From: gkm@substance.abuse.blackdown.org (glen mccready) To: 0xdeadbeef@substance.abuse.blackdown.org Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 16:06:21 -0500
From: "Thompson, Grant" <Grant.Thompson@cbr.defence.gov.au> Dear folks, A media inquiry has drawn my attention to your interest and involvement in passing on the Stinger-armed kangaroos electronic myth which has spread like a virus around the Internet since May this year. Perhaps you would like the real story, from the original source. There is just a grain of truth, and a growing accumulation of creative imagination, in the e-myth we chuckle about here at Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation as our secret weapon: "armed reconnaissance kangaroos". I'm intrigued to see how the latest versions reflect ongoing evolutions - and how none of the authors (only some journalists) have checked their facts with us. This in itself could be a study in the dynamics of gossip. Someone with more imagination than reporting skill posted the first embellished and inaccurate version on an Internet newsgroup in May this year. Since then it has hopped away in all directions. Much as I regret letting the facts spoil what e-myth-makers consider a good story, here are the facts, as told by Dr Anne-Marie Grisogono, who heads the Synthetic Environments Research Facility in DSTO's Land Operations Division at Salisbury, South Australia: "I related this story as part of a talk on Simulation for Defence, at the Australian Science Festival on May 6th [1999] in Canberra. "The Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter mission simulators built by the Synthetic Environments Research Facility in Land Operations Division of DSTO, fly in a fairly high fidelity environment which is a 4000 sq km piece of real outback Australia around Katherine, built from elevation data, overlaid with aerial photographs and with 2.5 million realistic 3-D trees placed in the terrain in those areas where the photographs indicated real trees actually exist. "For a bit of extra fun (and not for any strategic reason like kangaroos betraying your cover!) our programmers decided to put in a bit of animated wildlife. Since ModSAF is our simulation tool, these were modelled on ModSAF's Stinger detachments so that the associated detection model could be used to determine when a helo approached, and the behaviour invoked by such contact was set to 'retreat'. Replace the visual model of the Stinger detachment in your stealth viewer with a visual model of a kangaroo (or buffalo...) and you have wildlife that moves away when approached. "As I said in my talk, the first time this was tried in the lab, we discovered that we had forgotten to remove the weapons and the 'fire' behaviour. It is NOT true that this happened in front of a bunch of visitors (American or any other flavour). We don't normally try things for the first time in front of an audience! "I usually conclude the story by reassuring the audience that we have now disarmed the kangaroos and it is again safe to fly in Australia." So, the real story has nothing to do with embarrassing demonstrations, visiting Americans or any other visitors, pilots, or even the Chief of DSTO's Land Operations Division. It was just "a laugh in the lab". Nevertheless, as I recall (I was present as an organiser of the Defence Science Talks during the Australian Science Festival) the audience at Dr Grisogono's talk laughed at her authentic version of the story. This seems not to have been enough for a chain of people who decided it needed incremental "improvements". Cheers Grant Thompson Corporate Communications Coordinator, Canberra Defence Science & Technology Organisation, Canberra (Russell Offices R1-6-A107) Phone 02-6265 7947 Visit DSTO's web site at http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au (Incorrect version 1) Forwarded-by: glen@substance.abuse.blackdown.org Forwarded-by: "Per Hammer" <phammer@raleigh.ibm.com> Forwarded-by: Gudrun_Hammer@Mitel.COM This is supposedly a true story from a recent Defence ScienceLectures Series, as related by the head of the Australian DSTO's Land Operations/Simulation division.They've been working on some really nifty virtual reality simulators, the case in point being to incorporate Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters into exercises (from the data fusion point of view). Most of the people they employ on this sort of thing are ex- (or future) computer game programmers. Anyway, as part of the reality parameters, they include things like trees and animals. For the Australian simulation they included kangaroos. In particular, they had to model kangaroo movements and reactions to helicopters (since hordes of disturbed kangaroos might well give away a helicopter's position).Being good programmers, they just stole some code (which was originally used to model infantry detachments reactions under the same stimuli), and changed the mapped icon, the speed parameters, etc. The first time they've gone to demonstrate this to some visiting Americans, the hotshot pilots have decided to get "down and dirty" with the virtual kangaroos. So, they buzz them, and watch them scatter. The visitingAmericans nod appreciatively... then gape as the kangaroos duck arounda hill, and launch about two dozen Stinger missiles at the hapless helicopter. Programmers look rather embarrassed at forgetting to remove*that* part of the infantry coding... and Americans leave muttering comments about not wanting to mess with the Aussie wildlife...As an addendum, simulator pilots from that point onwards avoided kangaroos like the plague, just like they were meant to do in the first place... (Incorrect version 2) >>CARELESS CODE RECYCLING CAUSES KILLER KANGAS >> >>Mutant Marsupials Take Up Arms Against Australian Air Force >> >>The reuse of some object-oriented code has caused tactical headaches for >>Australia's armed forces. As virtual reality simulators assume larger roles >>in helicopter combat training, programmers have gone to great lengths to >>increase the realism of their scenarios, including detailed landscapes and >>- in the case of the Northern Territory's Operation Phoenix- herds of >>kangaroos (since disturbed animals might well give away a helicopter's >>position). >> >>The head of the Defense Science & Technology Organization's Land >>Operations/Simulation division reportedly instructed developers to model >>the local marsupials' movements and reactions to helicopters. Being >>efficient programmers, they just re-appropriated some code originally used >>to model infantry detachment reactions under the same stimuli, changed the >>mapped icon from a soldier to a kangaroo, and increased the figures' speed >>of movement. >> >>Eager to demonstrate their flying skills for some visiting American pilots, >>the hotshot Aussies "buzzed" the virtual kangaroos in low flight during a >>simulation. The kangaroos scattered, as predicted, and the visiting >>Americans nodded appreciatively... then did a double-take as the kangaroos >>reappeared from behind a hill and launched a barrage of Stinger missiles at >>the hapless helicopter. (Apparently the programmers had forgotten to remove >>that part of the infantry coding.) >> >>The lesson learned? >> >>Objects are defined with certain attributes, and any new object defined in >>terms of an old one inherits all the attributes. The embarrassed >>programmers had learned to be careful when reusing object-oriented code, >>and the Yanks left with a newfound respect for Australian wildlife. >> >>Simulator supervisors report that pilots from that point onward have >>strictly avoided kangaroos, just as they were meant to. >> >> * From June 15, 1999 Defense Science and Technology Organization Lecture >>Series, Melbourne, Australia, and staff reports >> >> >>______________________________________________________________________ >>Get Visto.com! Private groups, event calendars, email, and much more. >>Visto.com. Life on the Dot. >>Check it out @ http://www.visto.com/info <http://www.visto.com/info>