Research Area 5: Advanced Scene Generation

Integral to the development of advanced munitions programs is the capability at AFRL/RW to perform high-fidelity, simulation-based testing of munitions, components, and systems. The current capability to generate synthetic imagery for high-fidelity hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) and Autonomous Target Recognition (ATR) algorithm testing is based on a toolbox of independent Government and industry tools for predicting threat characteristics, environmental effects, and munitions hardware and software performance. The evolution in complexity and capability of modern weapons systems, however, is leading to demands for higher fidelity and performance from test simulations. In addition, the integrated nature of the modern battlefield requires test simulations to encompass not only the weapon itself, but also a variety of other systems. New scene generation (SG) techniques are needed in the areas of characterization of Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Department of the Air Force (DAF) threats, urban environments, chemical/biological effects, coupling and integration of scene generation software, multiple sensor views, and advanced computing techniques. These SG improvements must be designed to streamline the process for evaluating guided munitions concepts from initial design to final implementation, lowering development costs and shortening time from drawing board to battlefield. The improved testing realism will provide confidence that the munitions will perform as expected under a much wider variety of combat conditions than previously possible.