Improved close-in detection for the mine hunter/killer system

Under contact to the United States Army, EG&G Technical Services currently is conducting field tests of the Ground Standoff Mine Detection System (GSTAMIDS) Block 0 Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) systems. GSTAMIDS is a spiral development effort designed to provide the war fighter an incremental, near-term capability to execute on-road countermine missions. GSTAMIDS is being developed in three distinct blocks. The primary mission for GSTAMIDS Block 0 is route clearance, automatically detecting and marking all metallic and non-metallic Anti-Tank (AT) mines. It consists of a Mine Detection and marking System (MDS) mounted on a teleoperated Mine Detection Vehicle (MDV) and a Main Computer System (MCS) mounted in a Mine Protected Clearance Vehicle (MPCV). Both vehicles have overpass capability for AT mines, as well as armor anti-mine blast protection. The MPCV mounted MCS receives sensor data, along with inertial navigation data, from the MDS via an RF PCM telemetry link, automatically processes and fuses the data for mine detection and sends mine marking commands back to the MDV. The MDS sensors provide a three-meter detection swath and include nine (9) Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR), nine (9) Pulsed Magnetic Induction (PMI) metal detectors, and (as an option) two (2) long-wave infrared (LWIR) cameras. Contractor testing includes raw sensor data collection and sensor evaluation, performance (Pd and FAR), operating and storage environment, and EMI/EMC radiated emissions and susceptibility, as well as maintenance demonstrations. Testing has been conducted at a number of test mine lanes in different climates under a wide range of weather conditions over the past year and a half. This paper will present contractor test results to date.

The Fiberoptic Guided Missile (FOG-M) was developed in the U.S. Army's Research, Development, and Engineering Center (RDEC) as a demonstration system for killing armor in an infantry application. The RDEC design uses a television sensor in the nose of the missile for in-flight target acquisition, bringing the video signal down a fiberoptic link that pays out behind the missile as it flies, to a gunner securely hidden in a defiladed launch vehicle. The gunner is able to select the target on a video screen and lock on an autotracker or alternately manually track the target to impact. The system design would use a common warhead for either armor or helicopter targets. The system is currently mounted on the High Mobility, Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), containing the gunner's station, launcher, and flight missiles. The gunner's station includes the capability for detailed mission planning, digital map display based on the Defense Mapping Agency's digital map databases, and display of the air battle situation for the gunner. Automatic targeting, control of multiple missiles in the air simultaneously, navigation using a digital correlator, and autotracking of moving targets in cluttered backgrounds with gunner selectable offset tracking capability are also available. The system has a capability to train the gunner using a perspective view scene generator that mimics the video scene he would be presented during missile flight. The scene generator uses the same hardware that displays the digital map, while a simulation of the missile runs in one of the system's computer processors to accurately move the seeker presentation around the scene. All of the other hardware used in embedded training is the same as the actual firing hardware. The system concept has been chosen by the Army as the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) component of the Forward Area Air Defense System (FAADS). The initial design is being upgraded for the MIL SPEC environment to allow early operational evaluation by the user. The lessons learned by these tests will be used to aid the full scale development program beginning in FY88. This paper describes aspects of the system designed by the Army's RDEC, with special emphasis on the mechanics of fiberoptic datalink winding and payout concerns.

: The U.S. Army Defense Ammunition Center and School (USADACS) was requested by the U.S. Army Armament, Munitions and Chemical Command (AMCCOM) to conduct a series of transportability tests to develop/evaluate tiedown procedures for the M467 container(s) and for the M613 container(s) on the M998 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). Using web strap tiedown assemblies, test loads with either one or two of the two type containers, successfully completed the USADACS five step road hazard course. An approved securement procedure was established for movement of the M467 and M613 containers on the HMMWV. (KT)

