Submarine Piloting and Navigation Training

What Is It?

Adaptive Training for Submarine Navigation and Piloting Teams is a government-owned submarine bridge training application designed to enhance individual and team training for submarine piloting and navigation teams, or SNAPs.

How Does It Work?

This simulation-based trainer allows instructors to equip SNAP teams with advanced data capturing technologies, offering real-time diagnosis and evaluation of suboptimal performance, and providing adaptive instructional interventions that maximize the training’s effectiveness.

What Will It Accomplish?

This training application will reduce instructor workload and improve commander and crew decision-making. It will feature automated performance measurement and diagnosis; empirically validated, adaptive presentation of instructional content; and automated adaptive scenario modification capability.

SNAP teams require the ability to rapidly perceive, comprehend and translate data streams into efficient and effective actions. Simulation-based training holds tremendous potential for providing experience and expertise in these areas, but they are limited by our ability to:

  • Capture the myriad streams of relevant human-centric data;
  • Diagnose this data to determine the root cause of sub-optimal performance; and
  • Respond with the smart interventions most likely to accelerate trainees along the learning curve.  

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Advanced Training for SNAP Teams will address the science and technology challenges in these distinct areas. Initially, the program will address the technical hurdles to capturing, analyzing and intepreting high-density data (e.g., visual scanning and fixation patterns, neurophysiological signals), and integrating this data into a SPAN system. Next, the program will explore models of human physiology, perception, cognition and performance as a means for evaluating trainees and diagnosing the root cause(s) for sub-optimal performance in real-time. Finally, the program will investigate adaptive instructional interventions, including techniques for team settings, to maximize the effectiveness of time n the trainer. 

The program will apply an evolutionary development approach to incrementally build a system with increasing capabilities. In the first build, ONR wil focus on a subset of submarine navigation team training objectives using simpler and more mature measures, models and adaptive instructional interventions. Build 2 will extend the coverage of submarine navigation team training objectives. It will also incorporate more sophisticated measurement techniques (e.g., eye-tracking, physiological data), robust hierarchical expert and student models, and real-time adaptive mitigation strategies (e .g., scenario modification and feedback).

Research Challenges and Opportunities:

  • Advanced measurement techniques that capture more robust data (visual scanning, mental reasoning, communication patterns) to understand trainee competence
  • Hybrid human performance models that incorporate multiple data sources
  • Adaptive instructional techniques

Point of Contact:

Dr. William “Kip” Krebs
(703) 696-2575
william.krebs@navy.mil

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