EP0504690A1 - Laser-aided weapon effect simulator - Google Patents

Abstract

The laser-aided weapon-effect simulator for shooting practice consists essentially of a body belt (2) with receivers (18), a weapon (1) with a laser transmitter (9) and an electronic reception unit (3). The core of the electronic reception unit (3) is a radio-controlled clock (28) which makes it possible to detect exactly the precise time of any hit, even when several trainees are participating. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a laser-based weapon effect simulator for small arms according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

From the magazine "Deutsches Waffenjournal", DWJ 6/1990, pages 879 to 881, a tactical laser duel simulator system is described with which the tactical behavior of police officers, soldiers and command groups is to be improved. This system can be used for pistols, submachine guns and rifles and consists of a laser transmitter integrated into the weapon or adapted to the weapon and a so-called body belt receiver. There is also a training control device and, if necessary, a head strap receiver. When the weapon is pulled, a blank cartridge is ignited and a laser beam is emitted at the same time. This means that weapon handling, aiming and shooting remain the same as with a sharp shot. If a laser beam hits a detector of the body or head strap receiver, an acoustic or an optical signal is activated when the person is hit. The shooter recognizes whether he has been hit while the victim knows that he has been hit.

Each weapon is assigned a laser pulse encoded for it, so that when several shooters are used, it can be determined without any doubt from which weapon the hit was fired. The acoustic or optical signal can only be switched off after a hit using the training control device or a coded key holder.

Further equipment for shooting training is disclosed in the magazine "Internationale Wehrrevue" 5/1988, page 580. This shooting training system consists of a laser that is placed on a handgun and has an output power that is far below the maximum allowable for eye protection reasons. The exercise participants receive helmet and body belts with laser detectors, which are connected to an alarm unit. When the laser weapon is fired at a target, a laser pulse is emitted via a piezoelectric sensor. In the event of a hit, the detectors emit an acoustic signal. To switch off the hit signal, the connected alarm unit must be operated accordingly. Overall, this system assumes that the exercise participant equipped with the detectors on the body or helmet belt is considered to have been hit when the laser pulse emitted hits the exercise participant or is sent past him at a maximum distance of 45 cm.

From DE 40 03 960 A1 a harness for body and helmet is known as equipment for the detection of people by means of laser beams for exercise or simulation purposes, which is designed in a y-like manner with two front chest straps and a back strap. Shoulder strap pieces connected to the chest straps are provided in the shoulder area.

The belts have punched holes for receiving detectors attached to a separate wiring harness. The harness designed in this way is intended to enable a firm fit with great freedom of movement for the wearer.

DE 30 47 561 A1 (WO 80/02741) describes weapon effect simulators in which a laser with low peak power initiates radiation surges. Each of these bursts has a pulse or modulation of a continuous wave at 170 kHz. A detector for receiving a radiation burst has photocells which are connected in parallel to a single amplifier. The detectors are connected to a control unit, which records a hit received and prevents the weapon of the training participant from firing in the event of a hit.

A particular problem with these simulation systems is that when several exercise participants are participating, it cannot be determined exactly which of two participants, for example, received a hit first when both exercise participants activated their weapon almost simultaneously and emitted a laser beam. This deficiency cannot provide exact evidence that, for example, an exercise participant was hit in fractions of a second earlier than the exercise participant he was fighting.

It is an object of the invention to provide the possibility in a laser-based simulator for handguns to record exactly the hit time and the hit order.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features of patent claim 1.

This laser-based weapon effect simulator according to the invention is particularly suitable for tactical training of personal protection groups and police officers in individual or group training. With this system, the relatively high shooting skills of the shooters can be translated into a tactically correct behavior in practice. Before the start of the tactical training, the exercise participants put on their receiver body and head straps, the weapons are loaded with blanks and then the system is activated by the instructor. By firing a blank cartridge, the integrated or adapted laser sends out pulses that trigger an optical and / or acoustic hit display when they hit the opposing receiver belt and thus indicate the failure of this exercise participant. Since all weapons send out their own identification code, the trainer can read from the participants after the end of the exercise, via a display on the receiver belt, who was hit where, when and by whom. This display device can only be reset by the trainer.