Deminers around the globe are still using handheld metal detectors that lack the capability to distinguish mines from clutter, detect mines containing very little metal, or find mines buried at deeper depths. In the southern African country of Angola, many areas and roads are impassable due to the threat of anti-tank landmines. Some of these mines are undetectable using current metal detector technology. The US Army has funded the development of the NIITEK ground penetrating radar (GPR) for detection of anti-tank (AT) landmines. This radar detects metal and plastic mines as well as mines that are buried too deep for handheld metal detectors to find. The US Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining (HD) Research & Development Program focuses on developing, testing, demonstrating, and validating new technology for immediate use in humanitarian demining operations around the globe. The HD team provided funding and guidance to NIITEK Incorporated for development of a prototype system called Mine Stalker - a relatively light-weight, remote-controlled vehicle outfitted with the NIITEK GPR, detection algorithms, and a marking system. Individuals from the HD team, NIITEK Inc, and the non-governmental organization Meschen Gegen Minen (MgM) participated in a field evaluation of the Mine Stalker in Angola. The primary aim was to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of the NIITEK GPR under field conditions. The Mine Stalker was extremely reliable during the evaluation with no significant maintenance issues. All AT mines used to verify GPR performance were detected, even when buried to depths as deep as 25-33cm.

This is a technical historical chronicle of the past and on-going development of performance models for electro-opticalsensors carried out by the U.S. Army CECOM NVESD, the original Night Vision Laboratory. The emphasis has been onthermal imaging models and is also the focus ofthis paper. The origin ofthe Johnson criteria is shown and the resultingmodels that have evolved from the original concept proposed by John Johnson. The present formulations ofthe models aredetailed and the newest developments are introduced. The force that drives the various improvements in the models is thedevelopment ofmore sophisticated thermal imagers whose performance must be described and predicted. Backgroundsupporting developments in laboratory measurements and field validation are indicated.Keywords: FLIR modeling; thermal imagers; Johnson criteria; Minimum resolvable temperature; Mmimum detectabletemperature; detection; recognition; identification. 1. Introduction The development and fielding ofthermal imaging, or Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), systems by the U.S. Army over thelast 30 years has been led by the development and exercise ofvalidated performance models. These models were and still arebeing improved by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) Research, Development &Engineering Center's (RDEC) Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) at Ft. Belvoir, VA. This modelingapproach has been adopted by the other services, NATO and industry to optimize designs, predict operational performance,select contractor proposals and generate performance specifications. The modeling approach is based upon the uniqueconcept ofJohn Johnson ofNVESD that relates a laboratory measurement ofresolvable cycles across a target to targetacquisition performance in the field. This innovative concept when coupled with extensive validation data from thelaboratory and the field has provided a powerful tool for the infrared and thermal imaging community. Models have alsobeen developed based on this same principle for otherelectro-optical imaging systems, such as image intensifiers andtelevision. This paper will concentrate primarily on the FLIR modeling.

In the frame of humanitarian antipersonnel mines detection, a multisensor fusion method using the Dempster-Shafer evidence theory is presented. The multisensor system consists of two sensors-a ground penetrating radar (GPR) and a metal detector (MD). For each sensor, a new features extraction method is presented. The method for the GPR is mainly based on wavelets and contours extraction. First simulations on a limited set of data show that an improvement in detection and false alarms rejection, for the GPR as a standalone sensor, could be obtained. The MD features extraction method is mainly based on contours extraction. All of these features are then fused with the GPR ones in some specific cases in order to determine a new feature. From these results, belief functions, as defined in the evidence theory, are then determined and combined thanks to the orthogonal sum. First results in terms of detection and false alarm rates are presented for a limited set of real data and a comparison is made between the two cases: with or without multisensor fusion.

Current political climates have generated a renewed interest in the northern regions of the world. These areas are known to have soft marshy peat, highly organic soils, and harsh winter climates. Current capabilities for vehicle mobility modeling on this terrain is limited and existing studies do not include contemporary military vehicles. This work presents mobility experiments of modern military vehicles at multiple field sites containing peat or highly organic soils that can be used to improve mobility modeling on these soils. Field experiments are being conducted during multiple seasons, including winter, spring, and summer. The vehicle traction, motion resistance, and hard surface rolling resistance of an instrumented High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) and a Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV) were examined. The first is a common multi-purpose vehicle and the second is a vehicle designed to operate in these types of environments. This data set will provide the basis for model development and validation for vehicle mobility in highly organic soils.

