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Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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Summary

The charge of the Army Research Laboratory Technical Assessment Board (ARLTAB) is to provide biennial assessments of the scientific and technical quality of the research, development, and analysis programs at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The ARLTAB is assisted by six panels, each of which focuses on the portion of the ARL program conducted by one of ARL’s six directorates.1 When requested to do so by ARL, the ARLTAB also examines work that cuts across the directorates. For example, during 2011-2012, ARL requested that the ARLTAB examine crosscutting work in the areas of autonomous systems and network science.

The overall quality of ARL’s technical staff and their work continues to be impressive. Staff continue to demonstrate clear, passionate mindfulness of the importance of transitioning technology to support immediate and longer-term Army needs. Their involvement with the wider scientific and engineering community continues to expand. Such continued involvement and collaboration are fundamentally important for ARL’s scientific and technical activities and need to include the essential elements of peer review and interaction through publications and travel to attend professional meetings, including international professional meetings. In general, ARL is working very well within an appropriate research and development niche and has been demonstrating significant accomplishments, as exemplified in the following discussion, which also addresses opportunities and challenges.

The recently initiated multiscale modeling Collaborative Research Alliances (CRAs) are ambitious yet necessary efforts. ARL is to be commended for establishing the two CRAs, the Multiscale Multidisciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials (MSME) and the Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments

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1The six ARL directorates are the Computational and Information Sciences Directorate (CISD), Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED), Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate (SEDD), Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate (SLAD), Vehicle Technology Directorate (VTD), and Weapons and Materials Research Directorate (WMRD). Appendix A provides information summarizing the organization and resources of ARL and its directorates.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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(MEDE). Under the MSME, a multi-university team is charged with doing the fundamental multiscale modeling on lithium batteries, fuel cells, and electronic materials and devices. The supporting experimental work will be done at ARL. Given the substantial issues concerning the premise of bridging the scales in multiscale modeling, many challenges (and thus opportunities) exist in demonstrating verifiable success in the time frame of 5 years. Close interactions of ARL personnel with the multi-university team selected will be critical to ensure a focused and productive group effort.

BATTLEFIELD ENVIRONMENT DIVISION AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES DIVISION OF THE COMPUTATIONAL AND INFORMATION SCIENCES DIRECTORATE

The Army has a unique and pressing requirement for near-Earth atmospheric understanding and characterization beyond what can be provided by other military and civilian entities. The Battlefield Environment Division (BED) has been responding to this need by addressing fundamental scientific problems and is making progress toward becoming a first-class research organization. BED’s work in the following areas involves creative combinations of theory and experimentation and of hardware and software to move toward solutions of challenging problems: turbulence propagation theory and effects, weather research and forecast model-based nowcasting for battlefield operations, systems aimed at single-particle detection for use in biohazard threat applications, and optical systems for atmospheric sensing. Continued efforts to validate underlying models and demonstrate practical applications for these and other projects are necessary and planned. Consistent, appropriate verification of the performance of mesoscale and microscale models remains a challenge to the wider meteorological numerical modeling community, and BED is still at an early stage in arriving at an assessment scheme for its various numerical prediction models.

The overall technical quality of the research conducted in the Computational Sciences Division (CSD) is improving. Some CSD projects are of very high quality. For example, the multiscale materials modeling work involves ambitious and powerful goals that build on ARL strengths. The work demonstrates a very good basic science approach that supports an important and large ARL enterprise in multiscale modeling. The division’s multiscale materials modeling program requires intensive computational capabilities. There was evidence that CSD understands that verification and validation are required not just for the models, but for the data exchanges between the models and transitions between scales.

The structure of the CSD includes a substantial facilities component that serves the high-performance computing and networking infrastructure needs of ARL, the Army, and the Department of Defense (DoD); now it also includes a growing research component focused on interdisciplinary computational science. The CSD team has made substantial progress in a very short time in articulating a research vision and realigning activities to support that vision within the research component.

Within CSD, awareness of prior extramural work continues to be uneven. To confirm this awareness and the technical quality of its work, CSD should employ the mechanisms available in academic circles—for example, peer-reviewed publication and attendance at conferences, symposia, and other professional meetings.

HUMAN RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE

Research in the Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED) is currently organized around eight research thrusts—sensory performance, physical and cognitive performance interaction, translational neuroscience, social-cognitive network science, human-robot interaction (HRI), human-systems integration (HSI), opportunity-driven human factors research, and simulation and training technology.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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In this Summary the social-cognitive network science thrust and the HRI thrust are discussed within the sections below titled “Network Science Enterprise” and “Autonomous Systems,” respectively. Work performed in association with the other thrusts is discussed in this section.

