SCIMERS: a sonar contact integrated manoeuvre evaluation and recommendation system

This paper describes the design and initial development of a manoeuvre decision aid for a towed array sonar system. The sonar contact integrated manoeuvre evaluation and recommendation system (SCIMERS) is being designed as an interactive decision aid, providing the tools to manipulate a representation of the undersea environment and formulate manoeuvre recommendations. SCIMERS will interface with nonacoustic data sources to acquire contact information, sensor performance prediction data, and bathymetric data. This information is evaluated to generate a geographically referenced description of where the ship should (and should not) manoeuvre. In this paper we identify the necessary functionality required to perform manoeuvre assessment and recommendation. We also describe the software architecture and present the preliminary operator-machine interface used to visualise relevant databases and the value of various manoeuvre strategies.