In order to detect anti-tank mines at standoff distances, we have developed a forward-looking synthetic aperture ground penetrating radar (FLGPR). The system operates over the frequency band 766~MHz to 3.8~GHz. Our FLGPR system uses a Mill's cross transmit-receive array configuration. The receive array contains 46 Archimedean spiral antennas spaced across a 3.43 meter horizontakl aperture. The transmit aperture can be configured to contain up to 15 transmitters in one of two vertical configuations. Data is acquired as the system continuously moves forward at a speed of 2 to 8 kph. Synthetic aperture nearfield beamforming, a form of multi-look processing, is used to reduce clutter and produce significantly improved images of buried targets. Testa against actual buried mines on U.S. Army mine lanes indicate that the system can detect buried metallic and plastic anti tank mines. Images and analysis of data including blind test results are presented.

ABSTRACTWorkload management is of critical concern in the teleoperation of unmanned vehicles because teleoperation is often employed in high-risk industries wherein high workload can lead to sub-optimal task performance and can harm human operators’ long-term well-being. This study aimed to assess the detrimental effects of time delays in teleoperation on operators’ workload and performance, and how a delay compensation aid mitigated such effects. We conducted a human-in-the-loop experiment with 36 participants using a dual-task teleoperation platform, where participants drove a simulated High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) and performed a one-back memory task under three conditions: the delay condition, the delay with compensation aid condition, and the ideal no delay condition. A model-free predictor was used as the compensation aid. Results indicate that with a time delay of 0.8-s participants’ workload increased and performance degraded significantly. Moreover, the model-free predictor mitigated the detrimental effects of time delay on workload and task performance. Our findings suggest that participants are more sensitive in their perceived workload compared to the objective and physiological measures of workload. In addition, without any delay compensation algorithms, continuous teleoperation may not be ideal for operations with long time delays.

A workload adaptive haptic shared control scheme for semi-autonomous driving

This paper uses simulated SMAP level-3 (L3) soil moisture data to calculate soil strength directly and compares the results against the current Noah Land Information System–based climatology approach. Based on the availability of data, three sites were chosen for the study: Cheorwon, South Korea; Laboue, Lebanon; and Asham, Nigeria. The simulated SMAP satellite data are representative of May conditions. For all three regions, this is best represented by the “average” soil moisture used in the current climatology approach. The cumulative distribution frequency of the two soil moisture sources indicates good agreement at Asham, Nigeria; mixed agreement at Cheorwon, South Korea; and no agreement at Laboue, Lebanon. Soil strengths and resulting vehicle speeds for a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) M1097 were calculated based on the Harmonized World Soil Database soil types used by the two soil moisture sources, as well as with a finer-resolution National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency product. Better agreement was found in soil strengths using the finer-resolution soil product. Finally, fairly large differences in soil moisture become muted in the speed calculations even when all factors except soil strength, slope, and vehicle performance are neglected. It is expected that the 0.04 volumetric uncertainty in the final SMAP L3 soil moisture product will have the greatest effect at low vehicle speeds. Field measurements of soil moisture and strength as well as soil type are needed to verify the results.

: This project tested three, real-/near real-time monitoring techniques to develop air toxic emission factors for Department of Defense (DoD) platform sources. These techniques included resonance enhanced multi photon ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (REMPI-TOFMS) for organic air toxics, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for metallic air toxics, and optical remote sensing (ORS) methods for measurement of criteria pollutants and other hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Conventional emission measurements were used for verification of the real-time monitoring results. The REMPI-TOFMS system was demonstrated on the following: a United States U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) diesel generator, a U.S. Air Force auxiliary power unit (APU), the waste combustor at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard during a multi-monitor Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) test for dioxin monitoring systems, two dynamometer-driven high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs), an idling Abrams battle tank, a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), and an F-15 and multiple F-22 U.S. Air Force aircraft engines. LIBS was tested and applied solely to the U.S. Marine Corps diesel generator. The high detection limits of LIBS for toxic metals limited its usefulness as a real time analyzer for most DoD sources. ORS was tested only on the APU with satisfactory results for non-condensable combustion products [carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2)] but with limited success on condensable volatile organic by-products. This program demonstrated the ability to measure trace aromatics with REMPI-TOFMS in harsh environments and with a high degree of accuracy and precision.

