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TeamTalk and
I/ITSEC 09 - Orlando (December 2009)
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VoTech, as
part Team Australia
attended the Interservice/Industry
Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC 09 –
Orlando) to exhibit its services for the development and integration of
team training systems.
On display
was the team training system based on behavioural
markers that measure non-technical performance, as developed by the
Group Interaction in High Risk Environment working group, and TeamTalk, as developed by
VoTech for the Royal Australian Navy. The markers provide a common
vocabulary for training, briefing and debriefing, communication,
regulation, research and to connect different domains of safety
(e.g., incident analysis and performance tracking).
TeamTalk enables rapid and
structured team performance assessments by using predefined behavioural comments. During a training exercise the behaviour observed is entered into a hand held
device using context sensitive buttons to minimise
head down time. At the completion of the exercise the comments can be
viewed by category to facilitate debriefing and exported for use in
an After Action Review.
The hand
held has a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) form factor to minimise weight and maximise
flexibility. The hand held has been designed to accommodate
finger/glove interaction and does not require a stylus.
The key
operational features of the hand held are:
·
Use
of predefined comments
·
Minimal
number of key presses
·
Consistent
user interface
·
Minimal
on screen clutter
·
No
training required
The
integrated TeamTalk
facilitates the historical recording of team training assessment,
enabling continuous improvement and quality assurance of the training
and assessment systems.
(click to download more
information – PDF File 171kB)
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Team
Training Assessment Tool (June 2009)
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VoTech was contracted by Novonics
Oceania Pty Ltd to rapidly develop a prototype hand-held device to
suit the needs of Maritime operations room training as practiced at
HMAS Watson, the Royal Australian Navy's facility in Sydney.
The delivered functionality covers operation of
a PDA that can be used by command team training assessors to capture
subjective assessments of crew interaction during the simulated
activities,
to debrief after these sessions, and to send the
data to a separate platform for post-event analysis and reporting.
The user interface was designed for speed of use, ease of navigation,
and flexibility of the interface presented to the assessor. Assessors
at Watson concentrate on qualitative and constructive feedback, and
this aspect drove the style of content and presentation used in the
prototype.
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Simulation
of Organisational Performance (June 2009)
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DSTO Joint Operations Division contracted
VoTech, through the Simulation Support Services Standing Offer, to
migrate an agent-based conceptual framework for modeling
organizational activities and interaction to a first release
prototype build.
Executed in Java, the work proceeded notionally
along agile development lines but with specific functionality targets
in view. Robustness and extendibility were key parameters of the
approach, so that users other than the originator could advance the
application of the tool. Specialist consultant Igor Human Sciences
assisted in the project by defining guidelines in the modeling of
human organizations, and providing specific algorithmic support to
software development.
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Press
Release with Boeing Australia Limited (February 2009)
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Boeing Defence Australia
and VoTech System Engineers and Developers Pty Ltd are pleased to
announce a recent milestone in their working arrangements. This
milestone was reached when Boeing's Corporate Restricted Network was
extended to VoTech's premises in Melbourne. An
installation comprising four terminals at this stage, the CRN at
VoTech is currently facilitating access to technical data and
reporting systems in support of verification procedure development
for the Vigilare Project.
This event comes after a significant involvement
by VoTech in several of Boeing's complex system integration programmes. The Vigilare Project has seen VoTech
involvement from 2005 to present. Concurrently, VoTech has provided
systems and specialist engineering support to the High Frequency
Modernization and the F111-AGM142 programmes.
This involvement has been in the form of both direct site support as
well as remote team support from Melbourne.
Both parties are continuing to develop this
working arrangement through other initiatives, moving towards
enhancing the performance of complex systems’ specification and
integration
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VoTech joins
Simulation Services Panel (October 2008)
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Defence has an on-going requirement for services
and capabilities for future simulation management, exploitation,
interoperability, personnel, through-life support, data and specialised services associated with Defence simulation activities. These services are
to be sourced through a Simulation Support Services Standing Offer,
which was established in October 2008 for an initial period of three
years.
VoTech has offered a range of systems-related services to the panel
including:
* simulation management - development of methods and
processes for
acquiring, developing, managing and maintaining simulation
data
* simulation awareness and exploitation - development of
processes
to
identify, assess, trial and exploit new technologies of
relevance to simulation
* simulation interoperability and re-use - review,
analysis,
development and testing of the interoperability of simulation
systems
* simulation data support - development of confidence
building
measures including verification, validation, and system
accreditation and testing
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VoTech and
Adelaide University collaborate on DataMesh
(September 2008)
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In
collaboration with the Centre for Defence
Communications and Information Networking (CDCIN), a group of the University of Adelaide, VoTech is examining
several networking solutions to underpin its emergency services
development, DataMesh.
CDCIN maintains a range of capabilities:
* modeling and simulation
* network analysis
* prototyping
* operational analysis
* statistical analysis
* research and development
VoTech have supplied CDCIN with an elevation data set covering the
area around Mt Dandenong. Also, some GPS
data sets were formed by driving over roads in this terrain, to
represent realistic tracks for the model studies.
CDCIN are conducting some modeling studies to examine first order
network performance using both VHF and UHF radios. The outcome of
these studies will guide the selection of base technology to move
forward with the DataMesh programme.
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