The Design and Development of a Crew Display Demonstrator

The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) has developed a crewstation design tool to aid in defining crew-system interfaces in new or improved ground combat vehicles. The crew display demonstrator (CDD) provides a capability to rapidly reconfigure physical and functional characteristics of an operator station's displays, controls, and interactive dialog features. The CDD consists of a reconfigurable crew-in-the-loop simulation, including vehicle subsystems and tactical environments, and two generic crewstations. The demonstrator is a full-mission, fixed-base combat vehicle simulator capable of representing a wide range of operator interfaces. The crew operates the demonstrator vehicle in a simulated environment while conducting a mission against an interactive threat. TACOM plans to use the CDD to filter functional requirements and performance specifications for the Abrams Tank, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the Armored Family of Vehicles. Thus, the demonstrator will enable early human factors consideration and influence in the upgrade and design of ground combat vehicle systems.