ADVANCED TERRAIN REASONING AND AUTOMATED MANEUVER PLANNING

Abstract

Combined Arms Analysis Tool for the 21st Century (COMBATXXI) is the primary analytical combat simulation tool used by the Marine Corp's Operations Analysis Directorate (OAD) and The Research Analysis Center (TRAC) under the new U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC). While the simulation has considerable capabilities and has been used for diverse studies, it has two major shortcomings that can be addressed by innovative model development techniques. The first weaknesses of COMBATXXI at the scenario development level is maneuver planning. An entity's maneuver is completely scripted by scenario developers. This is a time-consuming process that varies in realistic accuracy based on the developers' expertise and experience. Advanced terrain reasoning in COMBATXXI could enhance dynamic decision making by simulated entities, improve analysis of combined arms operations, and shorten the scenario development time. The second weakness is prototyping and testing new behaviors in COMBATXXI. This is a difficult process that can be improved by using a simplified surrogate environment. This thesis took one step toward addressing both shortcomings by developing a prototype maneuver planner in a surrogate environment (WOMBATXXI/Unity3d Game Engine) using an advanced terrain reasoning approach, testing the planner output through a simple face validity process of examining the realism and simplicity of the plans, and demonstrating the planner output over five distinct scenarios.