Mission Planning Software Development
Challenge
The U.S. Army Engineer and Development Center (ERDC) required the development of a computational framework that would provide a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI), expert system capabilities, and advanced visualization capabilities for their weapons effects and numerical models. The computational framework also had to support the interaction/communication between the various models (penetration trajectory models and optimization models) in order to support the planning of complex attack scenarios.
Solution
ARA works with the researchers of the ERDC Impact and Explosives Effects Branch to develop the PENCRV3D_RSM mission planning software package. The PENCRV3D_RSM software package employs a hybrid optimization strategy (continuous evolutionary algorithms combined with direct search gradient methods) in conjunction with aerodynamic flyout models and penetration trajectory codes (rigid-body and deformable-body) to automatically compute optimum release conditions for complex attack scenarios. The resulting computational tool significantly reduces the time required for mission planning analyses, and it makes advanced numerical methods that usually require highly trained analysts accessible to a wider user base that includes pilots, mission planners, etc.
