Description
Objective: A tactical tool or capability to increase situational awareness and enhance decision support of Warfighters operating in Chemical and Biological (CB) contested environments. The innovative technology proposed should work within Human Machine Interface (HMI) concepts to provide significant advantage compared to its size, weight, and power (SWAP) demands. This may include tactical augmented reality, sensor visualization solutions, or unique end user device/materials solutions. Description: Joint Warfighters are increasingly required to rapidly process volumes of complex information from diverse sources to maintain operational effectiveness in dynamic environments. Operating in CB contested environments imposes additional challenges such as restrictive personal protective equipment, specialized equipment requirements, and high risk/time sensitive nature of the mission. The CBD SBIR Program is seeking an innovative capability to increase the efficient integration, visualization, and communication of tactical data to increase situational awareness and enhance decision-making on the battlefield. The proposed solution may be in the form of a novel tactical end user device or an enhancement to current kit. For example, Heads Up Displays (HUD) in the tactical environment intend to deliver Warfighters critical information directly to their field of view, with the intent to keep ‘heads up and on the fight’. However, implementing HUDs tactically also present challenges such as decreased field of view, motion sickness, eye strain, and cognitive overload. Implementing HUDs while wearing a M50 respirator quickly also exacerbates the physical strain and minimizes the HUDs effectiveness. Other technologies that have seen success in the public sector include holographic diffractive waveform technology utilizing ingrained diffractive gratings within a lens for image visualization. General non-holographic diffractive waveguide technology has seen success as well, though with lower image and color quality. The integration of these technologies, potentially of waveguide into polycarbonate, and in general to CB kit and mission space is of interest. The proposed solution may be head borne, wrist worn, handheld, or other, but must be specific to enhancing the CB mission. Picture two Soldiers executing a Sensitive Site Exploitation in MOPP and carrying more CB sensors than they can hold in their hands between them. The goal is to create a solution so that each of the Soldiers as well as command post receive the same sensor data in real time to make a rapid and informed tactical decision. The proposed solution must be adaptable to various CB applications and use with Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) kits. Any head borne solutions must integrate with a variety of respirators, to include the M50, and must adhere to battlefield eyewear safety guidelines. Additional hardware considerations include physical connections, network stack and operating system, data transmission, and any non-standard characteristics. Additionally, any software must be built to Integrated Sensor Architecture (ISA) standards and comply with the current version of the Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) Software Development Kit (SDK). Additional software considerations include the hardware requirements for the software, installation and configuration, user interface and experience, and network connections. Software development should also be advised by DISA Application Security and Development STIG (Security Technical Implementation Guide): https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_ASD_V6R3_STIG.zip. Keywords: Tactical, Visualization, Display, Sensor, Data, Warfighter, Interface