This laser duel simulation system has the special advantages that original weapon conditions are encountered by the exercise participants because the laser is built into the weapon. Of course, an eye of harmless laser is used for this. The failure indicator after a hit is indicated acoustically or optically, for example by a signal tone or a flash lamp.

The electronics receiving unit allows exact reading of the hit data for a possible debriefing after the end of the exercise. The entire tactical training takes place under realistic conditions.

By installing the radio-controlled clock, each electronics receiver unit can be set to real time. With the very important simultaneous participation of several exercise persons, the use of this radio-controlled clock means that all electronic reception units of all exercise participants are and remain set to the exact same time. This makes it possible to record very small differences in the hit sequence of, for example, 1/10 second, which is not possible with the naked eye by the trainer.

Another important feature of the invention is the equipment of the electronics receiving unit with the area detection. This area detection means that if several detectors are arranged on the body or on the head strap, it can be determined exactly which individual body area has been hit. Through the simultaneous identification of the shooter by means of appropriate coding and the storage of the hit number, it is also possible to state which shooter achieved a certain hit in a certain body area, which corresponds to a detector arranged there, at a certain time. By reading out the stored data and uploading it to a computer system with a screen, subsequent viewing and the entire combat combat simulation is also possible.

Figur 1

einen lasergestützten Waffenwirkungssimulator mit Sender und Empfänger in vereinfachter Darstellung,

Figur 2

ein Blockschaltbild der Elektronik-Empfangseinheit und

Figur 3

den Sender des Waffenwirkungssimulators im Schnitt.

Further details of the invention are set out in the description of an exemplary embodiment. Show it:

Figure 1

a laser-based weapon effects simulator with transmitter and receiver in a simplified representation,

Figure 2

a block diagram of the electronics receiving unit and

Figure 3

the transmitter of the weapon effect simulator on average.

The weapon action simulator according to FIG. 1 essentially consists of a weapon 1, which is shown as a pistol in the example shown and, alternatively, can also be a rifle or a rapid-fire pistol or a revolver, a body belt 2 and an electronics receiving unit 3.

In the weapon 1, a sleeve 5 is screwed into the weapon barrel 4, in which there is a piezo sensor 6 and a hybrid module 7 for generating a light pulse sequence. This hybrid module 7 also controls the laser diode and generates the code typical of this weapon. The hybrid module 7 is operatively connected to the piezo sensor 6. In front of the gun barrel 4 there is an attachment 8 in which the laser diode 9 and an optical system 10 connected to the hybrid module 7 are located. Below the laser diode 9, a battery 11 is inserted into the attachment 8, which is also operatively connected to the hybrid module 7.

With this weapon 1 12 cartridges are fired when the trigger is actuated, whereby a laser beam is finally emitted from the weapon via the piezo sensor 6 and the hybrid module 7.

The body belt 2 shown in FIG. 1 has a chest part 13 and a back part 14. Arm straps 16 are connected to the shoulder parts 15. Leg straps 17 are also located in the lower part of the body strap 2. The entire body strap is provided with receivers or detectors 18, all of which are connected to the electronics receiving unit 3 via lines 19. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the electronics receiving unit 3 is attached to the neck strap 20. There is also an optical display 21 and an acoustic alarm display 22 on the body belt 2.

The electronics receiving unit 3 consists of a housing 23, on the top of which the antenna 24 is set up to receive the DCF 77 transmitter. Furthermore, the electronics receiving unit 3 has an on-off switch 25 and a push button 26 for displaying a hit or a time. On the front of the housing 23 there is an LCD display 27 which has 16 digits. The first digit 27.1 shows the hit number, the second digit 27.2 is set up for shooter identification, the third digit 27.3 shows the hit area and from the fourth digit 27.4 the exact hit time is recorded and displayed.

The electronics receiving unit is accordingly set up to individually record several hits that the weapon 1 has achieved with the transmitter laser 9 in the region of the body belt 2 and to store them in order. This sequence can be called up by the button 26. The shooter identification that can also be displayed in the second position 27.2 of the LCD display 27 means that a coded beam of the transmission laser 9 is recorded in the electronics receiving unit 3 and is assigned to the respective hit. This shooter identification can also be called up via the button 26.

