GB2099964A

GB2099964A - Apparatus for training gunners and/or commanders of armoured fighting vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2099964A
Application number: GB8215714A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Wedgmann & Co GmbH
Current assignee: Wedgmann & Co GmbH
Priority date: 1981-06-05
Filing date: 1982-05-28
Publication date: 1982-12-15
Also published as: GB2099964B; FR2507300A1; DE3122384A1

Abstract

Apparatus for training gunners and/or commanders of armoured fighting vehicles contains a plurality of two- seat training positions each being a replica of an operating position in the armoured fighting vehicle and containing the same operating control levers, and includes optical aiming sights in which a picture appears on a monitor (19, 20) as a superimposition of a picture of a landscape, a picture of a target and an image of a sighting mark, the pictures of the landscape and the target being stored in memories (11, 14) for recall by means of a computer (21) in accordance with a predetermined programme fed in at (22) and being displaceable by operation of the aiming controls (24, 25). In the memory may also be stored the distances from each picture point. The correct adjustment during range finding and firing is checked by the computer. An instructor can monitor the proceedings, and the trainee may be supplied with commands or error warnings at (23). The target picture may appear to move within the landscape picture. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Training apparatus for training gunners and/or commanders of armoured fighting vehicles This invention relates to training apparatus for training gunners and/or commanders of armoured fighting vehicles, and provided with a plurality of training positions.

An armoured fighting vehicle offers room only for training one gunner and a commander, an instructor then being required in addition. However, the operation of the hand controls must be practised again and again so that commanders and gunners know these hand movements so well that in an actual warlike situation no mistakes are made.

Apparatus according to the invention is provided so that during basic training the armoured vehicles themselves are not used and at the same time a number of trainees can be instructed in that each training position is a replica of an operating position in the armoured fighting vehicle and contains the same controls, while in optical sights a picture appears which is produced on a monitor, on which the following pictures can be superimposed:: a) a picture of a landscape in the form of photographic images stored in a picture memory (panoramic memory), the picture of the landscape being displaceable in accordance with simulated swivel movement of the weapon; b) a picture of the target, which becomes visible within the landscape, which is stored in a second memory; c) the image of a sighting mark (e.g. crossed hairlines) in such a way that the picture of the target appears within the picture of the landscape and the picture of the landscape together with the picture of the target, controlled by computer, become displaced by the operation of the aiming controls.

Such apparatus makes it possible for the trainee gunners as well as the commanders to be trained in the operation of the controls for aiming the weapon and for them to see in their aiming sights the same movements which they would see in the aiming sights of the armoured fighting vehicle. For simple training purposes the picture of the target may simply be superimposed on the picture of the landscape without movement. However, for advanced training purposes it is possible to computer control the picture of the target within the picture of the landscape so as to give it the appearance of movement therein.In order to make this presentation approximate even more close to reality, the stored points of the landscape and the target are provided with distances, and in overlapping points of the picture respectively those picture points are made visible on the monitor which represent the smallest distance. This has the effect that the picture of the target, depending on the given distance of objects in the landscape, appears to be traversing or disappearing behind the said landscape objects.

The weapon systems of an armoured fighting vehicle includes a range finding apparatus, for example a range finder using laser beams, and this range finder likewise has to be operated when the aiming device is directed onto the target. In order for the range measurement and the firing to be simu lated in the apparatus, and to check whether these two operations have been carried out with correct adjustment, this is provided according to a further characteristic of the invention in that during the firing and the range finding operation the computer calculates the difference between the position of the target and the position of the sighting mark and when this difference falls below a predetermined tolerance, a correct range or hit is signalled by the computer.

During the operation of the various hand controls, including the alignment of the weapon, the range finding and the firing can be subject to a number of errors.

For this reason it is further provided that the commands and warnings about possible errors are stored in the computer and supplied visually to the trainee through an apparatus, by a word and/or by audible signal e.g. speech. This device may also be used so that all the possible control operations which a trainee has to carry out, including range finding and firing, can be repeatedly practised without it becoming necessary for the instructor to intervene. Moreover the trainee receives an order from the computer which has previously been programmed, and the computer checks whether the order has been correctly carried out. If the order has not been correctly carried out, the computer will point out the error and the trainee has to repeat the command until the order has been properly carried out.Appropriately each position is served separately by the computer so that a trainee who carries out the orders quickly and correctly will be able to complete the intended training programme more quickly than a trainee who carries out the orders slowly or makes mistakes more often.

