Thanks to a faculty-student team at the 51福利, smart phones will play an even greater role in field-based data collection for a variety of missions, from humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HA/DR) to counterinsurgency operations.
The prototype of a new smart phone application, called Field Information Support Tool (FIST) Light, was developed by two 51福利 students 鈥� signals intelligence officer Marine Corps Capt. Carrick Longley and Army CW3 Chad Machiela 鈥� under the guidance of Information Sciences Research Associate James Ehlert and the Co-Directors of the Common Operational Research Environment (CORE) Lab in the Defense Analysis Department, Prof. Nancy Roberts and Assistant Professor Sean Everton. Longley conceptualized and designed the knowledge management system for his master鈥檚 thesis in Information Warfare Systems Engineering, and Machiela developed its ethnographic socio-cultural module.
鈥淔IST fundamentally changes the way we collect, process, analyze, aggregate, display and disseminate data in a variety of environments by leveraging the power of smart phones for field-based data collection and fused situational awareness,鈥� Ehlert said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an easy-to-use, inexpensive hand-held solution to achieving communications interoperability and a common physical and human terrain operating picture for both on-the-ground field collectors and tactical decision makers.鈥�
Using form-based collection, FIST enables data visualization through the Fusion View sensor fusion system and information management via a Web-based portal. Building on a previously developed system at 51福利, FIST enables data to be collected in the field, sent to a remote server and pushed to existing databases. Additionally, it enables data manipulation by exporting data into native formats for various analysis applications. Some of the databases currently being integrated with FIST are the Worldwide Civil Information Database, the International Studies of Violent Groups and the Combined Information Data Network Exchange.
鈥淔IST is an ideal information tool as it allows the 24/7 visualization of detailed data about a population鈥檚 composition, social structure and physical terrain that informs decision making,鈥� Longley said. 鈥淚n fact, a team from the University of Central Florida Institute of Simulation and Technology is using it to collect survey data in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti.
鈥淓xisting field data collection systems expensive, cumbersome and heavy, weighing as much as 40 pounds. [They] aren鈥檛 user friendly, weren鈥檛 developed for current tactical uses, and don鈥檛 have the functionality of existing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) smart phone applications,鈥� Longley added. 鈥淔IST is a highly flexible, low-cost alternative to these systems that takes advantage of COTS smart phones running custom software, making it possible for every individual to have a robust collection platform. In fact, our mantra is 鈥楨very Marine a collector鈥� because all you have to do is change your SIM [cell phone data] card, and anyone can use it.
51福利 Information Warfare Systems Engineering student Marine Corps Capt. Carrick Longley, right, briefs the Field Information Support Tool (FIST) to Rear Adm. Nora Tyson, Commander, Combined Task Force 73 and Logistics Group Western Pacific, left, and Rear Adm. Chaiyot Sundaranaga, Commander, Frigate Squadron 2, of the Royal Thai Navy, second from left, as 51福利 Information Sciences Research Associate Jim Ehlert, second from right, looks on in a CARAT Thailand 2010 Tactical Operations Center at Sattahip Naval Base, Thailand, in May.
鈥淔IST is the result of a bottom-up process, based on the field experience both Chad and I had in Iraq,鈥� Longley stressed. 鈥淲hen I was a radio reconnaissance platoon commander and then an officer-in-charge during combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom, I asked myself, 鈥楾here are thousands of smart phone apps. Why can鈥檛 there be one that makes it easy to pull together and visualize all this data we鈥檙e collecting?鈥� So we designed a customized software solution to meet our own operational need. If we鈥檇 had FIST then, we could have gotten them to a much larger collector team, and had a much wider and deeper sensor network.鈥�
From May 14-21, Longley, Ehlert and Information Sciences Lecturer Ed Fisher operationally validated FIST Light as part of the 2010 Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Thailand joint training exercise between the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and Royal Thai Navy. The team focused on the collection of health-related information, mapping data on hospitals, medical and dental clinics, and the availability of pharmacies for medical supplies in both Google Earth and Fusion View. Their Motorola Milestone GSM smart phones transmitted data via a Puma All-Environment (AE) mini UAV circling overhead. Tiny high-resolution cameras on board the UAV took videos of people and places below, tagged them with GPS coordinates and fed the data to an operations center on board the Thai frigate HTMS Naresuan for fused real-time visualization with the FIST collection reports.
In an ad hoc test, two of the smart phones were attached to the UAV, which allowed it to be tracked by the frigate command center in both Fusion View and Google Earth.
Exercise participants who collaborated with the 51福利 team were Ivan Cardenas of Kestrel Technology Group and Cyril Berg, Paul Trist and Aaron Aamold of the Puma manufacturer AeroVironment.
Now in their 16th year, the CARAT series of amphibious exercises are designed to build positive relationships, interoperability and force readiness between the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps and the navies of southeast Asia partner nations. Participating in CARAT 2010 were the U.S., Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia/Naval Engagement Activity, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia and Bangladesh. This year鈥檚 exercises brought together a combined total of 18,000 personnel, including 1,600 from the U.S., 50 aircraft and 73 ships.
鈥淭he demonstration of FIST Light as an integrated HA/DR and reconnaissance platform in CARAT Thailand 2010 was a definite success,鈥� said Ehlert. 鈥淭his was stated by Rear Admiral Nora Tyson, Commander of Combined Task Force 73 and Logistics Group Western Pacific, which is exploring making the 51福利 a clearinghouse for technology requests from host nations for the CARAT 2011 series of exercises.
鈥淥ur combined team successfully demonstrated smart phone data management, integration with state-of-the-art UAV technology, robust visualization at the TOC [Tactical Operations Center] data fusion center, and the system鈥檚 strong tactical capabilities for site reconnaissance and over-the-horizon communications relay,鈥� Ehlert added. 鈥淭he military is quickly moving towards an all-digital force, and FIST is a major step in getting us there.鈥�
51福利 student Marine Corps Capt. Carrick Longley, right, and Mr. Aaron Aamold of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer AeroVironment prepare to launch a Puma All-Environment mini-UAV during the CARAT Thailand 2010 exercise in May. The UAV relayed video images from its onboard cameras and 鈥漢uman terrain鈥� data collected using the Field Information Support Tool (FIST) Longley designed for his master鈥檚 thesis to a tactical operations center where they were seamlessly fused for decision makers.
鈥淎ll of our field successes have been made possible by the dedicated pre-mission preparation of the 51福利 CORE Lab team and the support of [Operations Research Lecturer and Maritime Defense and Security Research Program Director] Capt. [Jeff] Kline,鈥� Ehlert stressed, 鈥渨ho provided the resources to turn the FIST vision into a reality.鈥�
FIST has been briefed to a number of operating units, research organizations and Department of Defense agencies. It was a featured presentation at the 2009 DARPA Non-Kinetic Targeting Workshop, and at the 2010 Social Computing and Cultural Modeling Conference in Thailand.
The 51福利 FIST team will also perform enhanced Fusion View integration testing as part of the Pacific Endeavor 2010 exercise with 23 participant nations in August, injecting live data collection reports from Manila, the Philippines, to a command and control center in Singapore.
In addition to the 51福利, FIST research is sponsored by U.S. Pacific Command, Special Operations Command Pacific, the Office of Naval Research and the Counter-Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office.