Driver Performance Measurement To Support Thermal System Development

The Driver’s Vision Enhancer (DVE) program is providing thermal imaging systems to enlarge the driving envelope for the community of military wheeled and tracked vehicles. The DVE provides the driver with thermal images of the forward scene under night and adverse day conditions. During the DVE development program, several questions emerged that required performance-based data to resolve. A multi-phased program to provide the Project Manager, Night Vision/Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition with driver performance data is described in this paper. The program involves several completed and ongoing efforts including: the relative merits of the DVE and night vision goggles (NVG); drivers’ ability to detect the presence of drop-offs when using the DVE and NVG; the analysis of drivers’ vision using an eye-tracker; and the effect on performance of various levels of pixel nonuniformity and nonresponsiveness in the display/sensor system. Results will be presented to show the relative capabilities of the various sensors given the environmental conditions of the tests. The data collected has already been used to aid in updating the DVE performance specification for the Thermal Omnibus procurement. The goals of these efforts are to reduce cost without sacrificing driver performance, gain an understanding of how drivers use the DVE in operational settings, and determine where training is needed to enhance performance and reduce risk on the battlefield.