CATS METRIX 3D - SOW. 00a First version Magnus Karlsson. 00b Updated to only include basic functionality Magnus Karlsson

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1 CATS METRIX 3D - SOW Revision Number Date Changed Details of change By 00a First version Magnus Karlsson 00b Updated to only include basic functionality Magnus Karlsson Approved - Designer/Engineer: Approved - Program Manager or Delegate: 1 PURPOSE The purpose of this document is to describe the scope of work for integrating the Unreal 3D engine with CATS Metrix. 1.1 Background CATS Metrix is an Exercise Control (Excon) software used by operators and instructors to plan, conduct, control, monitor, record, debrief, and evaluate live force-on-force training. CATS Metrix supports evaluation of defined goals, doctrines, and tactics during a live exercise. The result is a variety of presentation means to provide feedback to the exercise unit, highlight areas of performance, and identify deficiencies to be corrected. Cubic Technologies Denmark (CTD) performs product based development where the CATS Metrix software is developed and maintained for a number of customers. A common design, technology, set of tools and licenses maximize reusability and minimize maintenance costs. CATS Metrix has currently integrated third party 3D engine VegaPrime version 13 for 3D visualization. Vega Prime is a COTS visualization tool for real-time 3D development and deployment of simulation applications provided by Presagis. License costs for VegaPrime are significant and CTD are therefore seeking for alternative solutions for the CATS Metrix 3D capability. 1.2 Export CATS Metrix software is classified ML14 product on the European Dual-Use List and is subject to Danish export laws. CATS Metrix software is entirely developed without any US design input, know how or intellectual property. This document and its entire contents are ITAR free. CATS Metrix 3D Page 1 of

2 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 PURPOSE BACKGROUND EXPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW PERFORMANCE INTEGRATION PLAYBACK FUNCTIONALITY SYMBOLS DYNAMICS Orientation Speed and acceleration Delay TERRAINS Large Area Database ENGAGEMENT EFFECTS Blast Burst Damage PLATFORM EFFECTS Dust and dirt Exhaust from vehicle Spinning wheels Sun/Moon IMAGE EFFECTS IR NVG Compass/HUD Labels Fire lines NAVIGATION CATS Metrix 3D Page 2 of

3 3 OVERVIEW Figure 1: CATS Metrix 3D presents exercise area with virtual terrain. Players, objects, actions and events are shown in virtual terrain with high resolution models and effects. Operator can navigate 3D view and control environment conditions. 3D view is augmented by labels and fire lines. CATS Metrix 3D uses the COTS graphics engine Vega Prime which supplies both an API and a GUI for creating real time graphics. Data which describes terrain and 3D objects are based on the standard OpenFlight format (.flt). 4 PERFORMANCE Terrains 30km x 30km Models Update rate 4000 models representing players 1000 are vehicles 3000 are soldiers 20Hz CATS Metrix 3D Page 3 of

4 5 INTEGRATION 5.1 Playback Initial integration of CATS Metrix and Unreal shall (only) support playback capability. Recommended solution for playback integration illustrated in below diagram. Figure 2: Concept of CATS Metrix and Unreal integration (Playback). CATS Metrix saves exercise data to a playback database in a streamed format (SQL Server). Unreal reads playback database and visualizes playback of exercise in 3D. Database Accessor is provided in C++. CATS Metrix controls the playback from Exercise Timeline control. Commands for Play, Pause, Fast Forward and Fast Backward are sent to Unreal (inter process communication). Playback commands define playback time and speed. CATS Metrix controls navigation of the 3D view point (camera). Commands for navigating the view point are sent to Unreal (inter process communication). Navigation commands include connect to player, and fly to location. Manual navigation of 3D view point (flying with mouse) is managed locally in Unreal module. Environment settings and image effects settings are managed locally in Unreal module. CATS Metrix 3D Page 4 of

5 6 FUNCTIONALITY 6.1 Symbols A symbol is a geometry object of a tank, helicopter, truck, person, soldier, etc. Symbols use a technique called Level of details (LOD), which means that the symbols are shown more detailed when they are close to the viewer and with less detail when far from the viewer. The purpose of using LODs is to save processor capacity. A symbol can have moveable parts such as Rotating turret and spinning wheels Switches can be used to hide and show geometry of the symbol. A switch is used for each symbol to switch between normal and IR model. A symbol and its effects can be hidden in 3D. This functionality is used when a symbol is aggregated or associated to another symbol, for example a soldier inside a tank. It may also be applicable to hide symbols when their instrumentation is failing and not reporting accurate position data. CATS Metrix 3D Page 5 of

6 Soldier players are modeled generically and move with lifelike motion patterns according to position information from the instrumentation. The virtual soldiers can visualize the following actions: - Walk/run/crawl - Raise weapon/lower weapon - Fire small arms weapon (rifles and pistols) - Fire heavy weapon (AT and machine guns) - Fall when injured and killed CATS Metrix 3D Page 6 of

