Stottler Henke developed a proof-of-concept ITS to provide scenario-based practice for the Soldier. The ITS is integrated with the Army’s Embedded Combined Arms Team Training / Mission Rehearsal (ECATT/MR) Testbed, configured to represent a C2V. The Testbed includes a simulation component as the driver for computer generated forces, integrated with a control interface for networked robotic vehicles under the student’s command, as well as a variety of visualization and situational awareness interface tools. The ITS is tightly integrated with the simulation and control elements of the Testbed, not only to monitor events as they occur during an exercise, but also to publish messages which the Testbed uses to display feedback in its native user interface during execution. The ITS observes the student’s actions and performance in a simulated scenario and produces specifically tailored feedback on principles the student has executed correctly and incorrectly. In addition to the fundamental tactical principles, students are also monitored in the task of translating tactical intentions to robotic commands correctly executed in the control interface. The automated evaluation mechanisms also trigger adjustments in the behaviors of simulated opposing forces in the simulation, in order to make the scenarios more realistic.A preliminary proof of concept system was developed for the U.S. Army RDECOM. It demonstrates the integration of a real time ITS feedback mechanism with the ECATT/MR Testbed. This system was incorporated into trial experiments with human test subjects to measure the training that occurs with automated feedback in the Testbed environment. Preliminary results show favorable learning outcomes from the ITS feedback in terms of reduced errors and retention, with measured improvements comparable to the comparison case with human-led after action review.
