysis Team is to conduct assessments of ground Soldier equipment by creating realistic simulated Soldiers and environments where new capabilities can be introduced before they are built or used in the real world,” said Dr. Scott Neal Reilly, Vice President of Decision Management Systems at Charles River and the Principal Investigator for GATIR. “The simulation is both less expensive, since complex equipment can be evaluated before it is ever built, and safer, as the testing does not require live experimentation. It also makes the design, development, and evaluation process for new technologies faster, enabling new equipment and tactics to be deployed more rapidly.”
Charles River will develop models of how Soldiers perceive and reason about their environment using cognitive science and artificial intelligence techniques. These models will help, for instance, in the development of new sensors and decision aids to increase Soldiers’ awareness of their surroundings. Such new systems can, in turn, help reduce friendly fire and accidental non-combatant deaths.
Robert Auer, Soldier and Small Unit Modeling Army Technology Objective Manager for the U.S. Army NSRDEC, said, “Use of GATIR will greatly enhance both our ability to work with subject matter experts and in the creation of complex behavior sets pertaining to ground Soldier operations. This will allow for more realistic behavior representation and improved analysis capabilities.” Charles River will be joined on the effort by General Dynamics Information Technology, also of Natick, which is developing the Infantry Warrior Simulation (IWARS) modeling and analysis tool for the U.S. Army. Dr. Neal Reilly said, “IWARS models the physical environment well. We are working with them to make the behavior representation of the ground Soldiers just as good and to provide these enhanced tools to the Army.”
GATIR is the second collaboration between Charles River Analytics and the Modeling and Analysis Team in Natick. They recently wrapped up an effort that focused on modeling differences in Soldier behavior and decision-making that are based on individual differences and stresses. These factors play a significant role on the battlefield, and modeling and simulation analysis tools must account for them. Dr. Neal Reilly said, “We are really happy to be working with the group at Natick again. They are doing important work and we are glad to be a part of the effort.”
This material is based upon work supported by the US Army RDECOM Acquisition Center, Natick Contracting Division, Natick, MA, under Contract No. W911QY-07-C-0096. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Army RDECOM Acquisition Center, Natick Contracting Division, Natick, MA.