In general, the strongest work in the area of sensory performance is the customer-driven evaluation of equipment. The overall research program in this area has lacked clear direction, although progress is visible. The group is not yet a force in basic or applied research on sensory performance. Recently, a restatement of this area’s vision has appeared under the rubric of “owning the environment.” Under that rubric, the emphasis is on the use of stealth and deception as force multipliers. That work is in an early stage and has not yet given rise to a program of research.

The research on physical and cognitive performance interaction is of generally high technical quality. Its scope has been somewhat limited. However, with the recent development of new facilities, this may be viewed as the start of a successful, coherent program of research. Biomechanics has long been at the core of HRED’s mission, and the directorate has developed a very strong set of facilities for studying soldier performance under various approximations of real-world situations. With these facilities, HRED has identified a niche that it is perhaps uniquely suited to study—the interaction of physical and cognitive stressors on performance.

Supported by a cadre of university experts in a Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA), the ARL work in translational neuroscience is indicative of high-quality neuroscience research that is routinely validated by its publication in good, peer-reviewed journals. Over the past 5 years, ARL’s neuroscience group has grown into the DoD’s largest internal nonmedical translational neuroscience research effort, and it continues its trajectory toward being a neuroscience laboratory on par with strong university research programs. Work on detection and classification of artifacts in electroencephalogram (EEG) signals is noteworthy.

During the past 2 years, the social-cognitive network science group has worked to refine its vision and to align its work with the network science work in the Computational and Information Sciences Directorate (CISD). The overall quality of the research in this area is uneven. There is some fine work, but also much work that will have low impact, either because it is methodologically weak or because it does not appear to be part of a systematic program of work. Addressing the challenge of network science may be an opportunity to bring in staff with different backgrounds from those of current HRED staff.

HSI represents one of the core HRED competencies: providing the Army with assessments of how humans will work with new systems. Much of the work is very solid, high-quality human factors work, employing a range of tools, including the IMPRINT (Improved Performance Research Integration Tool) model of human performance. IMPRINT is the crown jewel of HRED’s HSI efforts. Its continued development and use represent a strength of the program. It is possible that there is a gap in IMPRINT in the form of inadequate coverage of cognition and perception. If so, given the nature of today’s Army tasks, this gap should be addressed. The use of HRED’s HSI expertise can also be seen in work such as that on progressive insertion of human figure modeling into the acquisition process.

Cases in which no previous research exists for providing a solution to a problem produce the opportunity for research. The HRED “opportunity-driven” research projects presented were generally of high quality. This nicely illustrates the ability of HRED to serve as a problem-solving resource across a wide range of Army problems. Whereas the HSI effort is targeted toward intervening early in the acquisition process, MANPRINT (Manpower and Personnel Integration; the Army’s program for considering manpower and personnel factors during acquisition) equipment design issues can be identified during usability testing or through reports received from the field. This may also be a place where scientific mentoring by senior researchers would be helpful. The data being gathered by the opportunity-driven research represents an opportunity to close the loop between basic and applied research and soldier

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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system problem solving. To support this effort, the hiring of more senior, experienced scientists should be complemented by the better use of available field operations reports, and even medical reports, to prioritize studies and plan how they should be executed.

The overall quality of the work reviewed in the simulation and training technology area of HRED appears to be good. The pace and diversity of Army missions require a rapid, responsive training capability. The efforts at the Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC) appear to represent a generally impressive program of work, although comparatively few program details were presented to the ARLTAB’s review panel. The evaluation reported here is somewhat tentative, because the ARLTAB has not seen the facilities or met many of the staff. Staff at the STTC have made impressive efforts to link STTC work to broader work in the field.

Within an overall program of solid research in HRED, a number of projects appear to be deficient in conception and/or execution. Causes of difficulty include inadequate attention to relevant literature, lack of coherent supporting theory, and inadequate analysis of results. Some HRED studies appear to be statistically underpowered, and some statistical analyses have been questionable. A more subtle issue is the distinction between statistical significance and scientific or practical significance. It is possible to have statistically reliable results that are, nevertheless, of little consequence. It was not always clear that this distinction was recognized by some HRED researchers.

