Physical Augmentation Concept for Improved Soldier Lethality

8/17/2019 Physical Augmentation Concept for Improved Soldier Lethality

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UNCLASSIFIED The Nation’s Premier Laboratory for Land Forces


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Physical Augmentation Conceptfor Improved Soldier Lethality

Frank MorelliU.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Human Research and EngineeringDirectorate (HRED)

Zachary Wingard, Daniel M. Baechle & Andrew L. Brant ARL Weapons and Materials Research Directorate (WMRD)

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Purpose

Overmatch in small arms (SA) engagements• SA are the most fi elded weapon sys tems• No overmatch: s ince end of WWII, US los t ~ 60,000 soldiers to SA fires

• Modern body armor: survivability improvement, with trade-offs (decreasedmobili ty, adversaries also have access)• Most SA combat within 200 m in urban terrain, most wi thin 50 m

Requirements for Achieving Overmatch- High P(H)—probabili ty of hit

- Improved lethality through barriers via improved impact kinetic energy (KE)- Compact weapons for confined spaces- Reduce Soldier burdens while increasing Soldier lethality- Intuitive interface for rapid time-to-target engagement- Firing posture stabilization- Weapon weight and recoil redistribution

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Small Arms Interface Reimagined

• Traditional interface is a limiting factor for achieving battlefield dominance


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“Field Tested” Human-WeaponInterface

• Soldier's weapon in terface unchanged since thecrossbow.

• Poor P(H) for rapid/fleeting targets and at extendedranges.

• Field tested weapons have been developed overhuman history.

• At what point does “ field t ested” mean “ ideastagnation”?



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New Approaches

Gun Propulsion – greater performance in smaller packages

• ARL “ Advanced Kinetics”- Muzzle Velocities well over 4000 fps- Very high impact KE from carbine-sized weapons- Subcompact weapons: 12-18” in overall length- Impact energies > 7.62 mm NATO (typically 40+ inches in overall length)

- Improved visual processing for machines based on humanvisual search (Butko & Movellan, 2009)

- Goal-directed motor behavior modeling using movement

primitives (Ijspeert et al., 2013)


Human/Machine Interface – play to each other’s strengths

Vision: Compact weapons, new human interface = performance benefitsfor mobility, short /long-range target engagement, terminal ballis tics


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Passive Exoskeletons


• Gravity balancing

• Achieved with simple spring and dampeningelements

• “ Weightless” end load

• Weight redistribution

• Balanced for any position

• Demonstrated in simple exoskeletons

Lockheed FORTIS

Lamp balanced in any position:Due to position & strength of springs,4-bar linkage geometry

Steadicam


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Tilta Armor Man

Passive Stabilization Concepts

• Passive exoskeletons potential – Passive struc tural aim stabilization

– Weapon weight re-distr ibut ion – Recoil energy re-direction, absorption – Improved target engagement accuracy

(short and long-range marksmanship) – Improved target engagement t iming

http://drbrbr.deviantart.com/art/Future-Solder-Concept-409038757


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Active Exoskeletons


Active exoskeletons• Typically large/bulky

• High power requirements/tethered

• Rehabilitative/load carriage applications

• Potential to train limb motion• Perceptual learning• Training transfer (+/-) to traditional

marksmanship techniques

• Potential for active fire control

• Improvement in P(H)• Shoot-on-the-move capability• Natural, intuitive interface

(pointing/aiming)• Prolonged stable aiming• Fire from concealment

UCSC CADEN-7

Lockheed HULC HAL(Japan: Cyberdyne)

UDel/Columbia CAREX

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Active Stabilization

Controlcomputer

Motors

Motioncapturecamera

Pistol simulator

• ARL MAXFAS: Mechatronic ArmeXoskeleton for Firearm AimStabilization (Baechle, 2013; Baechle, Wetzeland Agr awal, 2013) – Cable-driven arm exoskeleton to

augment human performance:improve firearm aim and reducefatigue

– Motors mounted behind wearer,tension cables connected to arm

braces (like puppeteer) – Sensors on braces monitor &

separate involuntary tremor fromvoluntary motion

– Predictive algorithms modelinvoluntary tremor, damp tremor butstill allow voluntary aiming motions;

Tremor f iltering and estimationalgorithms reduce arm shaking by16-51% across all degrees of freedomof shoulder and elbow (Baechle, 2013)

– Improvement after removing exo:potential fatigue reduction or t rainingapplications


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Raw gyro dataTremor Voluntary motion

Motion sensor

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28% better

20% better

Pre-exo

Withexo

Post-exo


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Future Efforts

Experimental performance comparisons

• Motion capture, EMG• Live-fire target engagement tr ials

• Mobil ity, portability trials

• Comparative examination of firing postures/posit ions

• Mixed terrain navigation, target detection

• Sustained aim trace analysis

• Short- and long-range marksmanship applications

POC: Frank Morelli , U.S. Army Research L aboratory-HREDDismounted Soldier and Team Performance [email protected]


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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Backup Slides

Backup

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Conventional Interface:Shoulder/Cheek/Hand Surface Contact

Human-weapon Interface for Projecti le Weapon Systems• Target engagement process:

- Detection- Target Acquisi tion- Action

• Stability- Involuntary movement degrades accuracy- Compounded by fatigue, muscular weakness,

inattention

• Repeatability

- Shot-to-shot inconsistency degrades both accuracyand timing- Compounded by fatigue, muscular weakness, and

inattention


Stability and Repeatability

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Firing Postures – Seeking Stabilitythrough Support


• Field Manual (FM) 3-22.9

• Unsupported vs. supported

• Rifle sling

• Barriers

• Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear(CBRN), Ball ist ic (Facial) Protection Systems

• C-clamp

All reflect unique fi ring dynamics, adaptation toachieve stability

Shoulder-fired postures/positions

FM 3-22.9, Rifle Marksmanship M16-/M4-Series Weapons , HQDA

Documents

Physical Augmentation Concept for Improved Soldier Lethality