Researchers merge serious gaming, simulation tools to create high-level models for border security
06 Apr 2011
With funding from the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP), researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a high-fidelity simulation and analysis programme that aids policy and decision-makers tasked with making key procurements and funding choices.
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| Sandia computer scientist Donna Djordjevich demonstrates the Borders High Level model to visitors. (Photo by Dino Vournas) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image. |
The Borders High Level Model (HLM) uses a serious gaming platform known as Ground Truth, a force-on-force battle simulation tool called Dante™, and the work of several collaborating organisations.
Sandia computer scientist Donna Djordjevich demonstrates the Borders High Level model to visitors. (Photo by Dino Vournas) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image.
''There's a lot of debate going on in the government concerning the technology and infrastructure investments that need to be made along the border,'' explained Jason Reinhardt, who serves as the Borders HLM project manager at Sandia. ''How much fence do we need? What kind of fence? What is the right mix of border personnel and technology? How can sensors, vehicles and other technical equipment most effectively be used? With Borders HLM, CBP officials can simulate their defensive architectures, accurately measure their performance and start to answer these difficult questions.''
Ground Truth, initially funded through internal Sandia investments in 2007, is a gaming platform originally designed to prepare decision-makers and first responders for weapons of mass destruction/weapons of mass effect (WMD/WME) attacks in metropolitan areas.
Developed by Sandia computer scientist and Borders HLM principal investigator Donna Djordjevich, the software provides a virtual environment where users can play through various scenarios to see the effects of their decisions under the constraints of time and resources.