SENSORS AND ELECTRON DEVICES DIRECTORATE

The quality of research being conducted within the Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate (SEDD) is of highest caliber. Considering the numerous awards received by the SEDD scientific staff, the number of refereed publications authored and co-authored, and the number of presentations given at professional society meetings, the staff compares favorably with that of other industrial and university research institutions. From a technical viewpoint, SEDD is accomplishing well the enormous task of understanding the needs of an astonishingly broad range of Army applications and then providing innovative solutions. It is impressive that, in this context, SEDD endeavors to predict Army needs that are one to two decades in the future. For example, SEDD has quickly become a leader in the scientific community working in the nascent field of extreme energy science. SEDD also plays a strong role in the ARL Network Science Enterprise and in the ARL Multiscale Modeling Enterprise.

In the area of micropower, the notion of a fully integrated (electronics and passives), single-chip power supply is an elusive goal in the power electronics business. SEDD researchers have made important progress, producing results that are among the best in the field. Significant progress has been made in the area of fuel cells. In particular, a field test of the M-100 direct methanol fuel cell system demonstrated a high energy density that will reduce logistics and provide both cost savings and weight savings. SEDD researchers have demonstrated excellent voltage stability of lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells. SEDD continues to be the leader in research on silicon carbide (SiC) electron devices. SEDD has demonstrated a resonant 40 kV, toward 120 kV, DC/DC converter that uses SiC’s advantages of high voltage and perhaps higher temperature capabilities to meet SWaP (size, weight, and power) requirements. In other power electronics efforts, the implementation of SiC devices from large-diameter wafers for DC through pulsed applications is a significant achievement.

The work on high-performance and high-value passive circuit elements has significantly advanced the state of the art. In particular, SEDD has demonstrated miniature on-chip inductors fabricated by thick electroplating, with high quality factors and high inductance density. SEDD has developed advanced design techniques for ultrawideband digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and has simulated an 8-bit, 32 GS/s DAC. SEDD maintains a thriving microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) capability.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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Accomplishments range from fundamental materials-development efforts in graphene and piezoelectrics to near-term devices such as the traumatic brain injury sensor. SEDD researchers have achieved an increase in the power efficiency of an InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cell from 9 to 14 percent. Resonator quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) continue be a crown jewel among the achievements of SEDD, which has been able to incorporate advanced optical concepts into the detector design. SEDD has developed a better understanding of new near-field optical phenomena that has enabled the design of a QWIP structure with quantum efficiencies nearly 70 percent, doubling the previous record of 35 percent for corrugated-QWIPs.

Research aimed at creating extremely low-noise oscillators has produced outstanding results. SEDD has found a way to build a 10 GHz optoelectronic oscillator that matches the specifications of commercial low-noise oscillators up to 10 kHz away from the carrier for less than an order-of-magnitude lower cost and competitive size and weight specifications. The temperature achieved in a laboratory demonstration of cold atom optics technology was a remarkable 40 × 10–6 K. SEDD researchers, in collaboration with the University of Central Florida, have demonstrated high-quality AlGaN/Ga:MgZnO grown on sapphire.

Under the Multiscale Multidisciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials Collaborative Research Alliance, a multi-university team is charged with doing the fundamental multiscale modeling of lithium batteries, fuel cells, and electronic materials and devices. The supporting experimental work will be done at ARL. Close interactions of ARL personnel with the multi-university team selected will be critical to ensure a focused and productive group effort. A potential challenge is to make sure that the multi-university team, with principal investigators having different (not necessarily overlapping) skills, remains focused and delivers value to ARL.

The rotating SEDD directorship is not healthy for the organization. Although talented division chiefs have fulfilled this role at 4-month, rotating intervals, these short stints of leadership do not allow for sustained and consistent assessment of how the needs of the customers match the current research and development (R&D) activities, for the alignment of funding and personnel resources in the light of shifting missions and budgets, and for the tweaking of the constraints to adjust the flow of innovation. A permanent director is needed for SEDD.

SURVIVABILITY/LETHALITY ANALYSIS DIRECTORATE

The Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate (SLAD) aims to provide sound assessment and evaluation support of the survivability, lethality, and vulnerability (SLV) of Army equipment and soldier systems. SLAD facilities include state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment in which to conduct research and which provide a strong basis for potential collaborations with outside partners. SLAD has many opportunities to capitalize on its testing and evaluation base so as to expand programs selectively, to develop tools and methodologies to broaden its analysis capabilities, and to define and maintain the competitive edge required for SLAD to be the Army’s primary source for SLV assessment.

