Taking advantage of a visit to the Spanish Naval Academ, on April 22nd, 2022, the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy (AJEMA), the Hon. Mr. Admiral General Mr. Antonio Martorell Lacave, was able to visit the research facilities of the CUD-ENM.
The Director of the CUD-ENM, Dr. Mr. José Martín Davila, accompanied by the center’s management team, first summarized the initiatives implemented at the CUD-ENM to promote the development of the research activity of its teaching and research staff.
Precisely, among these initiatives, are the internal calls of the CUD-ENM to finance R&D&i projects aligned with the interests of the Ministry of Defense and the Navy, in particular. There are already two calls to date where research projects have been funded in different fields of knowledge: There are already two calls to date where research projects have been funded in different fields of knowledge: communications (improvement of passive radar performance with application to the maritime field), teleco-computing field (application of artificial intelligence techniques for the improvement of knowledge of the maritime environment), naval/simulation field (development of a methodology for the creation of digital twins on the basis of training boats), chemical field (construction of a pilot plant for the production, purification and storage of hydrogen from glycerin for use in submarines with AIP fuel cell systems) and mechanical/design field (virtual combat laboratory for immersive firearm shooting training).
During this visit, the AJEMA was able to learn firsthand, from its principal researchers about the first results of these research projects. In addition, the different Rules of Attack (ROA) involved in the real battlefield are recreated and the aim is to achieve a totally immersive sensation for the user.
The first one, framed in the field of mechanical design, proposes the use of Fourth Generation industrial technologies (i4.0) for the hyper-realistic 3D modeling of a combat laboratory (virtual combat laboratory for immersive firearm shooting training (BATTLELAB)), which serves as a virtual training platform for the military practice of firearm shooting. Through the combination of different i4.0 techniques, the characteristic graphical environment and the user/device interaction have been recreated. All this in accordance with the lines of interest established by the Technology and Innovation Strategy (ETID) of the Ministry of Defense, as described in the Technological Goal (MT.6.4.1.) referring to the modeling of the battlefield and its environment.
Presentation of the project VIRTUAL COMBAT LABORATORY FOR IMMERSIVE FIREARM SHOOTING TRAINING
Secondly, the Professor-Secretary of the CUD-ENM, Dr. Belén Barragáns Martínez (technical coordinator of the project), briefly presented the results of the R+D+i project (recently completed) “Application of artificial intelligence to the knowledge of the maritime environment”, developed by doctors of the CUD-ENM with funding provided by the Navy and support from the Spanish Naval Academy.
As a result, a technological demonstrator has been presented to improve the operational procedures developed by the Navy from the Maritime Action Operations and Surveillance Center (COVAM), in charge of monitoring maritime areas of national interest. Specifically, the demonstrator receives the AIS (Automatic Identification System) data stream containing information on ships and their positioning in real time, and uses data analysis and artificial intelligence techniques to detect scenarios and anomalies of interest defined by COVAM. Due to the high rate of messages transmitted, it is necessary to analyze and select Big Data technologies for the storage and processing of information in real time and the research and development of Data Analytics and Machine Learning techniques to process and extract knowledge from the large volume of data involved.
Presentation of the project APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE MARITIME ENVIRONMENT
More information on research, development and innovation projects carried out at the CUD-ENM is available at https://cud.uvigo.es/proyectos-contratos.
