Abstract:
The present invention relates to a method for training behavior during a nuclear, biological or chemical warfare attack, including a number of players. The method includes determining exposure to a simulated nuclear, biological or chemical attack for each player; providing a signal indicating said exposure in at least one alarm simulator unit, said alarm simulating unit generating an audio/visible alarm signal; and establishing the effect of said exposure for each player.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to civil defense and preparedness, and more specifically, to a method for training behavior during a nuclear, biological or chemical warfare attack. In the training method, exposure to a simulated attack is determined for a player, a signal indicating the exposure in at least one alarm simulator is provided, and the effect of the exposure for the player is established.  
         [0002]     The present invention further relates to a combat training system which includes a central unit arranged to communicate with a plurality of wearable local units, wherein the local units are arranged to communicate exposure to a nuclear, biological or chemical agent.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It is well known to simulate effects of fire attacks and other firing weapons, such as mines, when training military personnel. Direct fire, which primarily is intended to have effect against a specific point, is usually simulated by means of optical equipment, whereby laser light commonly represents the fire and optical sensors are used to register hits. Indirect fire, whose nature is area covering, is usually simulated by means of radio waves, which are transmitted from some kind of transmitter antenna, for instance, at the simulated weapon, and whose effect is registered via one or more receiver antenna in proximity to potential targets. Another way of simulating indirect fire is by defining fields representing, for example, minefields, whereupon when a soldier enters such field, a hit evaluation is performed. A central unit can transmit coordinates for said fields, and each soldier then carries receiving equipment for receiving said coordinates and a memory for storing the received information. The receiving equipment and memory are conventionally incorporated in a vest/harness worn by the soldier together with a GPS-receiver providing position information for the soldier.  
         [0004]     However, in order to make combat training even more realistic, other types of warfare can also be simulated, such as nuclear, biological and/or chemical warfare. This is done by defining fields, in the same manner as in the case with mine fields, contaminated with a nuclear, biological and/or chemical agent. In systems existing today, the soldier is informed by way of an audio signal from a loudspeaker of the harness/vest when he/she enters a contaminated field and after a predetermined time period the soldier must have taken measures to protect himself/herself from said agent, for example, by putting on a protective mask or a gas mask. If the soldier is not protected against said agent within the predetermined time limit, the soldier is considered to be injured or killed.  
         [0005]     A continuing need exists to make combat training even more realistic and to improve the training of the behavior of the soldiers when exposed to nuclear, biological and/or chemical agents.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a method for training behavior during a nuclear, biological or chemical warfare attack is provided, for participation by a plurality of players in a simulated attack. The method includes determining exposure to a simulated nuclear, biological or chemical attack for each player. The exposure can be determined, for example, locally in equipment carried by the player or in a central unit and communicated to the player. The method further includes providing a signal indicating said exposure to an alarm simulator unit. The signal can be provided by sending a signal corresponding to the determined exposure for at least a sub-group of the players and by receiving said exposure signal in the alarm simulator unit. In another example, the exposure signal is received directly from a central unit. In a next step, said alarm simulating unit generates an audio/visible alarm signal. The task of those players who notice the alarm signal is now to inform the rest of the group of the nuclear, biological or chemical agent in order to minimize losses. In one example, where the alarm simulator unit is hand-held, handling of the alarm simulator unit is practiced, so that in real battle, the person responsible for the alarm simulator unit will notice when the unit is alarming. Also the routines for informing the rest of the players is practiced.  
         [0007]     In another example, the alarm simulator unit is vehicle carried or stationary. Also in this example, behavior of the players is trained in order to secure that the alarm will be noticed and in order to secure that all the players are informed of the danger. The last step of the method includes establishing the effect of the exposure on each player. This step may include establishing for each player for how long time the player has been exposed to the attack without wearing means protecting against said exposure. In a simple embodiment, this is achieved by establishing when the exposure is initiated and when the player initiates use of protection means against said exposure.  
         [0008]     In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the extent of exposure is determined and the intensity of the alarm signal is dependent upon the extent of exposure.  
         [0009]     Another aspect of the invention is to provide a combat training system which includes a central unit communicating with a plurality of wearable local units, wherein said local units each are arranged to determine exposure to a nuclear, biological or chemical agent. The system includes at least one alarm simulator unit, wherein each alarm simulator unit is arranged to provide exposure related data upon exposure to an agent, wherein said alarm simulator unit has alarm generating means arranged to generate an alarm signal based on said exposure signal, and wherein each alarm simulator unit is a separate entity.  