SLAD’s collaborations with other ARL directorates continue to improve. For example, a collaborative effort between SLAD and HRED is built on the expertise of each organization to rapidly develop a new anthropomorphic test device—a warrior injury assessment manikin (WIAMan)—for assessing injury from underbody blast. SLAD researchers also collaborated with academic researchers to obtain better data by using cadavers instead of anthropomorphic test devices.

A new program to develop a metric to predict mild traumatic brain injury resulted in the design of a surrogate sensor system that mimics the effect on the human brain of blast and blunt trauma. A process for rapid determination of the level of trauma in the field has been proposed as well.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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The Integrated Network Vulnerability Assessment/Discovery Exploitation (INVA/DE) tool is excellent for detecting the vulnerability of computer network operations. Further collaborations with CISD to pit SLAD’s INVA/DE against CISD’s Interrogator will test the robustness of each program. This impressive program seems very well tied into the intelligence community.

The ballistic analysis of a lightweight vehicle-protection system demonstrates the value of SLAD analysis and testing in supporting Army acquisitions. The active protection systems program has provided new results on the residual threat of light-armored vehicles from rocket-propelled grenades.

Under SLAD’s direction, contractors at New Mexico State University continue the development of the System-of-Systems Survivability Simulation (S4) software code. After a long period of initial development, progress has begun toward establishing a formal software development methodology and in bringing the system-of-systems analysis program, including S4, more under SLAD control. SLAD remains far from establishing itself as a credible participant in the DoD system-of-systems analysis environment. Currently, the supporting facilities are state-of-the-art, but the program does not reflect a broad understanding of the underlying science; the qualifications of team members are inadequate for the task; the analytical work does not reflect a sound understanding of Army requirements; and the mix of theory and computation is appropriate, but the theoretical basis is inadequate.

SLAD should consider a tactical pause to review and more carefully define the role and mission of S4, carefully reexamine its technical plan for collaborating with and supporting the efforts of other modeling activities within the DoD (such as the Army Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center [TRAC]), focus its system-of-systems analysis modeling on cases that demonstrate the usefulness of S4 to others, and align its resources with its plan. The S4 team should investigate integration of the ACQUIRE target acquisition model to augment the S4 sensor models, develop a consolidated set of new communication features for S4 with input from the Army communications community, develop a solid engagement with the intelligence community, structure S4 to accept combat dynamics as an input from other Army combat models, and leverage the services of the Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity (AMSAA) for validation, verification, and assessment. SLAD should focus on physics processes at a high-fidelity level (e.g., packet-level resolution in communications).

VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY DIRECTORATE

Spurred by the base realignment and closure process that consolidated the Vehicle Technology Directorate (VTD) at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, VTD’s realigned focus on Army needs, such as ground vehicle technology and autonomous systems, has been increasing the quality of its research portfolio. In 2010 the establishment of eight capability concepts that embody the technical breakthroughs needed to meet critical future Army needs was a major step toward focusing and upgrading VTD research. However, the failure of the directorate in the period of time covered by this report to continue to align the VTD research portfolio with these capability concepts represents a significant lost opportunity. It is critical that VTD quickly refocus on the technologies needed for the capability concepts. For example, it was recognized in 2010 that a crawling-bug type vehicle needed to be added to the microautonomous systems portfolio of research, but it has not yet been added. Similarly, combustion of JP-8 fuel in the small volume of small engines is a technology area that would impact several capability concepts and is therefore a high-priority, but unaddressed, research area. Without a systematic plan to meet critical Army needs, the quality of VTD’s research will continue to degrade.

VTD’s most significant accomplishments over the past 2 years are in the areas of the Robotics CTA and the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) CTA and the start-up and checkout of the new VTD laboratory areas.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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The project on continuous trailing-edge flap for helicopter rotors evinced the highest quality among the VTD projects presented; it is of the caliber of the best in its field. This is a well-conceived and well-designed program using a novel approach—the novelty being to use a piezoelectric actuated biomorph embedded in a rotor blade for the purpose of trailing-edge deflection. The concept offers an alternative approach to discrete flaps, commonly being researched for application to helicopter rotor blades.

Projects such as physics of failure from multidynamic excitation, separated flowing using nanosecond pulsed plasma, and ducted rotor research contain important aspects but are not of the highest caliber. Other projects, such as material damage precursors in composite structures, variable-speed power turbine research, compressive sensing robust recovery of sparse mechanical signals from incomplete measurements, and slowed-rotor unpowered take-off, are of inadequate quality.