In order to be able to carry out this separate training according to a common programme, in the apparatus according to the invention the landscape picture is stored in a picture memory, which is common to all training positions, from which is recalled the picture section required for each separate monitor and stored in an intermediate memory and is retrieved from this and fed to the monitor after the target picture and sighting mark have been added. This has the effect that each trainee in his apparatus sees that section of the landscape picture which corresponds to that effected by his adjustments, thus both commander and gunner from the same position also see different landscape pictures when they have differently adjusted their aiming sights.

All this takes place without the intervention of the instructor. In order that the instructor can monitor the training, a position is provided at which the instructor can monitor the proceedings and the training positions on monitors on which he can recall monitor pictures of the training positions. The apparatus for gunners and commanders may contain six to eight training positions. This number of training positions is appropriate both from the point of view of the size of the required picture memory, and the computer, as well as to the requirements which are to be made on the instructor.

An embodiment example of an apparatus according to the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a training position for the commander and gunner; and Figure 2 is a simplified block diagram of the layout of the apparatus.

The training position shown in Figure 1 corresponds to the position for the commander and gunner in an armoured fighting vehicle. Essentially it consists of a seat 1 for the gunner, a seat 2 for the commander, aiming apparatus 3, 4forthe gunner, a periscope 5 for the commander, an operating hand control 6 for the gunner and an operating hand control 7 for the commander. In the aiming apparatus the trainees observe the monitor pictures, which change in the same way as in the armoured fighting vehicle, so that the pictures in the aiming sights change when these are swung around.

In Figure 2, of devices common to the more numerous training positions, only the devices for one training position are shown and the connections to the remaining training positions are merely indicated. A panoramic picture is digitally stored in the memory 11, whereby each picture point, apart from the information about brightness, also contains information about distance. The stored picture may be composed of several overlapping photographic images and digitalized whereby the reproduction of the partial pictures may biend into each other without any recognizable boundaries.

However, a temperature-entropy diagram taken with infrared light may also be stored, whereby the trainees will observe in the aiming apparatus the same picture as would be seen when driving at night with infrared apparatus. The picture memory 11 is scanned every 20 milliseconds. From the picture memory 11 is recalled respectively one partial picture which corresponds to the adjustment of the sighting apparatus by the sighting control grip 24 or 25 and is fed to the intermediate memory 12 and 13.

On manipulating the sighting controls from the picture memory 11 the memories 12 and 13 are resuppiied with partial pictures correponding to the manipulating movements of the control handle. Into afurther intermediate memory 14from a computer 21 the picture of a target is introduced, which may be stationary or movable depending on the particular programme required. However provisions may also be provided for enabling several target images to be introduced, although usually two target images would appear to be sufficient. The sighting marks are taken from a third intermediate memory 15,16 respectively. The values stored in the intermediate memories are then added together with the converters 17,18 and changed from digital signals into analog signals and fed to the monitors 19 and 20.

Thus the trainee in his aiming apparatus observes the landscape which corresponds to a real landscape, crossed hairline, and the target, so far as the computer has provided a target and this target is in the section of the picture which at that moment is displayed on the monitors Just as in a real situation, the trainee can thus swivel his aiming apparatus to scan the landscape until he finds a target. The position of the sighting mark is reported back to the computer 21 so that in the computer the comparison is made as to whether the position of the signting mark corresponds with the position of the target received, whereby specific tolerances for example how far the position of the sight is allowed to deviate from the position of the target, may be provided in advance. All operating positions are connected to the picutre memory 11 and the computer 21.In Figure 2 the assumption has been made that there are six operating positions. Also connected to the computer 21 is an apparatus 23 for each training position which apparatus either visually by words and/or audibly by speech supplies the trainee with commands stored in the computer or warnings about errors also stored in the computer. Through apparatus 22 the training programmes required by the respective instructor can be fed into the compu ter21.

