Virtual training system for military operations on urbanized terrain

Abstract

Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) is the term used to describe any type of military action where battles take place in an environment where man-made construction or high population density is the dominant feature, such as a city or town. This type of fighting requires strategies that differ immensely from fighting on other types of terrain, such as large deserts or jungles. Modern military forces exploit simulation technology to extend their capabilities for MOUT training and decision analysis. Although there are considerable efforts and time invested into this area, there are still many challenges facing existing simulation systems. To this end, we had identified several key areas for our research. These areas include developing new physics simulation techniques, designing flexible architectures and looking into innovative ways of building low-cost simulation environments. This thesis presents our research in developing new physics simulation techniques and designing rapidly reconfigurable software architectures to improve on the current state of the art in military simulation. At the same time, we will describe some of our work done in developing an interactive virtual environment test-bed for MOUT.