The Small Engine Altitude Performance and Heat Engine Systems Altitude Test Facility is state of the art, and it is unique relative to facilities of other government laboratories. The facility has the capability to simulate sea level to 25,000 feet, can provide air from –40 °F to +130 °F, and has two dynamometers. These dynamometers together cover a span from 1 to 250 horsepower (hp). The current work is focused on small engines of 40 hp or less under a subatmospheric, variable-pressure environment in which engine performance and components will be evaluated.

The Army’s objective of utilizing JP-8 fuel in all of its vehicles makes the combustion facility a necessity for VTD. The utilization of JP-8 over the range of engines of interest to the Army is a formidable challenge; it is not clear that the full depth of this problem is understood by VTD. Perhaps VTD should also add spark assist and catalytic breakdown of the JP-8 to its portfolio in order to help attack this difficult problem. The current combustion facility allows for some interesting experiments; however, the facility needs to be modified to cover the entire range of sizes and combustion configurations of interest to the Army. VTD should consider how all of the concepts discussed, such as flash heating of the fuel, fit into an overall program aimed at delivering JP-8 combustion over a range of engine varieties and sizes.

Many of the Army’s needs involve air and ground vehicles at relatively low speeds, and so the low speed wind tunnel fills a VTD requirement. However, plans to test the hover flight conditions and the slow forward flight of micro air vehicles in this wind tunnel are likely to yield unrealistic results. The utilization of a free jet may be required to test the micro air vehicles accurately. ARL needs to purchase the velocimeter equipment necessary to fully check out and test vehicles in the wind tunnel. The turbulence level in the test section of the tunnel has not been measured. VTD management should obtain help from outside experts before undertaking this effort.

WEAPONS AND MATERIALS RESEARCH DIRECTORATE

The overall scientific quality of the work at the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate (WMRD) is comparable to that of other national laboratories. Generally, the WMRD programs reflect a broad understanding of the science and engineering underlying their work. WMRD has appropriate laboratory equipment and numerical codes and models. In particular, the shock physics laboratories are impressive. Computational tools are being used extensively, but there could be more characterization equipment, and in some cases WMRD could adopt additional numerical codes and models from outside ARL. The qualifications of the research staff are excellent, and their knowledge is generally very solid. WMRD’s work reflects understanding of the Army’s needs—an example is the development and fielding of the new bullet. WMRD applies to its research an appropriate mix of theory, computation, and experimentation.

WMRD presented examples of quality research programs that allowed novel investigations leading to new discovery or to applications beyond the initial intent of programs. For example, the study that

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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characterized ceramic microstructure by means of capacitance measurement and then correlated to ballistic measures is one clear example of creative thinking, because it recognized the statistical characteristics of the measurements and cleverly used Bayesian methods to extract dominant ballistic behavior.

Efforts in materials chemistry reflect high-quality work spanning science and engineering. The use of combinatorial chemistry and property modeling of the behavior of individual molecules uses state-of-the-art chemical selection pioneered by the pharmaceutical industry. At the other extreme, off-the-shelf materials with careful selection of ligands and surface activity are used to develop cost-effective coatings that can be adapted rapidly to a wide range of specific threats. In the future, the merging of the combinatorial chemistry and science with the surface engineering of coatings should provide a strong foundation for important contributions.

Many of WMRD’s armor technology efforts are impressive. For example, the kinetic energy (KE) armor technology work illustrates how a back-to-basics approach can provide a significant, long-term payoff for the Army. The experimental results were combined with multidimensional computational modeling in order to gain a better understanding of how the defeat mechanism worked and how the armor technology could potentially be improved or optimized. This eventually led to a multiyear, applied R&D effort focused on further maturing and demonstrating this new KE armor technology in practical armor designs. This work has recently resulted in full-scale prototype KE armors that show significant tactical potential for use in ground combat vehicles and other applications.

In WMRD there is a developing continuum of work, coupled to Army-specific needs, from basic research through applications. One notable example is the work in new forms of energetic materials. The specific work on extended solids and nanodiamonds for structural bond energy release is technically high-risk and potentially high-payoff work. The example of the 885A1 system successes in lethality and in the reduction of environmentally sensitive materials is noteworthy as well. Deployment of the system without complete laboratory validation has proved to be a wise and timely choice.

WMRD’s cold spray capabilities continue to show great promise for applications. This work has demonstrated that reactive materials can be used to tailor the lethality profile of the fragments as a function of distance with a density high enough to compete with conventional inert fragments (7 g/cc). It was found that processing challenges exist in making homogeneous materials using cold spray. Composite particles could possibly result in more homogeneous samples, as well as in tunable reactivity.