With the apparatus according to the invention it is possible to train gunners or commanders by them- selves, or gunners and commanders working together. For example, a training session could proceed as follows: The trainees, irrespective of whether gunner or commander, first of all receives from the computer programmed commands telling them which control lever to operate. If the command is correctly carried out, the computer will give the next command. If the command is not correctly carried out, for example if a wrong control lever has been operated or the correct operating lever has been operated in the wrong sense, the computer will indicate to the trainee the error, perhaps in the form of words, such as "wrong lever" or wrong direction" or a suitable instruction in speech.The trainee then has to repeat the command until it has been correctly carried out and the next command is given. When this prepared part of the programme is finished, the command can be given to bring the aiming apparatus into a specific position, the position of which in the armoured fighting vehicle is in alignment with the position of the weapon, and to see if it can find in the landscape of the aiming apparatus a target onto which he can then train the weapon. The next stage in the training process is that the trainee operates the range finder after having adjusted the aiming apparatus onto the target. If the target was correctly adjusted, the range of the target is also correctly displayed in the computer. For larger errors in aiming, the computer calculates a different range depending on the size of the error. During firing of the shot the computer likewise examines whether the aim and sighting marks corresponds within the tolerances. If this is so, a hit will be indicated, for example by a flashing light, on the monitor. However, the target moves on according to the programme fed into the computer irrespective of whether a hit has been obtained or not, so that the trainee can direct several shots onto the target.

All stages can be recorded, so that at the end of the practice each trainee is presented with a report which will indicate how fast he has worked, how many and what kind of errors have been made, how many shots have been fired and how many hits have been achieved. The instructor's position contains several monitors and other optical and acoustical indicator apparatus with the aid of which the instructor can monitor the proceedings of the exercise at the individual training positions. He gives the signal to start, observes the training in progress and can if necessary intervene in the training session and give individual trainees assistance.

In the foregoing description only one example of a training course is provided. However the apparatus according to the invention is able to meet the steadily rising demands of training including the co-operation between commander and gunner in complicated procedures of sighting and fighting various targets, whereby the results obtained are in each case recorded on a report. The apparatus also affords the possibility of repeating a predetermined programme as many times as necessary until mistakes are eliminated.

Claims

1. Apparatus for training gunners and/or commanders of armoured fighting vehicles and provided with a plurality of training positions, characterised in that each said position corresponds to an operating position (1, 2) in an armoured fighting vehicle and is provided with corresponding controls (6, 7) while in optical aiming sights (3, 4, 5) a picture appears which is produced on a monitor (19, 20), on which the following pictures can be superimposed: a) a picture of a landscape in the form of photographic images stored in a picture memory (panoramic memory) (11), the picture of the landscape being displaceable in accordance with the simulated swivel movement of the weapon; b) a picture of the target, which is visible within the landscape, which is stored in a second memory (14); and c) an image of a sighting mark, the superimposition being effected in such a way that the picture of the target appears within the picture of the landscape and the picture of the landscape together with the picture of the target, controlled by computer (21) become correspondingly displaced by operating the aiming controls (24, 25).

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterised in that the picture of the target controlled by computer 21 appdears to move within the picture of the landscape.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterised in that the stored points of the said landscape and of target are provided respectively with distances, and in overlapping picture points those picture points are made visible on the said monitor which represent the smallest distance.

4. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that during a firing and range finding operation the said computer calculates the difference between the position of the target and the position of the sighting mark and when this difference lies below a fixed tolerance, a correct range or a hit is signalled by the computer.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 4, characterised in that the calculated results are stored.

6. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the command and warnings about possible errors are stored in the said computer and supplied visually to the trainee through apparatus (23) by words display and/or audible signal.

7. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the landscape picture is stored in a picture memory (11), which is common to all training positions, from which is recalled the picture section required for each separate monitor (19, 20) and stored in an intermediate memory (12, 13) and is retrieved from this and fed to the monitor (19, 20) after the target picture and sighting mark have been added.

8. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 7, characterised in that for the instructor there is provided a place at which the instructor can monitor the proceedings at the training positions on monitors on which he can recall the monitor pictures of the training positions.

9. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the apparatus for gunners and for commanders contains six to eight training positions respectively.

10. Apparatus according to Claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.