The Competence Centre Artificial Intelligence and Simulation
armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T) Competence Centres develop innovative solutions for national organisations of state security and put them into practice. Together with the end users, they develop solutions for their daily challenges and are the central contact point within the DDPS in the respective area of responsibility. The Competence Centre Artificial Intelligence and Simulation is thus the main contact partner for all technologies in this topic area. But what exactly are their tasks? What roles do they assume? You can find out the answers to these and other questions in this article.
Lucas Ballerstedt, staff, armasuisse Science and Technology
The Competence Centre Artificial Intelligence and Simulation (AISI) of armasuisse S+T observes, develops, experiments and tests technologies and transfers innovative solutions to public safety organisations. Thus, for example, technological developments are tracked, demonstrators developed and tested and a laboratory infrastructure maintained. Through this work, the Competence Centre generates direct added value in the areas of security, efficiency and sustainability. At the same time, it provides internal added value by supporting and advising the employees with technological knowledge. It attains its goals through partnership-based cooperation with the end users, with a pragmatic approach and by continuously checking possible solutions by means of demonstrators in a mission-critical test environment.
TRL is a method originally developed by NASA for classifying the degree of technological maturity from TRL1 (first technology principles observed) to TRL9 (the system has proved itself successfully in use) and is widely used today in research and industry. The KISI Competence Centre deals mainly with technologies in the TRL levels 4 (test setup in the laboratory) to 6 (prototype in the deployment environment).
Where are the focal points?
In the area of artificial intelligence, the focus is on closing priority capability gaps. These are geared to the strategic goals and decisions of national security organisations such as the Swiss Armed Forces. The AISI Competence Centre, for example, is thus working on how the sensor intelligence collection and tactical reconnaissance network (SNFW) can be accelerated using AI. The goal here is to accelerate leadership decisions and operational planning and to make them more resilient. In the area of simulation, everything revolves around the future simulation landscape of the Armed Forces. These topics support security organisations in jointly developing and testing new concepts, identifying optimal procedures before a tactical operation and increasing efficiency in training.
The AI and SimLab as a safe environment for joint experiments with partners
The laboratory is the heart of a Competence Centre. As are the AI and SimLab. In this laboratory, partners from industry, academia and the Swiss Armed Forces have the opportunity of testing and developing solutions for current and future challenges of the Swiss Armed Forces and potential partners in a protected, accessible environment. At the Thun location, various simulators and a powerful server are currently coupled with a large simulation system. A networked, AI-based simulation environment is thus available, in which cross-domain of operations exercises can be performed. In practice, this means that a scout on a simulated mission can transmit information on enemy locations in real time to the pilot, who is taking part in the same exercise at the flight simulator and monitoring the airspace. The SimLab offers an efficient and easy to use platform for training, armed forces development and operational support.
Cooperation as a key element
All the work in a Competence Centre is only as good as it is addressed to the needs of the partners. This applies even more so for the new KISI Competence Centre, as it is still being developed. Close cooperation and continuous exchange are therefore very important – whether they take place at an early stage during needs assessment or at a later point in time during the development of demonstrators. For this purpose, the employees at the AISI Competence Centre will participate in various national and international working groups, to maintain regular exchanges of knowledge and information and to apply this information as best possible for the needs of the partners, such as the Armed Forces. At national level, industry, higher education institutions and security organisations are important partners for discussing current and future challenges and developing solutions. At international level, the KISI exchanges ideas with partners in the German language region (D, A, CH) as well as with NATO. The SimLab therefore regularly receives foreign military representatives and thus promotes international cooperation.
