Even with traditional system design and development programs military systems are developed that end up being
difficult for the target audience to use. Over the years the military has learned to incorporate human factors
considerations and requirements in system requirements documents in order to minimize this problem. However in
today's environment of procuring GOTS/COTS equipment to quickly field a needed capability, the human factors
aspects are not always considered or they may have to be traded for other considerations. This occurs for a variety of
reasons with the driving reason being the willingness of commanders and agencies to trade capabilities for speed of
fielding. This paper addresses human factors considerations that should be observed in the design of unattended ground
sensors (UGS) at the component, equipment and system levels. This is not an abstract paper on human factors
engineering but an examination of current trends and applications. Lessons learned from recent fieldings and example
designs from the Harris Falcon Watch system are provided. What Harris has found is that design considerations,
development schedules, understanding of the target audience and the mission scenarios, and training are all key factors in
determining whether a system will be found to have utility by a broad spectrum of users.
Border surveillance applications require low false alarm rates and long endurance. These requirements have not changed
since unattended ground sensors (UGS) were first used to monitor Viet Cong activity along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the
1960's. However the targets are quite different today. Then the targets of interest were large military vehicles with strong
acoustic, seismic and magnetic signatures. Currently, the requirements imposed by new terrorist threats and illegal
border crossings have changed the emphasis to the monitoring of light vehicles and foot traffic. Unlike with military
driven requirements cost of ownership and ease of employment are at least as critical as sensor performance.
Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS) were first used to monitor Viet Cong activity along the
Ho Chi Minh Trail in the 1960's. In the 1980's, significant improvement in the capabilities of
UGS became possible with the development of digital signal processors; this led to their
use as fire control devices for smart munitions (for example: the Wide Area Mine) and later
to monitor the movements of mobile missile launchers. In these applications, the targets of
interest were large military vehicles with strong acoustic, seismic and magnetic signatures.
Currently, the requirements imposed by new terrorist threats and illegal border crossings
have changed the emphasis to the monitoring of light vehicles and foot traffic. These new
requirements have changed the way UGS are used. To improve performance against
targets with lower emissions, sensors are used in multi-modal arrangements. Non-imaging
sensors (acoustic, seismic, magnetic and passive infrared) are now being used principally
as activity sensors to cue imagers and remote cameras. The availability of better imaging
technology has made imagers the preferred source of "actionable intelligence". Infrared
cameras are now based on un-cooled detector-arrays that have made their application in
UGS possible in terms of their cost and power consumption. Visible light imagers are also
more sensitive extending their utility well beyond twilight. The imagers are equipped with
sophisticated image processing capabilities (image enhancement, moving target detection
and tracking, image compression). Various commercial satellite services now provide
relatively inexpensive long-range communications and the Internet provides fast worldwide
access to the data.
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