Challenges
The MCH (modélisation du comportement humain) project aims at studying next-generation human behavior models to represent computer-generated forces involved in operations on urban terrain, in order to automate the operational environment. These behavior models will be used first within the French Army wargame AZUR (action en zones urbaines), currently used by the CAD (French Army Defense College).
AZUR was developed in 2001 by Atos Origin, based on the ESCADRE simulation. It is representative of operations on urban terrain at the tactical level. It is made for simulating high- and low-intensity operations, down to the tactical subgroup level, and will allow technical and operational studies by evaluating, at the combat system level, the impact of technical improvements on a given doctrine element or weapon system.
MCH entails several challenges:
- Bringing MASA human behavior models in AZUR at several hierarchical levels (entity, team, squad, platoon), the user playing a platoon leader.
- Adding civilians actors (passer-bys, crowds, etc.) with complex interaction capabilities into the simulation.
- Ensuring behavior models interoperability with other entity-level military simulations, and demonstrating this capability by plugging the decisional simulation into a new physical simulation, developed independently from AZUR.
Solution
AZUR is a very advanced 3D physical simulation of perception and combat effects, but ignores completely human behavior, therefore it currently requires many operators to be animated completely. Thus, the MCH projects will offer a decisional simulation based on next-generation human behavior models that will be linked with AZUR (using an HLA interface) to drive its simulated entities. The MCH-AZUR federation will therefore produce a more realistic simulation of tactical operations, while requiring less operators.
MCH project is still under progress.