By Tracy Robillard
Picatinny Public Affairs

Picatinny recently received a patent for a process to train Soldiers who work in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units—only this training process occurs entirely within a virtual environment.

The design was the brainchild of Bernard Reger, chief of the Combat Support & Munitions Systems Branch, Armament Software Engineering Center, Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC).

Reger received the patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on December 28, 2010, (number 7,860,614) for a Robotic Vehicle Trainer.

Originally submitted for a patent application in September 2006, the patent describes how a robot trainer enables a student to operate a robotic vehicle using a virtual operator control unit within a computer-generated environment.

"The virtual environment inserts the student into hazardous environments enabling familiarization with the robotic vehicle and EOD bomb disposal tools," Reger said. "The U.S. Army will be able to control the intellectual property of this process if being used by a contractor in developing robotic vehicle trainers."

The virtual operator control unit, which is essentially a video-game controller, is built with the exact same joysticks, switches, dials and display features as a fielded robot. This allows the Soldier to become familiar with the touch and feel of the real controls while in training.

The control unit connects to a laptop computer which runs the software application, allowing trainees to use the system anywhere, from the classroom to the field.

Work on this product started in 2003 as an experiment to insert the Talon robot used by EOD Soldiers into a virtual environment using a popular Army-developed game engine, America's Army.

With more than 8 million registered users, America's Army is an interactive, first-person shooter game that allows civilians a taste for the Soldier-life. About a year after the video game launched in 2002, ARDEC began to implement practical training applications into the game for Soldiers.

ARDEC's Armament Software Engineering Center and the Picatinny EOD Technology Directorate worked together over the next few years to define and refine requirements for a product that could familiarize EOD Soldiers in operation of the Talon robot and explosive disposal techniques.

"The patent covers the process by which a robot is assembled in the virtual environment and by which the Soldier is provided with the opportunity to test drive the robot and its tools," Reger said, adding that the Talon trainer was rebranded as the Man Transportable Robotic System (MTRS) EOD Trainer.

The same process was applied to other robots, including SWORDS, EOD PackBot and the CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) PackBot.

The Foster-Miller Talon and PackBot are both tracked robots used to disarm improvised explosive devices. Because they are remotely operated and equipped with cameras, they allow Soldiers to safely detonate suspicious objects from a distance.

"The robotic vehicle trainer provides EOD Soldiers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the operation of the robot without removing critical assets from the field," Reger said. "It also provides Soldiers to ability to train in what would normally be a dangerous environment. The trainer could be rapidly updated with new tools and techniques of benefit to the Soldier."

The trainers are meant to familiarize operators with the controls as opposed to training them how to respond to different EOD incidents and situations.

However, the operators also detonate different types of IEDs using an assortment of methods. The IEDs are found in locations realistic to where Soldiers would find when deployed, such as hidden in sandbags or in courtyards.

Among the many team members Reger attributes to the success of the robotic vehicle trainer, Reger thanks Joe Wu, former EOD Technology Directorate chief, Staff Sgt. Santiago Tordillos, Sgt. 1st Class Jason Mero and the former members of the America's Army Government Applications team that aided in the product development at that time: Bill Davis, Nathan Becker, Mike Dokachev, Brad Drake, Anthony Ur, and Forest Rebock.