FLAMES’ open architecture and breadth of functionality make it the ideal framework for many different types of simulations. FLAMES-based simulations can model any type of system in any physical domain (land, sea, air, and space) at almost any level of fidelity and resolution imaginable. FLAMES® simulations can also support nearly any simulation requirement, and, often, a single simulation can satisfy many different requirements simultaneously.
This topic provides an overview of some of the requirements that can be satisfied by simulations based on FLAMES. See the Use Cases section for information on specific simulations that have been developed based on FLAMES.
Systems and Engineering Analysis
FLAMES’ ability to support models of almost any type of system allows it to be tailored quickly and inexpensively for most performance and effectiveness analysis tasks. FLAMES can support high-resolution, sub-millisecond, time-step simulation; highly aggregated, multi-day analysis; multi-variable parametric trade studies; and multiple-run, Monte Carlo-type analysis. The ease with which large scenarios can be developed, managed, executed, analyzed, and visualized in 2D and 3D greatly simplifies the analyst’s job and greatly reduces the time required to complete a task.
Test and Evaluation
There are many parts of the test and evaluation process that can benefit from the features and capabilities of FLAMES. Complete test scenarios can be simulated in advance using FLAMES to give planners and decision makers greater insight into the test. FLAMES’ ability to support direct interfaces with real-world systems (including military C4I, surveillance, and weapon systems) allows those systems to be rigorously tested in a controlled and repeatable manner. FLAMES can also be integrated with live test range systems to augment the capabilities of the range.
Training
FLAMES allows any simulated entity to be under the interactive control of human operators. FLAMES also readily interacts with many types of virtual simulators and real-world surveillance and communications systems. These features, coupled with FLAMES’ ability to simulate almost any type and size of scenario, make FLAMES the ideal system for generating the synthetic environment for nearly any type of training exercise. Existing real-world systems or virtual simulators can be connected to FLAMES to allow trainees to experience an almost unlimited number of situations. Multiple, geographically dispersed systems and simulators connected to FLAMES can simultaneously train operators located all over the world.
Mission Planning and Rehearsal
A step beyond using simulation for training purposes is using simulation for the purposes of planning and rehearsing actual missions. With FLAMES, this step is small and straightforward. The relatively small level-of-effort required to add models of different types of systems allows a FLAMES-based mission planning system to be very responsive to the requirements of ever-changing situations. The support FLAMES provides for the rapid generation of scenarios and the automatic import of many types of scenario data allow fully interactive rehearsals of missions to be conducted within hours of the time they are planned. The ability to realistically rehearse a mission prior to its execution can have a dramatic impact on the success of the mission, and FLAMES helps make such rehearsals possible.
Entertainment
The requirements of interactive, virtual-reality simulations used for entertainment purposes are in many ways very similar to those of high-fidelity training systems. Again, FLAMES is often the ideal system to use to simulate the behavior of the computer-controlled objects and drive the high-fidelity image generation systems in an interactive entertainment system. As the sophistication of computer-generated graphics continues to improve, the demand for greater sophistication in the behavior of the simulated objects will also increase, thereby increasing the requirement for FLAMES.