The high-pressure polymerization of CO and N is work representing leading-edge research in the polymer field. It is important to characterize Poly Co and Poly N as polymers with properties such as molecular weight and glass transition temperature. The goal of producing 1 gram of polymer this year may not represent enough to characterize these polymers. These characterizations are important for validating the computational data on the various species being predicted.

ARL is seeking to develop the capability to design, optimize, and fabricate lightweight protection material systems exhibiting revolutionary performance. The approach is to realize a materials-by-design capability by establishing the new CRA focused on materials in extreme dynamic environments. The focus of the CRA is to advance the fundamental understanding of materials relevant to high-strain-rate and high-stress regimes. The CRA is intended to create a collaborative environment that enables an alliance of participants from academia, government, and, potentially, industry and/or nonprofit organizations to advance the state of the art and to assist with the transition of research in order to enhance the performance of materials of interest to the Army. This effort is clearly a major undertaking that, to ensure success, will likely require a new approach and forms of technical management both within ARL and in the multi-university consortium.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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NETWORK SCIENCE ENTERPRISE

The Network Science Enterprise is spearheaded by CISD’s Network Sciences Division (NSD) and Information Sciences Division (ISD), but it also involves other ARL directorates and external collaborators participating in the Network Science Collaborative Technology Alliance and the International Technology Alliance (ITA). The enterprise is a work in progress, but it appears promising and pointed in the correct direction. The enterprise concept involves the high aspiration of integrating and coordinating efforts by many researchers who address multiple network types, termed genres (social-cognitive, information, and communications) that span a very broad spectrum of activities with shared networks, linkages, and dependencies.

ARL’s vision of abstracting common concepts and mathematical structures across genres is laudable. The challenges associated with such combining are large. The difficulties of working across intellectual cultures, disciplines, technologies, and timescales are notorious. By the same token, when such combining does work, the results are often spectacular. To its credit, ARL has taken on the challenge. ARL is one of the pioneers among major laboratories in the world in committing resources and building a program dedicated to network science on the scale that it has.

There have been several achievements to date. A White House press release of March 14, 2012, recognized the work of ARL, noting the collaborative research done by the United States and United Kingdom as ITA partners to enhance information sharing and distributed, secure, and flexible decision making in coalition operations. Solid work on optical communications in networks is aimed at developing unconventional optical communication systems, including ultraviolet non-line-of-sight and covert visible-light communications, for applications that include intraconvoy communications in situations where jammers are being used to affect communications devices. The studies of social-cognitive networks involve a broad set of topics related to the way in which soldiers interact with networks; this work holds great promise but will require careful collaboration among social scientists, computer scientists, and engineers. It will also require the definition of a program of research that reflects the Army niche within the broad community of such researchers.

Two additional projects provide information that can represent key inputs to networked systems. The project in machine translation of text, supported by effective interaction with extramural researchers, continues to expand the capabilities of devices used in the field to translate foreign documents. The project on applied anomaly detection brings together experts in cognitive processing, machine learning, sensors, and military operations to develop means of training soldiers to sense dangerous situations in the field.

ARL should consider devoting more attention to two areas of research: cloud computing and cybersecurity. Tactical applications of cloud computing, such as tactical cloudlets, are particularly demanding variants that should be tackled only after meeting the prerequisite of adequate mastery of the science and technology of basic cloud computing. ARL should consider making available Hadoop clusters to jump-start research from the bottom up. These clusters, supported by the necessary software engineering knowledge, should be used as platforms to develop machine learning, data mining, search, social networks analysis, and other applications. Other dimensions to cloud computing, especially for tactical applications, call out for collaborative research. Examples include cybersecurity and special communications network protocols and resource scheduling to handle near-real-time applications within the geographically dispersed context of cloud computing.

CISD lists cyberdefense as one of its “top five future big ideas” and is developing a strategic approach to research in this area. There are many research questions related to advances in data leak prevention that require new insights and technical developments not shackled by the biases of unimaginative approaches to authentication and authorization. ARL may wish to consider work in data leak prevention. Scalable

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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deception is an underdeveloped technology that is directly responsive to data leak prevention and is fraught with challenging research problems. Also worthy of further consideration are the topics science of security and security metrics. These, together with the topic of insider threat, pose research problems that a small number of high-quality researchers in ARL can address with potentially high impact.

