White Sands Missile Range Electronic Proving Ground (EPG) engineers developed a device which gives test officers increased visibility of test operations. The Global Positioning System Tracker/Tactical Radio Enclosure (GTT) enables real time position tracking of mobile platforms during field test exercises. The GTT provides a visual indication, ie., an icon on a map, of each installed GTT. This information is updated as platforms move, and is logged for future reference.
The development cost of the GTT was greatly reduced by the use of existing test technology. The GTT uses the Tactical Radio Enclosure (TRE), a commercial off the shelf (COTS) GPS receiver, and the Starship.
EPG engineers developed the TRE (figure 1) to support real-time data communications from a test control station to mobile platforms in the test environment. The TRE is a ruggedized, weather proof, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) filtered enclosure suitable for use in severe military environments. It is mounted on the exterior of tanks, armored vehicles and HUMVEEs and runs off of vehicle power. The TRE supports various COTS UHF data radios.
The GTT uses a low cost COTS GPS receiver to provide accurate time and position information. This receiver, developed by Garmin Ltd. contains an antenna, 12 channel GPS receiver, and controller all housed in a small plastic "hockey puck" enclosure which is secured to the vehicle via a convenient magnetic mount.
Starship is a Windows program used to command, control, and display status of any thing (e.g., instrument, control, live battlefield system, simulated battlefield entity) that has a communications interface, can be controlled, and reports status. It is used by test officers to provide control and status of real and virtual players in test exercises spread out over wide geographical areas. The starship displays information on a map with icons representing the location and status of various players. The GTT provides the Starship with real-time position location information so that real test entities, such as "rovers" (test support personnel vehicles) can be shown on the map.
The physical instantiation of the GTT is a small printed circuit board (figure 2) that plugs into the existing TRE. The TRE houses a digital radio which gives the test officer wireless command and control of test instrumentation installed on mobile test platforms. This enables effective distributed testing of modern military communications systems. The TRE is shock proof, weather proof, and contains EMI filtering to prevent contamination of the test environment by the test instrumentation.
Each rover vehicle contains a TRE outfitted with a GTT and a Garmin GPS receiver. The GTT and the GPS run off of vehicle power and require minimal current. Every GTT contains a unique unit identification number enabling the simultaneous tracking of up to 999 different platforms.
The location of each GTT is presented to the Test Officer by Starship, an existing test tool that manages and displays the status of distributed test assets. The GTT operates as an autonomous agent enabling automated insertion of each tracker into the Starship test scenario. Upon power up, the GTT announces itself to the world. Starship receives this message and inserts the GTT icon on the map without user intervention.
In summary the GTT gives the test officer real time visibility into test operations. It was developed using COTS and existing government owned test technology, thus reducing its lifecycle cost. The plug and play nature of the GTT Autonomous Agent reduces test preparation cost while increasing test readiness.
Contact: Mark Hynes (520) 538-4929