INTEGRATED TWO-MAN CREW STATION (ITCS) AI APPLICATION STUDY

Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) of the U.S. Army has embarked on a major program called VETRONICS (Vehicle Electronics). VETRONICS envisions the application of state-of- the-art electronics systems in the form of an architecture that will integrate all the vehicle electronics and electrical systems including those directly related to combat, communications/command/control/intelligence(C3 I) and survivability functions. This system will enable future vehicles to utilize all the available information that results from the application of electronics technology on tomorrow's battlefield. An integral part of the VETRONICS program is the Integrated Two-Man crew station (ITCS). Normally a combat vehicle (i.e., battle tank) carries four crew members commander, driver, gunner and loader. When the crew size is reduced to two, viz, to the commander and the gunner, many tasks will be forced to be autonomous or semiautonomous not to overload the two-man crew. ITCS will go a long way to prove the fieldability of a two-man crew in a combat vehicle. The proposed Phase I effort will consist of an indepth study of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques and their possible applications that would be necessary to develop the ITCS. Tradeoff studies of existing hardware and software will be conducted. The effort will also consist of identification of other features to enhance future combat vehicles using AI. The Phase II effort will consist of determining the two most critical AI functions for development of the ITCS and developing the needed hardware and software for those functions for integration into the ITCS.