ARL has devised a strategy for the Network Science Enterprise that has the following main elements: science driven by operational experience, expanding collaborations and partnerships, and a focus on experimentation. This is a good start. The strategy needs to be fleshed out in greater detail and documented. There is evidence of promising starts in the enterprise approach and in expanding collaborations and partnerships, notably in the partnerships with universities in the CTA and the ITA.

ARL is deriving value from the collaborative alliances. There is undoubted value from being aware and being involved, at any level, in high-quality research. However, to be confident that the collaborations will produce the impact that ARL desires, ARL should perform an in-depth investigation of the means and desired outcomes for extracting value and desired impacts from these collaborations. Such an investigation should consider two models for extracting value from such collaborations. One model assumes that ARL researchers interact on equal intellectual terms with their university collaborators. The second model assumes that the role of ARL staff is to instruct university collaborators in ways that will direct and transition research to address Army needs. In either case, ARL researchers will need sufficient intellectual depth to interact sufficiently on all projects with their university counterparts.

AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS ENTERPRISE

ARL’s most important accomplishment in the area of robotics has been the use of the MAST CTA and Robotics CTA to leverage high-caliber research and talent across the United States. Fully autonomous robotic operation may take 30 years to develop.

Many, but not all, of the research projects in the Autonomous Systems Enterprise are of the highest caliber; the combined quality of the research contained in the CTAs is cutting edge. The overall technical quality of the work is very high for each of the key areas addressed: microelectronics, sensing, signal processing, and perception; intelligence; HRI; and manipulation and mobility. The scientific quality of the research is comparable to that executed at federal, university, and/or national laboratories both nationally and internationally. The overall research reflects a broad understanding of the underlying science and research conducted abroad. Appropriate laboratory equipment and models are being used. The qualifications of the research team are very good. The facilities and laboratory equipment are state of the art.

Overall, the research portfolio in the area of microelectronics, sensing, signal processing, and perception covers well the size range of robots. The MAST program is doing best-in-class work at reducing sensor size and weight. As robots become smaller, the ability to carry sensors and support large computing activity decreases; there is a need to address scalability challenges with regard to capabilities (for example, fidelity of the sensors, range, and detection). Off-ramps to divert developed technology into existing platforms should receive more emphasis.

The selection of sensors to accomplish the perception element of autonomous systems should be driven by the task and mission to be accomplished and the objects, activities, and events that one is trying to find and characterize. This approach leads to the identification of what can be observed and a selection of the sensor suite and measurements associated with the set of observables. Little discussion was provided to the ARLTAB concerning the observables needed and the justification for the selection of sensors and associated processing.

The work on robotic intelligence showed slow incremental progress. Because this area is so difficult, ARL has appropriately been applying many approaches to solving the problems involved. How-

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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ever, many of these approaches and efforts are not in full coordination with others in the same area, and so researchers have not been able to leverage the lessons learned and emerging results of the other efforts. Relevant robotics research in the civilian market continues to dwarf ARL’s efforts, which need to be applied to filling the military gaps left in the civilian research, not to duplicating that research. A better justification of the research approaches being pursued is needed in many areas of the intelligence research. A further justification in terms of military requirements is also needed.

Some of the approaches are becoming well developed enough for standardization—for example, mapping inside a building should now be standardized, and additional research should be aimed at object identification inside the building. ARL should lead a mapping effort in this area to ensure that all areas are covered and that relevant results are being leveraged. Incremental advances also include modeling the multiple-robot patrol problem in a new way and using machine learning in a variety of ways to improve robot intelligence.

ARL is currently employing simulation in its HRI research; this should be extended. There are additional roles for HRI beyond the testing of swarming robots. HRI should be considered in all aspects and stages of robotic research. Systematic tools for doing analysis of HSI needs should be used to drive definitions of mission and scenarios. ARL should take advantage of knowledge about human cognition in perception and intelligence applications. ARL should use more real robots and consider testing at Fort Benning, Georgia, with intended user groups.

Although the long-term vision is for soldiers to have robotic teammates, in the midterm, robots could be used as tools, with functions and tasks allocated according to supporting analyses of human and robot capabilities. The utilization of a robot as a trusted team member rather than as a tool is a noble goal that the ARL programs have embraced. HRI research should be given priority very early in all robotics programs.