A signal processing technique is developed to reduce clutter due to ground bounce in ground penetrating radar (GPR) measurements. This technique is especially useful when a GPR is used to detect subsurface antipersonnel mines. The GPR clutter is modeled using a simple parametric model. Buried mine and clutter contributions are separated through a pair of coupled iterative procedures. The algorithm outperforms existing clutter reduction approaches and also yields target features that are useful for detection and identification of these mines. The proposed technique effectively reduces clutter resulting in a significant decrease in false alarm rates.

<meta name=citation_journal_title content=Biological Engineering Transactions><meta name=citation_publisher content=American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers><meta name=citation_author content=K. Liu><meta name=citation_author content=P. Ayers><meta name=citation_author content=H. Howard><meta name=citation_author content=A. Anderson><meta name=citation_author content=J. Kane><meta name=citation_title content=Multi-Pass Rutting Study for Turning Wheeled and Tracked Vehicles><meta name=citation_publication_date content=2011><meta name=citation_volume content=54><meta name=citation_issue content=1><meta name=citation_firstpage content=5><meta name=citation_lastpage content=12><meta name=citation_doi content=10.13031/2013.36247><meta name=citation_journal_abbrev content=Biol. Eng. Trans.><meta name=citation_abstract_html_url content=http://elibrary.asabe.org/abstract.asp?aid=36247&t=1&redir=&redirType=><meta name=citation_fulltext_html_url content=https://elibrary.asabe.org/azdez.asp?JID=3&AID=36247&CID=t2011&v=54&i=1&T=1><meta name=citation_pdf_url content=http://elibrary.asabe.org/azdez.asp?JID=3&AID=36247&t=2&v=57&i=6&CID=t2014&downPDF=Y><meta name=citation_issn content=2330-0337><meta name=citation_issn content=2162-643X><meta name=citation_language content=English><meta name=citation_keywords content=Multi-pass; Rut; Tracked and wheeled vehicles; Turning><meta name=citation_reference content=citation_title=Multi-Pass Rutting Study for Turning Wheeled and Tracked Vehicles; citation_author=K. Liu;citation_author=P. Ayers;citation_author=H. Howard;citation_author=A. Anderson;citation_author=J. Kane;citation_journal_title=Biological Engineering Transactions;citation_volume=54;citation_issue=1;citation_firstpage=5;citation_lastpage=12;citation_issn=2330-0337;citation_issn=2162-643X;ciation_doi=10.13031/2013.36247;citation_publication_date=2011;> In this article, the effects of multiple vehicle passes and turning maneuvers by wheeled and tracked vehicles on rutting are discussed. Field tests were conducted at Fort Riley in August 2008 using an M1A1 combat tank, an armored personnel carrier (APC), a heavy expanded mobility tactical truck (HEMTT), and a high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV). These vehicles were operated in spiral patterns to evaluate the effect of different turning radii. Along each spiral in the same rut, each vehicle was driven up to eight passes. A vehicle tracking system (VTS) mounted on each vehicle utilized a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the vehicle dynamics (velocity and turning radius). As expected, compared to a single pass, results show that soil deformation and compaction increased with the increase in the number of passes. Multiple passes and turning maneuvers by vehicles resulted in rut depth increases in the range of 65% to 548%. The results of this study also confirmed that the multi-pass coefficient (a = 2) is appropriate to predict multi-pass rut depth for turning vehicles in loose soils.

In an effort to reduce fuel costs and gas emissions, the U.S. Army is looking into replacing their diesel high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) with hybrid electric vehicles. The aim of this paper is to present the simulation of the series hybrid electric HMMWV based on a multidomain model using Ansoft Simplorer. Emphasis is placed on the vehicle's transient response to desired speeds dictated by drive cycles based on an urban dynamometer driving schedule and SAE J227a Schedule D. Also included in this paper were the vehicle's responses to hill climbing up to 60% grade