[comp.ai.digest] AI Research for the Battlefield Environment

john@ai.etl.army.MIL (John Benton) (07/18/88)

Date: Sat, 16 Jul 88 12:48 EDT
From: John Benton <john@ai.etl.army.mil>
To: ailist@ai.ai.mit.edu
Subject: AI Research for the Battlefield Environment 

*******************************CALL FOR ABSTRACTS****************************
The U.S. Army Symposium/Workshop on Artificial Intelligence Research for the
Battlefield Environment will be held on November 15-18, 1988 at the Westin
Hotel in El Paso, Texas.  The Symposium/Workshop is being held under the
auspices of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research, Development and
Acquisition and is co-sponsored by the U.S. Army Engineer Topographic
Laboratories, The Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory and the Ballistic Research
Laboratory.  No classified papers will be presented at the Symposium.  Extended
abstracts (of 200 to 300 words) addressing the issues listed in the attached
Symposium Program are being solicited.  Abstracts which most closely address
these issues will be given preference for acceptance.  The abstracts must be
submitted to the Session Chairs listed below by September 1, 1988.  Contractors
are reminded to include a clearance from their Contracting Officer with the
abstract.  Government authors must include a clearance for the abstract from
their agency.  Authors of abstracts accepted for inclusion in the symposium
will be notified not later than September 30 that their abstract has been
accepted and that a camera-ready manuscript must be submitted no later than the
first day of the Symposium.  Letters indicated that the papers have been
cleared by the relevant authorities must be included with the submitted paper.


The chairman for the Session on Automated Terrain Reasoning is John R. Benton,
tel: (202)355-2717, Autovon 345-2717, ARPANET: john@etl.arpa.  His address is

	Commander and Director
	U.S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories
	ATTN: ETL-RI-I (John Benton) 
	Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060-5546 

The chairman for the Session on The Realistic Battlefield is Dr. Howard Holt.
tel: (505)678-2412 or Autovon 258-2412.  His address is 
	
	Commander and Director
	U.S. Army Atmospheric Sciences Lab
	ATTN:  SLCAS-AS (DR. E. Howard Holt)
	White Sands Missile Range, NM 88002-5501

The chairman for the Session on State-of-the-Art Applications is Morton
Hirschberg. tel:  (301)278-6661 Autovon 298-6661, ARPANET: mort@brl.arpa

	Director
	Ballistic Research Laboratory
	ATTN:  SLCBR-SE-C (M. Hirschberg)
 	Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-5066

(Note: Abstracts may be sent by ARPANET to Mr. Benton or Mr. Hirschberg
accompanied by a statement that the abstract has been cleared and that the
the clearance has been mailed.)


						John Benton
						Program Committee Chairman

****************************************************************************

                               Symposium Program
                                      for
       U.S. Army Symposium/Workshop on Artificial Intelligence Research
                       for the Battlefield Environment

            Session I:  Introduction and Military Requirements

                   Session II: Automated Terrain Reasoning
  Session Chair: John R. Benton, U.S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories

Assuming the existence of a topographic data base, can automated  terrain  rea-
soning  systems  be  developed to provide support for operations in the Battle-
field Environment.  Submitted papers should address the following questions:

     a.  What are the relevant military doctrines; can we identify  them,  con-
     vert them to computer representation?

     b.  What current research on spatial  reasoning  has  been  done  that  is
     relevant  to  exploiting  the  battlefield  environment?   What additional
     research needs to be done?  Can cold weather factors be incorporated  into
     the research efforts?

     c.   How  will  the  Condensed  Army  Mobility  Model  System  (CAMMS)  be
     integrated  into  automated  terrain reasoning.  Are there inadequacies in
     the model?

     d.  What special requirements do terrain reasoning  systems  put  on  Geo-
     graphic Information Systems (GIS)?  Are present GIS's adequate?

     e.  Do Expert Systems (ES) have a role in spatial  reasoning  -  fundamen-
     tally or only as an interface to the military doctrine representation?

     f.  How can we make the information usable to the GI in the  Field?   Will
     it be  at platoon, company, battalion, division or corps?  Is it premature
     to distinguish applications along these lines?

                      Session III:  The Realistic Battlefield
 Session Chairman: Dr. Howard Holt, U.S. Army Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory

How can we apply artificial intelligence techniques  for  exploitation  of  the
realistic  battlefield  environment  with  multiple  sources of smoke, dust and
obscurants?  Papers will address the following questions:

     a.  Is relevant military doctrine subjective?  Can it easily be  converted
     to a computer representation.

     b.  How can  information on smoke and obscurants be usefully presented  to
     the GI in the field?

     c.  Can Geographic Information Systems be  used  to  represent  obscurants
     which  move  as  a  function  of  time.  How can obscurant data be made to
     interact with a GIS.

     d.  What role will Expert Systems (ES) play?

                     Session III: State-of-the Art Applications
     Session Chair: Morton Hirschberg, U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory

Are there any State-of-the Art applications?  What are the best candidates  for
automating terrain reasoning?  Submitted papers should address these questions.