         [0010]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the exposure related data is provided from one of the local units. In accordance with yet another embodiment, the exposure related data is provided from the central unit. In yet another example, the alarm simulator unit is arranged to determine exposure to the nuclear, biological or chemical agent. The alarm simulator units may be hand-held, vehicle-carried, or stationary.  
         [0011]     In yet another embodiment of the invention, the exposure related data is arranged to indicate level of exposure and in that said alarm generating means are arranged to indicate said level. For example, the exposure related data is arranged to indicate a low, non-fatal level or a high, fatal level of exposure. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  shows a system for combat training of soldiers according to one aspect of the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic diagram over equipment in a harness and a protective mask or gas mask of a soldier; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  shows a schematic diagram of an alarm simulator unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a system for combat training of soldiers  1  includes a laser-based shooting simulator  2  arranged on a weapons  3  used in the training, and a harness  4  or vest worn by each soldier participating in the training exercise. Each harness/vest  4  is provided with detectors  5  for detecting hits of the shooting simulators  2  (used by other participating soldiers), a GPS-receiver  6  for receiving position data, a memory  7   a  for storing data, a processing unit  7   b  for processing data, and radio communication means  8  for exchanging information with a central unit  9 . The GPS-receiver  6 , memory  7   a , processing unit  7   b  and radio communication means  8  are shown in  FIG. 2 . The central unit  9  is arranged to send coordinate data to the harnesses/vests  4  defining a field and a type of warfare associated with said field. The warfare type is, for example, a field contaminated with a nuclear, biological or chemical agent.  
         [0016]     In  FIG. 2 , the field coordinates received from the central unit  9  via the radio communication means  8  are stored in the memory  7   a  together with information regarding field type (radioactive field, biologically or chemically contaminated field). The processing unit  7   b  of each harness/vest  4  is arranged to compare the field coordinates from the memory  7   a  with position data from the GPS-receiver  6  in a comparing unit  10 . When the comparing unit  10  has determined that the soldier is within a contaminated field, the comparing unit outputs data concerning the entrance into the contaminated field, the time of entrance and type of contamination. The time data can, for example, be fetched from the GPS-data or a clock  11  of the processing unit  7   b . In an extended embodiment, the contaminated fields include a number of sub-fields, each with a different level of contamination. In that case, the comparing unit is also arranged to output the contamination level. The outputted data is fed to a casualty determining unit  17  of the processing unit  7   b  and to a transmitter  19  in the harness/vest  4 , which shall be described more in detail below.  
         [0017]     In order to protect against the contamination, the soldiers  1  should put on protective means  12 . In the non-exclusive example herein described, the protective means  12  is a protective mask or a gas mask. The mask, which is suited for training use, is provided with a pressure sensor  13  arranged to sense the air pressure inside the mask. The pressure sensor  13  outputs air pressure data to a comparing unit  14  of the mask. The comparing unit  14  is arranged to compare the sensor data with a preset or predetermined curve in order to determine whether the soldier has properly put on the mask or not. When the mask is properly on, the soldier is protected against the contamination. The comparing unit  14  feeds an ON-signal to a transmitter  15  of the mask when the mask is properly on. The transmitter  15  sends the ON-signal, for example, via radio or IR to a receiver  16  of the harness/vest  4 . The casualty determining unit  17  of the harness/vest  4  is arranged to input the ON-signal from the receiver  16  and the data from the comparing unit  10  concerning time of entrance into a contaminated field and type of contamination. The casualty determining unit  17  is arranged to establish for how long a time period the soldier has been exposed to the contamination without wearing the protective means. In a simple example, this is done by comparing the time when the exposure is initiated with the time when the player initiates use of protecting means against said exposure. The casualty determining unit  17  of the harness/vest  4  then fetches time data from the clock  11  upon reception of the ON-signal and establishes the time difference between the time data from the clock and the time data of the information from the comparing unit  10 . If the soldier is exposed without wearing the mask longer than a predetermined time period, the soldier is considered to be killed. Then, the casualty determining unit  17  is arranged to create a message and send it to the communication means  8  for distribution to the central unit  9 . The message includes information regarding the identity of the killed soldier, the time and place of the death and the reason of the death (exposure to a nuclear, biological or chemical agent). Further, the casualty determining unit  17  provides a signal to a load speaker  18  of the harness/vest  4  informing the soldier of the death.  
