Ongoing hyperbaric research has paid off in the development of new methods for calculating decompression times for deep-sea divers. The resultant Decompression Tables are now used all over the world and have been adopted by foreign navies, commercial diving companies and civilian organizations.

The DCIEM Diving Tables are currently used world-wide to reduce the risk of decompression illness, once commonly called "the bends." The Air Decompression Tables developed in the 1980s for Canadian Forces operational use have been adopted by foreign navies, commercial diving companies, and other civilian organizations.

DCIEM Sport Diving Tables have had wide acceptance by the sport diving community and have been adopted or endorsed by several training agencies. Helium-Oxygen Decompression Tables were developed in the late 1980s to replace U.S. Navy partial pressure tables for operational mixed gas diving to 100 metres. DRDC Toronto's most recent tables, completed in late 1996, are specially designed for diving against sea mines in naval minewarfare, and are being used by several allied countries.

National Defence research and development in operational diving equipment and procedures has been ongoing since the 1960s. Using DRDC Toronto's world-class hyperbaric facilities, it is carried out by members of DRDC Toronto's Experimental Diving Unit (EDU).

In April 2002, DCIEM changed its name to Defence R&D Canada – Toronto (DRDC Toronto). However, due to the close association of the name DCIEM with diving tables and manuals, these products will continue to be marketed under this trademarked name.

DRDC Toronto Report Helping Reduce Aircrew Risk

A change to the CF's Routine Flying Orders, recommended by DRDC Toronto researchers Michel Paul, of the Aircrew Performance/Protection Group, and Gary Gray, Head of the CF's Central Medical Board, will greatly reduce problems for CF aircrews related to acute mountain sickness (AMS).

AMS -- which can result in a constellation of symptoms including headache, marked lassitude and fatigue, nausea and vomiting -- has been reported at altitudes as low as 6500 feet. Original Routine Flying Orders allowed crews to fly up to 10,000 feet without supplementary oxygen. However, the CC130 Hercules aircrews were often spending more than 12 hours at the higher cabin altitudes while conducting transatlantic re-supply missions in support of CF troops in Bosnia. (AMS symptoms can appear within five to six hours of exposure to the new higher cabin altitudes.)

To address the problem, Michel Paul accompanied a Hercules crew on a re-supply mission to Bosnia and measured in-flight blood oxygen levels in the crew, confirming the reduced blood oxygen levels expected at the higher cabin altitudes. Paul and Gray used this information, along with a comprehensive literature review and DRDC Toronto's expertise in mild hypoxia and AMS acquired over the past 30 years, as a basis for their report, Assessing the effects of crew exposure to cabin altitudes of 8,000 ft to 10,000 ft: A literature review and recommendations.

In it the authors recommended that exposure to such altitudes be restricted to four hours. As a result of their recommendations, CF Routine Flying Orders have been changed to preclude any further physiologic incidents.

G Protection for Pilots

In response to an Air Command requirement for a new tactical life support system for the CF 18 Hornet, DRDC Toronto has developed the STING (Sustained Tolerance to INcreased G) system, which provides G protection superior to any current operational system.

A series of fully instrumented in-flight research trials in the CF-18 have been carried out at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake. These trials paved the way for STING to be used successfully by Canadian CF-18 fighter pilots in the Kosovo campaign, its first combat use. The STING has been licensed to Mustang Survival Systems of Vancouver for commercial exploitation and hundreds have been sold to Canadian and international clients, paving the way for the STING lower garment to be the new standard by which others are judged world-wide.

Video Interactive Gunnery Simulators (VIGS)

In the early 1980s, DRDC Toronto pioneered the use of interactive videodisc and microcomputer technologies for tank gunnery and guided missile training. A video processor was invented so that the approach could be used more widely, allowing simulation of thermal scenes and various meteorological conditions. This technology (VIGS) led to the development of a family of generic low-cost devices. The VIGS can be used in the classroom for table top training, or can be attached to operational equipment. The Leopard C1 VIGS was used to help train tank gunners in Germany for international competition. The TOW Video Interactive Gunnery Simulator (TVIGS) went into service with all infantry units. The VIGS systems are inexpensive, can be used by regular and reserve forces, and keep maintenance costs down by making use of commercial off-the-shelf components as much as possible. The technology was transferred to Bendix-Avalex. A similar approach was applied to the development of a periscope trainer for submarine crews.

Maritime Surface/Subsurface Virtual Reality Simulator (MARS VRS)

At the request of the Canadian Navy, DRDC Toronto investigated alternative technologies for training junior officers in ship handling - including formation manoeuvres.

DRDC Toronto invented the MARS VRS that makes use of virtual reality, low-cost head-mounted displays, voice recognition and expert systems technologies. DRDC Toronto showed that this approach can be used successfully to train officers ashore at a fraction of the cost of a full bridge simulator or training at sea. The approach is generic - it can be used for a variety of ship types and for other applications such as air traffic control. In 1995, DRDC Toronto also demonstrated its utility for team training by linking simulators at widely-separated locations across the country in a distributed network that allowed practice of formation manoeuvres as if the participants were separated by only a few hundred yards.

Canadian Underwater Mine-Countermeasures Apparatus (CUMA)

A new diver mine-countermeasures (MCM) diving set was required by the Navy to replace its current equipment, in use since World War II, for which there were no replacement parts. The CF required an MCM set with a depth capability of 80 metres, as well as being anti-acoustic and anti-magnetic. No off-the-shelf set was available to meet these criteria. The new set developed at DRDC Toronto, evaluated in the sea with operational divers, and then licenced to industry.

