CHARLES RIVER ANALYTICS, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: Despite decades of technological advances, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) continues to requi

Description

Despite decades of technological advances, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) continues to require arcane perishable skills. Navy officials report that current surface ship sonar systems are capable, but operators are not able to fully exploit the systems"capabilities. Ships and schoolhouses need better visualizations to enable sonar operators to interactively explore recorded data and improve their understanding of the factors affecting sonar performance. To improve sonar training and operation on ASW-capable surface ships, Charles River Analytics proposes to design and demonstrate the Sonar Technician Adaptive Learning and Interactive Visualization Environment (ST-ALIVE). ST-ALIVE will perform three functions: (1) enable interactive exploration of recorded data and generate visualizations that improve operators"understanding of the effects of the environment, threat contacts, system settings, and own ship operations on sonar performance; (2) exploit the full potential of interactive visualizations by assessing trainees"actions, providing timely detailed feedback, and using an intelligent tutor to provide tailored training adapted to trainees"learning styles; and (3) provide assessments to help training managers and onboard supervisors manage operators"progress in reaching and maintaining required proficiency. We will demonstrate the feasibility of ST-ALIVE in our Phase I effort while ensuring that ST-ALIVE will interface with Navy systems targeted for transition.