Personal Eye System (PES) By MIL Sistemika

FOG HORN 2015

Twobirds Flying Publication

Copyright 2015, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

Personal Eye System

By

MIL Sistemika

Personal Eye System (PES) – blue force tracking and situational awareness for your Android device. 2015

Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Personal Eye System (PES) – blue force tracking and situational awareness for

your Android device.

By: Sal Palma

I’ve been working on this review (on and off)

for just about a year so it’s long overdue, but

it’s hard to deliver a credible review for the

reader with only a cursory understanding of the

subject; ergo, throughout the year, I’ve spent

hours interacting with Mil Sistemika engineers

learning all of PES’ nuances and on a couple of

occasions doing a little debugging. That

experience has resulted in a thorough

understanding of this app’s impressive

capabilities along with a genuine appreciation

the work MIL Sistemika has put into PES. A brief

background is appropriate.

MIL Sistemika is based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The company offers a number of C.O.T.S.

software products focused on Command &

Control applications, covering all relevant levels

that range from the individual soldier to top

(planning) levels of the military command

structure. Their software supports sensor &

weapon integration, GIS navigation and

mapping systems, communications suits, and

integrated training tools.

Personal Eye System (PES) is part of the

company’s C4I products marketed as a

Dismounted Soldier System. PES is a personal

tracking, navigation and data sharing

application aimed at soldiers, police, security

forces, emergency services and others that

need topographic navigation, tracking, blue

force tracking and common operational picture

sharing. The application is designed to run on

popular Android platforms that can be used as a

PDA (Personal Data Assistant) or fully integrated

in a future soldier’s kit.

PES is an Android client that interacts with PES

Server via Wi-Fi, 3G/4G or via networked r.f. like

wave relay. The server provides real-time data

and messaging among unit members and

multiple units1 can be connected to provide a

comprehensive blue force tracking and

situational awareness information fabric.

Standalone, PES functionality is impressive but

what adds to its value is its real-time

information exchange.

For example, operators

conducting reconnaissance

can easily identify points

of interest (POI) along

their track on their

Android device. Instantly,

the POI and its associated

data, which includes geo

references, operator

comments and POI details

like street address, elevation and even an image

taken with a camera app, are shared with all

unit members and C2 real-time.

In this review, I’ll walk through PES’ many

features at a non-technical level.

1 As of this writing, iter-unit messaging and data

exchange is not supported by PES Server but it’s on the horizon and subject to reprioritization given customer orders. The work around is to create a single unit adding members from all units. Then member names can be prefixed with the corresponding unit I.D.



The PES display provides a wealth of

information. Along the top border, the operator

sees his or her position, which can be displayed

in MGRS, Lat & Log or UTM formats, terrain

elevation, heading, speed and fix precision

which throughout my review was consistently

at or better than 8 meters. Obviously, that level

of precision is capable of degradation in dense

forest or urban centers.

PES is configurable to present position

information in primary, secondary or tertiary

forms consisting of MGRS, which is the military

grid system, at up to 5 digit precision, Lat and

Long, in decimal format or minutes and

seconds, and UTM or Universal Transverse

Mercator system. The system I used throughout

this review is MGRS with Easting and Northing

properly displayed in 5 digit precision.

The screen also features a

compass rose with varying

degrees of opacity. Unique

to MIL Sistemika’s

approach is that the

compass needle points to

device orientation rather

than magnetic north. This

is a feature that I’ve come

to appreciate because it

does away with the need

for a rotating bezel. If you need to maintain a

specific heading of 78° magnetic, orient your

tablet or phone until the needle indicates the

desired bearing.

Along the bottom of the screen the operator

sees his present position, displayed in the

primary format, on the bottom left hand corner

of his display. At the bottom right hand corner,

he or she can determine distance and heading

to any point on the map by simply sliding the

crosshair to that point. Even if the desired

location is occluded from the operator’s line of

sight, he or she can still determine range and

direction to the point marked by the crosshairs.

There are numerous applications for this

feature and one that comes to mind is in a

sniper role; for example, determining range and

direction of fire to any point designated by the

PES crosshair.

Along the left edge of the display you’ll see a

“+” and “-“sign, they allow the operator to

zoom in or out on the map. The map also

responds to swipes and pinches and map scale

adjusts correspondingly.

Along the right side of the display the operator

will find a menu tab providing access to PES’

massive array of features and functions.

Pressing the menu tab opens a menu that

allows adding a Point of Interest (POI), creating

an event, updates the common operating

picture, manages unit track, creates routes and



in the professional version operates a laser

range finder.

As a commander or squad leader, I can identify

a point on the map as a point of interest. That

designation is distributed to all unit members

via PES server. The recipient can then touch the

POI icon opening a menu that provides access

to relevant information about the POI including

a Quick Nav function which provides the direct

route including distance and heading

information from the unit member’s current

position to the POI.

Selecting the Track option, allows the operator

to map and record his or her track with further

track related options.