7 6.2 Dynamics 3D will interpolate positions that are reported from the instrumentation to present movement with realistic dynamics Orientation Orientation of a player is calculated using direction of movement. The last two positions will thereby decide what direction a player is pointing. Engagements with a known target can override the movement direction of the firing player, if the firing player hasn t got turntable weapons. Vehicle players with turn able weapons will instead rotate the weapon in the direction of the target and maintain movement direction Speed and acceleration Acceleration and speed for a moving player is determined by the distance and time between the last two reported positions. The system will perform a magic move if distance between two reported positions is too great for interpolation. Magic move means that symbol is moved instantly without animating the movement Delay Depending on position update interval for instrumented players the 3D implements a delay (compared with map presentation) to be able to interpolate positions and present realistic movements. This delay is configurable and is typically set to be larger than the instrumentation s reporting interval. 6.3 Terrains Virtual terrains for 3D presentation are generated in openflight format. The terrain visualizes forest, fields, deserts, hills and mountains, urban environment, lakes and streams, roads, railways, power lines etc. Terrain includes features like vegetation, roads, buildings, and roads Large Area Database Due to hardware memory size it is usually not possible to load a whole terrain into the memory. The geometry of the landscape is often too big. CATS Metrix and Vega Prime support Large CATS Metrix 3D Page 7 of

8 Area Database (LADB) which means that there is no upper limit for how big the virtual terrains can be. The key feature of LADB is to load the closest part of the landscape near the viewer. The landscape must then be split into small blocks that each can be loaded separated from any of the other blocks. Usually the block size is about 2500x2500 m. Figure: LADB blocks A landscape is divided into parts (for LADB each block is divided into parts) with different LODs (Level of Detail). The settings for these LODs are optimized for best detail and performance with a FOV (Field of View) of degrees. LOD scale is a function that automatically changes these LOD settings depending on the current FOV so that the landscape always will be optimized for best detail and performance. The viewer will see more details in the landscape when using smaller FOV. 6.4 Engagement Effects Blast This is the effect that is shown when a player fires his weapon. The list below lists available weapon blast effects. White smoke puff Muzzle flame Burst A burst is the impact of the fired ammunition. The list below lists all available bursts effects. Ground explosion Air explosion Damage The table below lists all types of damage effects that can be displayed for a player. - Burning flames - Smoke - Burning flames and smoke CATS Metrix 3D Page 8 of

9 6.5 Platform effects Dust and dirt Dust and dirt is displayed as smoke from behind a moving vehicle. The speed of the vehicle determines the size of the smoke effect. The effect can be configured Exhaust from vehicle Black smoke is shown from the exhaust pipe of a vehicle. There is more smoke generated when the vehicle accelerates then when it stands still or moves. The effect can be configured Spinning wheels Rotate a wheel with the speed of the symbols movement Sun/Moon It is possible to adjust the current light from the sun and the moon. CATS Metrix 3D Page 9 of

10 6.6 Image effects IR NVG Rendering the IR image is done in three steps. All symbols are switched to their IR model (with textures for its IR signature) The image is rendered (same technique as without IR) The image is post processed to greyscale (settings for this is described below) Figure 3: Normal, White hot IR, Black hot IR and NVG The following settings are adjustable: - Noise amount and size - Contrast - Amplification - White hot / Black hot NVG (Night Vision Goggles) is simulated without changing textures. The image will be green. It has the same adjustable parameters as for IR except for the White hot / Black hot. The IR- and NVG-view have a different resolution than the day-view, 256x256, 512x512 or 1024x Compass/HUD The compass is a HUD that shows orientation and FOV of the camera. If the camera follows a player a blue arrow will show the orientation of the player. If the followed player has a turret an orange arrow will show the orientation of the turret. The call signal of the followed player is displayed over the compass. The camera orientation is displayed under the compass in digits. The angle unit is specified from the CATS Client. CATS Metrix 3D Page 10 of

11 6.6.3 Labels It is possible to show labels on the players in the 3D environment. The labels follow their player and keep their size independent of what distance they are on. The labels describe the symbol with information like call sign, party and status. Aggregated labels are shown for units with several players. Force structure determines the name according to configured levels and distance from view. The label boxes always try to be visible. They act like balloons with a spring connected to their target. The visibility of a label can be configured by the following settings: - Enable user to show/hide the label - Set the label to always be visible - Max distance from viewer where the label should be visible Fire lines A fire line can be used to visualize a line between the firing player and the hit position. If the line indicates a hit the line gets the same colour as the party of the firing player. If it's a miss a grey line is displayed. The line is only displayed for a short time. Fire lines are also shown for simulated indirect fire and CAS as colored profiles. CATS Metrix 3D Page 11 of

12 6.7 Navigation Navigate in the synthetic 3D landscape, free from connection to any player, by pressing the 3D workstations keyboard key <SPACE> to fly. Use the mouse to move: left button moves forwards, right moves backwards. Use the scroll wheel to increase or decrease speed. Mouse Control LMB Fly forward RMB Fly backward Wheel Increase/decrease fly speed CATS Metrix 3D Page 12 of