CUMA is now a cost-effective piece of CF operational equipment, and is being marketed successfully around the world.

Microclimate Cooling for Aircrew

In response to Operation Desert Storm, a man-portable cooling system was developed and incorporated operationally for helicopter and CF-18 aircrew proceeding to the Gulf. As a result, CF helicopter pilots had operational flying times that were at least twice as long as other allied aircrew.

These developments were transferred to a Canadian company, which is now successfully marketing the systems world-wide.

Human Factors Survey of CF-18 Operations

DRDC Toronto was tasked by Air Command to identify human factors issues affecting flight safety and operational effectiveness in the CF-18 Hornet. Many of DRDC Toronto's recommended changes to policies, training, aircraft systems and protection have been accepted and actioned by Air Command. The study could be completed quickly because of DRDC Toronto's close association with the operational community, and our multi-disciplinary team of investigators with a broad base of skills to investigate the fighter pilot's complex environment.

NORAD Surveillance Study

North American Aerospace Defence (NORAD) in North Bay requires that all aircraft entering Canadian airspace be identified. Since the entire process is dependent on quick detection of aircraft entering Canada's airspace, DRDC Toronto was asked by the Commander of Canadian NORAD Region to investigate factors influencing detection performance under operational conditions.

DRDC Toronto's recommended changes to workspace design and crew scheduling were adopted by Canadian NORAD headquarters. The result was improved surveillance performance.

Clothe the Soldier

DRDC Toronto's Operational Human Engineering Group provided human engineering support to "Clothe the Soldier," the Army's acquisition project for over 24 new items of state-of-the-art soldier protective clothing and personal equipment. Support to the project included:

Conducting user surveys
Validating user requirements
Developing performance-based specifications for industry
Conducting lab and field evaluations
Development and testing of new ballistic protection and an integrated load carriage system

This scientific support assisted in the procurement of new kit that not only improves soldier protection, but also maximizes soldier safety, comfort, and critical task performance.

DRDC Toronto/ATG Human Factors study of CC130 Operations.

"Excellent" was the reaction of Air Force Commander General J.R.B. Proulx to DRDC Toronto's flight-safety study of the CC-130 Hercules transport aircraft operations.

The study examined how operations in the multi-place Hercules cockpit could be improved to offset decreasing aircrew experience and reduce aircraft incidents and accidents. "I believe this study is a tribute to the fine work that can be achieved when our civilian lab scientists join forces with operators in the field for a combined effort." Brig.-Gen. J.R.B. Proulx, Commander, Air Transport Group (ATG).

Soldier's Day Database

A Soldier's Day Database - a multimedia CD-ROM that describes the tasks, organization, characteristics, and equipment of dismounted infantry - was developed by DRDC Toronto's Operational Human Engineering Group for distribution and user trials. The database is intended to bring the soldier's needs to the forefront of the equipment design cycle. The value and usability of the database is based on careful task analysis of soldier's duties, feedback and revision by the actual users in the field.

DRDC Toronto Cold Water Survival Model Used in SAR Operation

A DRDC Toronto modelling development played a key role in the successful Search and Rescue (SAR) operation that followed the sinking of the bulk carrier Vanessa, which went down in stormy seas, 450 nautical miles off Newfoundland. A computer model developed by DRDC Toronto that predicts how long it will take for humans exposed to cold water or air to progress to lethal levels of hypothermia was used in the search for Vanessa's 15 crew members as a decision-making aid to determine how long to keep searching. "The model prevented us from stopping too soon," said one SAR controller. The model algorithm is scientifically-based on physics principles of heat transfer and physiological responses to cold stress.

Load Carriage Robot

Researchers at DRDC Toronto and Queen's University developed an instrumented articulated manikin that mimics the movement of the human torso while running, falling, walking, ducking and climbing. This "marching robot" has accelerated the development of new load-carriage equipment under the Canadian Forces Clothe the Soldier program. Under license to Queen's University, the manikin gives objective measurements of exactly how a piece of equipment impacts the body under various conditions. The system, the first of its kind in the world, is also attracting interest from industry and Canada's allies, who are anxious to use it to test their own equipment.

Virtual Reality Simulator for Helicopter Deck Landing

DRDC Toronto has developed a Helicopter Deck Landing Simulator (HDLS) using virtual reality head-mounted displays for training maritime helicopter pilots to land aboard a moving ship, in day or night. This development addresses a difficult, resource-intensive challenge for the Canadian Forces. The system is now in use at 12 Wing Shearwater for familiarizing pilots with deck-landing procedures. The system provides the synthetic environment and the networking capabilities to include other aircrew and ship members in the simulation. R&D is now underway to expand the simulations to train other team members, including the Landing Safety Officer. The helicopter simulator was designed to be easily reconfigured. Transport Canada, on seeing the system, recommended adaptation of the approach for cost-effective training of civilian helicopter pilots, including emergency procedures. Currently, no such system exists. The HDLS has been licensed to Atlantis Systems International of Brampton, Ontario.

NATO "Human in Command" Workshop

DRDC Toronto's work on command and control - particularly its world leading research into leadership, decision making, and team work-has received much attention from very senior levels in the Canadian Forces.

The "Human in Command" workshop organized at Fort Frontenac in June 1998 was attended by nine General officers, senior operational commanders, and research scientists from seven different countries. The 30 papers presented at this workshop have been published as a book by Plenum Press. The work of DRDC Toronto's group on Command is influencing doctrine, training, and leadership from Royal Military College cadets to senior commanders.

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