As can also be seen in the illustration of the body belt 2 with the receivers 18, there are a number of such receivers 18 on the body, while other receivers 18 are provided on the arms or on the legs. These receivers 18 are now connected to the electronics receiving unit 3 in such a way that the respective hit area is also displayed in the third position 27.3 of the LCD display 27. This means that if a hit is made to the right arm, for example, the electronic receiver unit actually only evaluates the arm area as a hit and consequently does not regard this hit as a hit to the body as a whole. This makes it possible to distinguish between light and heavy hits that would in reality be classified as a minor injury or a serious injury or a fatal hit.

Each hit that was received by one of the detectors 18 is recorded in the electronics receiving unit 3 with its exact time. In order to be able to practice tactically with several exercise participants and still be able to hold a realistic exercise, there is a radio-controlled clock 28 in the electronics receiving unit 3, which transmits the DCF 77 signal receives. After switching on the electronics receiving unit 25, the exact time of day is set in all electronics receiving units 3 for all exercise participants, so that the same starting conditions are given for all exercise participants.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the electronics receiving unit 3. The receivers 18 are connected to a receiver receiving part 29. The received signals are amplified in the input amplifier 30 and then fed to the microprocessor 31. A display 27 and the receive module 28 for the transmit signal DCF 77 are connected to the microprocessor. The antenna is shown at 24. A voltage regulator 32 for the voltage supply is also connected to the microprocessor 31, to which the switch 25, which is connected to the battery 11.1, also acts. The acoustic display 22 and the optical alarm display 21 are also controlled by the microprocessor 31. As an option, a serial interface 33 can be set up, with which a connection can be made, for example, to a computer, a personal computer or a printer.

At 34, the input block for the controls is shown. These controls are the button switch 26, the key switch 35, which is also located on the body belt 2, as well as controls for an optical alarm 36, resetting the alarm 37 and setting the duration of an alarm 38. Of course, other controls are of course also possible are all connected to the central microprocessor 31.

The laser-based weapon effect simulator of the type described enables several exercise participants to take part in a tactical exercise with the weapon under realistic conditions. The controlled clock 28 enables both the exercise supervisor and the exercise participants to recognize very precisely which participant was hit by which weapon in which body area at a specific time. Due to the exact time of all participants and the time evaluation down to 1 / 10th of a second, a clear statement can be made even if two exercise participants met in a practice duel almost simultaneously with a laser beam. This and the subsequent evaluation via the serial interface 33 give the exercise participants a realistic picture of the combat activity practiced and thereby help to improve the tactical behavior in an emergency.

Claims (8)

Laser-based weapon effect simulator for small arms, with a laser transmitter that is integrated into a weapon or is adapted to a weapon, with at least one body and / or headgear receiver and optionally a training control device,
characterized,
that the one or more receivers (18) of the body and head straps (2) are or are operatively connected to an electronic receiving unit (3) which is provided with a radio-controlled clock (28). Weapon impact simulator according to claim 1,
characterized,
that the electronics receiving unit (3) has a module (28) for receiving the transmission signal DCF 77, which receives the transmission signals via a built-in antenna (24) and forwards them to a central microprocessor (31), which in turn communicates with the receivers (18) and the signal evaluation is connected. Weapon impact simulator according to claims 1 and 2,
characterized,
that the electronics receiving unit (3) is equipped with a multi-digit display (27). Weapon impact simulator according to one of claims 1 to 3,
characterized,
that the electronics receiving unit (3) is connected to a microprocessor-controlled evaluation electronics. Weapon impact simulator according to claim 3,
characterized,
that the display (27) has 16 characters and in the first position (27.1) the hit number, in the second position (27.2) the marksman identification, in the third position (27.3) the hit area and from the fourth position (27.4) the hit time. Weapon impact simulator according to claims 1 and 2,
characterized,
that the receiving antenna (24) for the radio-controlled clock (28) is at least partially moved out of the housing (23) of the electronics receiving unit (3). Weapon impact simulator according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that the electronics receiving unit (3) is equipped with a device (33) for reading out the stored data and for transferring the data to a computer system / printer. Weapon impact simulator according to claim 1,
characterized,
that a video camera is used in combination with the electronics receiving unit (3).

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