He can select a new track, start a track, pause a

track, add an event along his track and list all

tracks active or inactive. Many of these

selections have submenus that provide other

features; for example document an event.

Before being consumed with all of PES’

features, it’s important to note that when PES is

used in conjunction with PES server: position,

track, route and COP details are updated real-

time and available to all unit members including

HQ and C2. In absence of a viable server

connection, sharing can also be performed near

real-time via e-mail or SMS messaging.

Common Operating Picture is typically an HQ

and Command and Control function. Using COP,

planners and senior commanders can generate

maps and using standard symbology indicate

numbers, location and composition of friendly

forces, enemy forces and other battlefield

components. These georeferenced COP maps

are electronically pushed to the field and when

integrated with blue force tracking and

navigation functions can greatly enhance

situational awareness for remote senior level

command.

PES includes COP functionality where the

operator can identify friendly units, enemy

units, neutral forces or designate targets. As of

this writing, MIL Sistemika has yet to implement

the full APP6 NATO symbol sets but that is work

in progress. In the PRO version of PES, the user

can also create a custom symbol set to suite

their specific application.



To illustrate the power of COP, I’ve directed an

assault on an air strip. The objective was to

clear and secure the airfield and deny enemy

access.

To conduct this operation, I’m using three

rotary assets which also served to infiltrate two

infantry elements. I have directed Eagle 1, 2 and

3 to take up positions at the end of the runways

blocking departures or arrivals. I have directed

Alpha Team to set up a perimeter and road

block to prevent all road access to the airfield

and Bravo Team will move, clear and secure the

airfield. Using the PES COP feature, I can

disseminate the plan in real-time to all

elements and with short notice to mitigate the

risk of compromising OPSEC. All COP symbols

can be edited with notes specifically detailing

actions required, or any other relevant

information. Using the PES Nav features I can

also add MEDEVAC, Primary and Backup

Extraction Routes.

It’s beyond the scope of this review to discuss

every feature so I’d like to wrap-up my

assessment with a brief discussion of the two

PES versions.

The commercial version of PES has seen great

acceptance in the European airsoft space. In

this market PES works to coordinate and

simulate military operations. Commercial PES

users are able to subscribe to PES server, for a

fee, accessing real-time messaging and data

exchange. The PES commercial application is

only modestly different from its professional

counterpart.

The professional version adds support for

strong data encryption, custom COP symbols

and features that support integration with radio

communications.

Before getting into the technical details, I made

the assumption that PES is bandwidth intensive.

That assumption was completely unfounded

and PES is extremely tight. Bandwidth

requirements are surprisingly frugal

For applications that require tagging and

tracking and remote sensor monitoring, PES

Server also supports the use of a number of

popular and reasonably priced GPS trackers

using the Coban protocol such as:

- Coban GPS 102, GPS 102-B, GPS 103-A, GPS

103-B, GPS 104, GPS 106-A, GPS 106-B, GPS 107

- Xexun TK 101, TK 102, TK 102-2, TK 103, TK

103-2, TK 201, TK 201-2, TK 202, TK 203, TK 206,

XT 008, XT 009, XT 107

PES is a powerful tool that usable by military,

government agencies, law enforcement,



training facilities or any organization that

benefits from blue force tracking and real-time

coordination of remotely deployed units. PES

can utilize Wi-Fi, 3G/4G as well as any satellite

hub like Iridium’s GO.

The commercial version of PES can be

downloaded directly from the Android App

Store. Without an in-app purchase of a PES

license, the application is limited to 1 route, 30

minutes of track recording, 10 map objects, and

no server connection. You can purchase the full

unrestricted version directly from the "Buy

Features" section in the application Settings, or

from the application menu. A PES Server

subscription can be purchased directly from the

PES web portal.

To say that I was extremely impressed with PES

is an understatement. Throughout my

evaluation I received amazing support from the

company’s engineering resources. PES is a

C.O.T.S. application that’s ready for prime time.

Three areas that I’d like to see addressed are

inter-unit messaging and data sharing,

implementation of the full APP6 NATO symbol

library and the ability to display a grid, of

variable opacity, over the display. The later

serves the sniper operator by displaying range

information along grid lines from the operator’s

position.

I want to encourage readers to visit the Google

App store and download the free but restricted

version of PES to familiarize yourself with this

impressive tool.

Organizations requiring a private and dedicated

installation should contact MIL Sistemika for

customization and integration options. MIL

Sistemika is positioned to provide a turnkey

system to meet your agencies specific needs.

-SP

Brussels Office

MIL SISTEMIKA Brussels

Quai aux Briques 22

1000 Brussels

Belgium

email: bxl_office (at) milsistemika.com

phone: +32-488-383-244

Ljubljana Office

MIL SISTEMIKA d.o.o.

Zemljemerska 10

SI-1000 Ljubljana

Slovenia

email: lju_office (at) milsistemika.com

phone:+386-1-438-2445

fax:+386-1-438-2445

Documents

Personal Eye System (PES) By MIL Sistemika