An Interactive Planner for Tank Assaults

摘要

When running an exercise using Computer Generated Forces (CGF) it is desirable for much of the planning of CGF tasks to be done automatically. However, it is also important that the CGF operator is able to influence the planning in order to apply additional knowledge that is not included in the system, or simply because the operator prefers a different solution (subject matter experts often have different notions of the "best" solution in cases where there is a number of plausible alternatives). We have developed an interactive planner for planning tank squadron assaults that can be used to provide input to our CGF system. The planner analyses the terrain to gauge its suitability for the assault and applies a set of constraints to identify a solution appropriate to the terrain. At any stage users may override the automated planning and either select their own preferred solution or alter the planning parameters to produce solutions more acceptable to their needs. The provision of graphical output of the results of each planning stage helps the user to understand how the interaction between the constraints affects the possible solutions. The resulting system can be used as a fully automated planner, a user assistant, or simply as an input device for a user's plan.