Online Security, a global provider of computer forensics and information technology risk mitigation since 1997   New PDA Translates for US Army in Afganistan Author:  Marine Acoustics, Inc. Is There a Doctor in the Tent? Marine Acoustics, Inc. Leads a Team to Provide Special Operations Forces with a Militarized PDA Voice-to-Voice Phrase Translator Effective deployment of military forces in peacekeeping and peace making around the world is often limited by our soldiers’ ability to communicate and deal with the people ‘on the ground.’ To satisfy this need, Marine Acoustics (MAI) has developed a StrongARM™ and Windows CE-based PDA with fully operational phrase translation capability. The effort integrated technologies from Applied Data Systems (Columbia, MD), WinCE OS software from Microsoft (Redmond, WA), speech recognition software from SRI (Stanford, CA) and product design and engineering from Montalbano Product Development (Great Neck, NY). The Need Realized During Desert Storm This specific need became evident during operation Desert Storm. Mass surrenders of enemy POW’s overtaxed the coalition’s ability to deliver medical services. Some battlefield doctors improvised a solution. Using laptop PC’s with speech recognition software, they created a list of their ‘most frequently asked questions.’ When one of these phrases was recognized, a WAV file of the Arabic equivalent was played. While vocabulary and portability was limited, the system provided useful. An MAI team, lead by an energetic former Navy SEAL Ace Sarich, realized that if this function could be packaged into a handheld or belt mounted computer, its utility would dramatically increase. Technical Challenges to Meet Ace and MAI applied for a DARPA SBIR grant to develop the concept. Lieutenant Colonel Jim Bass and Connie Jacobs awarded the grant to build the phrase translation device, or Phraselator. As with any great idea, there were many, many details to resolve. A militarized Phraselator system required many features and capabilities beyond speech recognition. The solution would have to run in the toughest ruggedized environmental conditions, over extended temperature ranges in the harshest heat, rain and snow. The touchscreen display would have to be readable in full sunlight as well as in full darkness. A power system had to be designed that could run hours off multiple types of batteries (disposable, as well as various rechargeable). These batteries would have to be able to be charged from various levels of applied current including 12VDC and 24VDC vehicle power and 110 or 220 VAC. The housings form and function would have to be optimized relative to the systems ergonomics of daily use and mobility. Critical human engineering criteria to all operable components were developed to facilitate use while operating equipment as dangerous as a surgical instrument or automatic carbine. Special care would have to be given to the audio system design, allowing full range frequency response from microphone through CODEC and back out to the speaker. A goal for the speech recognition was set at 98%+ accuracy in near real-time. Finally, the system had to be flexible and built to accept generally available third party hardware and software. Mission Impossible MAI set out to accomplish “mission impossible”- to develop a quick-turn product equivalent to a commercial PDA except with speech recognition technology well beyond current state of the art, with the environmental specifications of a stone, the endurance of a marathon runner, a set of ears like a fox, and the voice of an angel. Like commander Phelps, MAI’s Ace Sarich had to assemble a special team. Selecting the Components of the System The StrongARM™ CPU was an easy selection; nothing else would have come close to meeting the power budget or processing demands. The operating system was another easy choice- WindowsCE™ combined a widely accepted API and rich third party software community and it was fast, efficient and robust. For the core natural language, speaker independent, phrase recognition software MAI found an extraordinary solution at SRI International. While the technology was running only on Pentium level computers at the time, it seemed possible to transition to the Win32 API to CE without too much trouble. Indeed, commercially available PocketPC versions of Windows CE could serve as development platforms to jump-start code development and let it proceed alongside hardware development. The computer system design and production was engineering by Applied Data Systems, selected because of the company’s extensive StrongARM™ and Windows CE™ experience. ADS’ contribution was critical in making a fast-turn, fully functioning computer in a few months, rather than taking several years. The company has specialized in a variety of PDA-type systems for applications ranging from industrial to assistive technology handhelds. ADS did the hardware design and software integration, and will supply the boards from contract manufacturers especially chosen for fast-turn abilities. The final member of the “mission impossible’ team was Montalbano Product Development, a design and engineering consulting firm whos responsibility was to conceptualize, design, and engineer the Phraselator to posses optimized ergonomics and end-user interface with aesthetics and functionality that is innovative and dynamic. All of these attributes needed to be achieved with a ruggedized, impact resistance, cost-effective, and weatherproof housing design. The project was proceeding normally and meeting benchmarks including a basic design and preliminary bill of material until the events of September 11. That week, Ace got a call from the defense department. On October 1 a meeting was convened to change the project schedule. Mission impossible had become mission must do. Creating a PDA in Three Months Many unique techniques were used to accelerate the project. ADS’s engineering team finished up the board design with pads for several audio Codecs so SRI could later choose the one best matched to its software. To generate rapid housing solutions and designs Montalbano leveraged their advanced “ProE” Parametric CAD modeling software to generate rapid prototypes (SLA’s) of the housings and circuit board for evaluation of design, ergonomics and fit. These prototypes will assure a smooth and accelerated transition to production for MAI. Condensing delivery times from the typical 12 to 16 week timeframe to four weeks was a major challenge, met by extraordinary coordination within the team. As a first pass, MAI would try and pull in parts based on Defense Department priority rating, sometimes, however, the parts were just not in the country to expedite. Concurrently, the ADS design engineer and sourcing specialist would look for similar or replacement parts already on a shelf. Often a minor change in schematic or Gerber file would be required to accommodate the available part, and clearance would be checked using 3D design models from Montalbano and ADS. If the alternate part could fit, it was slated into the BOM for the next build. A team of software engineers worked on multiple drivers concurrently, beating the clock so that the selected configuration would have full software support. Software was tested on similar ADS ‘standard’ boards and eventually moved to the precious prototypes. Concurrently, SRI was working on Alpha and then Beta versions of the phrase translation software while MAI developed the utilities to create the ‘phrasebook’. This user accessible phrasebook is key to the utility of the systems since it allows specialists in the field to create useful subject domain vocabularies. This application development was facilitated by the use of simple laptops and PC’s with Visual Studio for development stations, along with office-grade PDA’s for functional test. In all, in a two month period, three board configurations and more than six bills of materials were designed, layed out, fabricated, assembled and tested. Several of these were tested along with revisions of the OS and Phrase Translation software. The first integrations of the board and flatpanel with an SLA prototype revealed some acoustic anomalies that suggested both changes to the analog audio circuit and changes to the housing, which were made before development of hard-tools. Initial Phraselator units for use and evaluation will be delivered to operational military units in forward deployed areas in February 2002. The Phraselators may be used for a variety of military missions including force protection, military checkpoints, refugee screening, emergency medical, and humanitarian assistance. Custom modules translated into selected target languages will be built on-site. Deployment Where to go? Marine Acoustics has proven that with the right integrator and with the right component selection, PDA development can be done quickly and cost effectively. While initial sales will be primarily into the military market, commercial and public safety organizations are the next group of customers. Beyond that- who knows? Will we pick up cost optimized phrasealator from the airport bookshop while on our way to France? Lawrence (Larry) Ricci is a Microsoft MVP retained by Applied Data Systems for business development. He can be reached at 301 490 4007 x125 or lricci@applieddata.net