Researchers from the University of South Australia have developed simulation software so lean that it is the fastest in the world at modifying existing combat strategies to improve established doctrine.
Software developer Dr Matt Selway said his programming could reduce the time it took to run large-scale military simulations from one month to one week. The increased speed comes from the software’s automated analysis of text documents.
The simulation software registers what is known as text understanding methods. This allows the system to quickly interpret written descriptions of different real-world scenarios and develop improved procedures.
It is able to analyse the behaviours of individual units, squads and brigades at the same time and performs the actions of the different entities inside the simulation.
The simulation also aims to analyse and evolve contemporary military doctrine to produce optimal results.
Users are able to continue running through simulations and calculate the averages of different outcomes. They are then able to figure out what strategies or equipment produce better results in different situations.
After the text documents are inserted into the simulator they are run on a flat platform screen, which creates a visual representation of each scenario.
The project was led by the University of South Australia’s Advanced Computing Research Centre, one half of the Australian Government’s Defence Science and Technology Group.
Dr Selway commented: “Having the simulation run faster allows users to run the event multiple times and figure out what the best option is for various aspects of their operations. They could start off with documentation that describes the simulation that they want to run and the behaviour of the different entities that they want to have execute throughout the simulation.
“You can put in information about different types of equipment, if they are comparing some of them or deciding on which to purchase. It could help them with weapons, vehicles and communications equipment.”
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