         [0018]     However, this simple example does not handle a situation where the soldier leaves the contaminated field within the predetermined time period. In an extended example, the comparing unit  10  is arranged to repeatedly establish whether the soldier is still within the contaminated field after exposure has been initiated. In this extended example, the casualty determining unit  17  is arranged to determine the total amount of time the soldier has been in the contaminated field within a given time frame, e.g., within the last hour, and to compare this total amount of time with the predetermined time period. In the case when the contamination level also is established, a total exposure is determined instead of a total time period. The total exposure is determined by multiplying each exposure level with a time period associated with said exposure level, and comparing the total exposure with a predetermined exposure value.  
         [0019]     As seen in  FIG. 3 , an alarm simulator unit  24  is designed to have the size and weight of real instruments used by that army for detecting a specific type of contamination (nuclear, biological or chemical) and alarming upon detection. In this way, handling of the instrument can be practiced in a realistic manner. In order to further increase the realism, the alarming function of the replica or simulator unit  24  is the same as the alarming function of the real instruments in use. For example, if the instruments have means for generating an acoustic alarm signal, also the replica is arranged to provide an acoustic signal. If the instruments in use are arranged to provide the alarm by emitting visible light, also the replica has a light emitter. Other alarming means of the alarm simulator unit could be a buzzer, a text display and/or an instrument giving an analogue indication, e.g., a pointer-type instrument.  
         [0020]     As previously described in relation to  FIG. 2 , the comparing unit  10  of the harness/vest  4  outputs data concerning entrance into a contaminated field to the casualty determining unit  17 . The outputted data is also fed to the transmitter  19  of the harness/vest  4  arranged to broadcast a message including said data. The transmitter  19  is, for example, a transmitter for radio transmission or an IR-transmitter. A receiver  20  of the alarm simulator unit  24  is arranged to receive messages from the comparing unit  10  of the harness/vest  4  indicating entrance into a contaminated field. The message is fed to a processing unit  21  arranged to initiate the alarm upon entrance into the contaminated field. The processing unit  21  is arranged to read the information of the message indicating type of contamination and to establish whether the alarm simulator unit  18  is arranged to simulate an instrument alarming for that type of contamination. This is done by comparing the contamination type with a preset contamination type stored in a memory  22 . If the contamination type of the memory  22  and the received message are identical, then the processing unit  21  feeds a signal to one or more alarms  23  initiating said alarms.  
         [0021]     In another example (not illustrated), at least parts of the comparing unit  10  is arranged in the alarm simulator unit. Then, the processing unit  21  of the alarm simulator unit  24  can be arranged to provide a variable signal to the alarms  23  wherein the strength of the signal is increasing when the alarm simulator unit approaches the contaminated field, based on algorithms included in the processing unit  21 . In yet another example (not illustrated), which is especially suitable for a stationary alarm simulator unit  24 , the GPS-receiver  6 , memory  7   a , transceiver  8  and comparing unit  10  are disposed in the alarm simulator unit  24 . Then, the alarm simulator unit  24  is arranged to receive coordinates for the contaminated field via the transceiver  8  and to determine whether the unit  24  is exposed to the contaminated field in the same manner as described above.  
         [0022]     In combat training, the soldiers are divided into groups of, for example, five to ten persons. In each group, one of the soldiers is responsible for the alarm simulator unit  24  arranged to alert when the simulator unit enters a contaminated field. A method for training behavior during a nuclear, biological or chemical warfare attack then comprises determining for each soldier if the harness/vest  4  has entered a contaminated field. As previously described, the processing unit of the harness/vest  4  determines if the harness/vest  4  has entered a contaminated field. The method further includes that, for the soldier of each group responsible for the alarm simulator unit  18 , a signal is sent to the alarm simulator unit indicating said exposure. After that, the alarm signal is processed by the alarm signal unit and an alarm is generated. The soldier responsible for the alarm simulator unit is now supposed to act in order to warn the other group members of the danger in the same manner as in real battle. For each soldier it is then established for how long time he/she has been in the contaminated area before taking measures to protect himself/herself. This is established individually in each harness/vest processing unit.