Test System Upgrade Brings Safari Capability, Other Benefits

By Al VogelAugust 21, 2020

Dugway Proving Ground’s West Desert Test Center (WDTC) is adding critical software and hardware improvements to streamline the Test Grid Data Management System (DMS), and the Test Grid (TG) network.

The test grid and its data management system are used to test equipment designed to warn the warfighter of chemical or biological agent. The more efficient improvements will reduce operational costs in future testing.

The Open Architecture Data Management System (OADMS) project, a first-of-its-kind system for Army Test and Evaluation Command, upgrades the current Test Grid Safari Instrumentation (TGSI) software and hardware system. OADMS provides an improved, fully instrumented and networked outdoor test capability to conduct developmental or operational tests on chemical or biological defenses.

Verification testing of the OADMS upgrade began mid-July and is expected to continue into August 2020. Current work focuses on integrating the improved Chemical Cloud Tracking System (iCCTS) with OADMS. Verification testing ensures that the upgrade functions as it is designed and required.

Verification will be by GASMET® FTIR emissions detectors, and the West Desert LIDAR (a pulsed laser light detection and ranging system developed at DPG).  OADMS will offer the capability to “safari” off DPG to other Major Range and Test Facility Bases (MRTFB) or other test sites, said Project Manager Nathan Lee.

Upgrade to a much smaller server, instead of using the permanent test server on DPG, makes this possible.  The former Test Grid used a proprietary field data collector under service contract from the manufacturer.

OADMS replaces this with a data acquisition box (sidecar) built with inexpensive, off-the-shelf components. A service contract is no longer required; sustainment costs are significantly reduced.  In addition, the OADMS simplifies the interface of new sensors, to include systems under test (SUT), by having a modular software design, and utilizing software drivers to interface to any device that is connected to OADMS.

Compared to the current Test Grid, maintenance and sustainment costs are reduced.  The OADMS will simplify the integration of new referee sensors (providing an accurate comparison against systems under test), and SUT that feed data into servers.

Test setup will be easier through the use of plug and play/auto discovery of referee sensors as they are placed in the field.

The OADMS upgrade will simplify the collection of data after a disseminator, shown here, releases simulated chemical or biological agent to challenge a detector. Decades-old international agreements ban the release of actual chemical or biological agents outdoors, so simulants are used. Testing with actual agents is done in sealed chambers with multiple levels of containment and filtration.  Photo by Joe Mashinski
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The OADMS upgrade will simplify the collection of data after a disseminator, shown here, releases simulated chemical or biological agent to challenge a detector. Decades-old international agreements ban the release of actual chemical or biological agents outdoors, so simulants are used. Testing with actual agents is done in sealed chambers with multiple levels of containment and filtration. Photo by Joe Mashinski (Photo Credit: Photo by Joseph Mashinski) VIEW ORIGINAL
A trailer-mounted instrument tower used for outdoor testing of defenses against simulated chemical and biological agents at Dugway Proving Ground. The 10-meter tower folds down for ease in attaching instruments. The upgrade of hardware and software through OADMS depends upon this kind of mobility for test setup and, in the future, “safari” capability to take the testing system off DPG to other installations.  Photo by Joe Mashinski 
Dugway
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A trailer-mounted instrument tower used for outdoor testing of defenses against simulated chemical and biological agents at Dugway Proving Ground. The 10-meter tower folds down for ease in attaching instruments. The upgrade of hardware and software through OADMS depends upon this kind of mobility for test setup and, in the future, “safari” capability to take the testing system off DPG to other installations. Photo by Joe Mashinski
Dugway (Photo Credit: Photo by Joseph Mashinski)
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Dugway Proving Ground has 27 trailers, each with a 10-meter tower that folds down for ease in attaching instruments for outdoor testing. DPG also has 30 trailers with generators and a 53-foot command post that may be pulled by a tractor trailer. These all enhance “safari” capability under OADMS, allowing DPG to move testing off post to any other Major Range and Test Facility Bases (MRTFB) or other sites of interest. Photo by Joe Mashinski
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Dugway Proving Ground has 27 trailers, each with a 10-meter tower that folds down for ease in attaching instruments for outdoor testing. DPG also has 30 trailers with generators and a 53-foot command post that may be pulled by a tractor trailer. These all enhance “safari” capability under OADMS, allowing DPG to move testing off post to any other Major Range and Test Facility Bases (MRTFB) or other sites of interest. Photo by Joe Mashinski (Photo Credit: Photo by Joseph Mashinski) VIEW ORIGINAL