An Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) for Future Combat Systems (FCS) Robotic Vehicle Command

I/ITSEC 2003

Presented by: Randy Jensenjensen@stottlerhenke.com

Co-authors: Henry Marshall, US Army RDECOMJeffrey Stahl, US Army RDECOMRichard Stottler, Stottler Henke

FCS Concept - Background

Distributed robotic vehicles and sensors are networked to control vehicles, providing• heightened situational awareness• extended sensor capabilities• reduced human risk

FCS – Training Challenge• New paradigm requires scenario-based practice for

FCS warfighters

• Formal tactical doctrine for FCS operational concept has not been developed

• Desirable to minimize costs of developing and administering training – reduce requirements for human instructors and simplify scenario definition

• Intelligent Tutoring Systems are effective for simulating some of the benefits of a human instructor, especially for a domain with focused, task-based exercises

Simulation Testbed

• Embedded Combined Arms Tactical Training and Mission Rehearsal (ECATT/MR) testbed developed at RDECOM

• Multi-screen control interface, on OTB simulation

• Software for controlling simulated entities is the same as that used for operating robotic vehicles

Testbed User Interface Closeup

Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) Architecture Overview

Simulation Interface provides two forms of data to Evaluation Machines:• Simulation states• Student actions

Instructional Manager sends notifications back to the student in the OCU environment, based on conclusions from the Evaluation Machines

Principle-Based Evaluation

Distinct evaluation mechanisms indexed to instructional principles

FCS ITS Instructional Principle Categories

TACTICAL DECISION MAKING• Student’s ability to interpret the tactical situation and

commander’s intent, and decide what should be done• Example: Use airborne sensor assets to complement

knowledge from ground-based vehicles

TACTICAL DECISION MAKING• Student’s ability to interpret the tactical situation and

commander’s intent, and decide what should be done• Example: Use airborne sensor assets to complement

knowledge from ground-based vehicles

EXECUTION• Student’s application of correct buttonology in execution

EXECUTION• Student’s application of correct buttonology in execution

COMMAND FORMULATION• Student’s ability to translate tactical decisions into

commands or orders that can be executed

COMMAND FORMULATION• Student’s ability to translate tactical decisions into

commands or orders that can be executed

FCS ITSInstructional Principle Examples

Use terrain concealment to detect enemy positions from

Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs)without being detected

Use terrain concealment to detect enemy positions from

Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs)without being detected

TASKTASK

FCS ITS Instructional Principle Examples: TACTICAL

TACTICAL: Before cresting hills in terrain, halt UGV and use mast sensors to scan for enemy

TACTICAL: Before cresting hills in terrain, halt UGV and use mast sensors to scan for enemy

FCS ITS Instructional Principle Examples: COMMAND FORMULATION

COMMAND FORMULATION: When UGV movement will include successive halt and resume, control the vehicle with draggable points in the OCU

COMMAND FORMULATION: When UGV movement will include successive halt and resume, control the vehicle with draggable points in the OCU

FCS ITS Instructional Principle Examples: EXECUTION

EXECUTION: The main HALT control halts all vehicles; the HALT control under “Assign Task” halts the current vehicle

EXECUTION: The main HALT control halts all vehicles; the HALT control under “Assign Task” halts the current vehicle

Finite State Machine (FSM) Based EvaluationsWhat are they?Transition networks executing in coordination with a simulation to

gather data about instructionally significant events and states, and make evaluation conclusions in real time

Why use them in an ITS?Several benefits:

• Modularity – they can be used separately or in conjunction for a variety of scenarios

• Instructional correspondence – individual instructional principles can be associated with independent evaluations

• Integration – the FSM structure is easily integrated with free-play simulations and maps well to diagnosis of widely varied outcomes

• Authoring ease – they can be represented visually, making them easy for non-programmers to create, maintain, and revise

Evaluation Machine Example

TACTICAL: Before cresting hills in terrain, halt UGV and use mast sensors to scan for enemy

TACTICAL: Before cresting hills in terrain, halt UGV and use mast sensors to scan for enemy

Lessons Learned• Automated evaluation is suited for the domain of

training the employment of robotic vehicles under the FCS concept

• Streamlining domain-specific requirements (simulation integration, scoping training objectives, etc.) reduces ITS development time and cost

• Preferable to avoid scenario-specific evaluation• Example: Identifying terrain where a UGV has an exposed hull.

• Scenario-specific approach: Manually annotate areas on the map that represent hill crests where a UGV would be exposed

• Scenario-independent approach: Use dynamic line of sight (LOS) calculations in the simulation to determine exposure

Future Work• Full system development with a rigorous collection of

scenarios

• Enhanced feedback mechanisms, potentially with controls to pause or rewind the simulation

• Team training extensions• Similar architecture applies in the team setting

• Scalable principle hierarchy supports reuse with scenarios involving a superset of instructional concepts

• ITS capabilities proposed for Integration into the Tank and Automotive Research and Development Command (TARDEC) Crew instrumentation and Automation Testbed