ARL is to be complimented for the range of robotics sizes and the different types of mobility devices in its robot research portfolio. Also, the research portfolio for robotic mobility shows a good balance of analysis and physics-based modeling and experiments. It addresses real-world effects and has great focus on meeting specific needs. Metrics were fairly well defined, and the inherent requirement of a test vehicle drove the system thinking and approach. The work on the micro flyers and that on legged robotic systems are best in class. There was a good portfolio of vehicles and platforms from small scale to mesoscale and microscale. Certain efforts were judged to be leading the state of the art in their areas. Staff were aware of the system perspective and addressed it. One area that could be emphasized is more discrete awareness of mission, sensors, and power requirements to meet the application vision and scenario. However, the efficiency of existing robotic systems in transferring energy from the engine to the environment is still several orders of magnitude worse than that of biological devices, and therefore, continued work in this area is required. Because of the burden imposed on soldiers by battery packs and the limited time on mission for robots, research that improves the overall energy density and efficiency of converting energy to motion is required. In particular, research on the combustion of small JP-8 combustion engines and research on the efficient creation and transfer of force to the environment should be added to the research portfolio.

CROSSCUTTING ISSUES

ARL leadership is in transition. At several levels, from that of the ARL Director through individual directorates, “acting leadership” is the watchword of the day. The hard work and significant accomplishments of the current acting leaders are acknowledged, but instability introduces uncertainty, which in

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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turn introduces the risk of inefficiency and misdirection. The Army should expedite a return to a state of stability of the technical management at ARL in the near future.

The hiring issue is not confined to senior management. ARL has been highly successful in recent years in recruiting many bright, early-career scientists and engineers, often in newly developing technical areas. These new recruits offer great promise for the future, but they are in need of strong technical leadership. Some technical areas are benefiting from seasoned internal leadership, but in a number of newer areas, senior technical leadership should be recruited from outside ARL, because ARL continually addresses emerging scientific and technical areas. Acknowledging limited flexibility in the Senior Scientific/Professional personnel track and issues of hiring freezes, ARL should consider appointments through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act process.

ARL has released the first volume of the “Research @ ARL” series. This event deserves congratulations. Focused on recent advances in energy and energetics, this volume of technical papers is the first of many planned documents that will be produced across the ARL directorates and that will help stakeholders understand the scope and direction of recent accomplishments by the dedicated and talented staff at ARL. Although addressing this audience through such technical compendia is desirable and praiseworthy, it should not be viewed as sufficient to capture the impacts of ARL’s research. The full impact of research can only be measured after the fact. ARL can benefit from having a historian with sanctioned access as well as requirements for internal reporting, organized to ensure the collection of appropriate data and personal recollections.

The increased attention by ARL to enterprise R&D efforts is commendable. As the technical quality and depth within directorates continue to improve, it is appropriate that ARL continue to increase its focus on broad, multidisciplinary issues that can best be addressed by collaborative work across several directorates and with extramural partnerships that enhance the ARL intramural capability. It is becoming increasingly clear that greater attention should be given to the review of the work done by all participants in these collaborative alliances, both intra- and extramural. If the alliances succeed as intended, then their efforts have to make a profound impact on the content and quality of the ARL portfolio as well as on the accomplishments of its staff. If this is so, management should welcome the validation from external review. ARL should consider establishing an independent review that will allow adequate attention to the work done by all parties in the collaborative alliances. Additionally, it is difficult to find documentation that clarifies the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches to collaborative research and their comparative value to the traditional use of government laboratories by the Air Force and Navy. ARL should consider performing or commissioning retrospective analyses of these extramural collaborative activities, to be targeted at such issues as best practice in management, technical accomplishments, and impacts on the Army and on the conduct of business in the ARL.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 2013. 2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18269.
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The charge of the Army Research Laboratory Technical Assessment Board (ARLTAB) is to provide biennial assessments of the scientific and technical quality of the research, development, and analysis programs at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The ARLTAB is assisted by six panels, each of which focuses on the portion of the ARL program conducted by one of ARL's six directorates1. When requested to do so by ARL, the ARLTAB also examines work that cuts across the directorates. For example, during 2011-2012, ARL requested that the ARLTAB examine crosscutting work in the areas of autonomous systems and network science.

The overall quality of ARL's technical staff and their work continues to be impressive. Staff continue to demonstrate clear, passionate mindfulness of the importance of transitioning technology to support immediate and longer-term Army needs. Their involvement with the wider scientific and engineering community continues to expand. Such continued involvement and collaboration are fundamentally important for ARL's scientific and technical activities and need to include the essential elements of peer review and interaction through publications and travel to attend professional meetings, including international professional meetings. In general, ARL is working very well within an appropriate research and development niche and has been demonstrating significant accomplishments, as exemplified in the following discussion, which also addresses opportunities and challenges.

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