A determination was needed regarding whether or not to incorporate a motion base into the future Marine Corps Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) Driver Trainer, and if so, the degrees of freedom (DOF) required to produce an accurate simulation. A force motion base was proposed as an option in the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) AAAV Front End Analyses and in an industry-generated Systems Functional Specification, however, rationale for the necessity of force motion was not available. The task of determining the necessity for force motion cuing and the DOF required was somewhat formidable because no actual operational vehicle presently exists and only limited models of the vehicle and the environments in which the vehicle will operate are currently available. The end decision to incorporate platform motion into the AAAV Driver Trainers was based on data supplied from a number of sources (e.g., training effectiveness and cost data, historical data such as the Army's experience with the M1/A1 tank, and subject matter expertise). As part of the decision process, it was necessary to use analytic methods to determine the DOF that would be required to meet AAAV driver training objectives.

A survey was developed by the Training Technology Development Branch at NAWCTSD to query members of the AAAV Fleet Project Team regarding the expected salience of motion cues in each of six DOF (i.e., longitudinal, lateral, vertical, roll, pitch, yaw) for specified tasks and environmental conditions. Five enlisted Marines, with considerable experience driving the predecessor Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV-7A1), used a 6-point Likert-type scale to rate the intensity of expected motion forces for each of 22 anticipated AAAV training tasks to be performed in both water (sea state 1) and land operations (various surfaces). Survey results indicated that motion forces are expected to be greatest in the longitudinal, vertical, pitch and yaw axes during performance of the specified tasks. A set of decision heuristics, developed for the U.S. Army by Sticha, Singer, Blacksten, Morrison, and Cross (1990), was applied to the survey results to formulate recommendations for motion cuing requirements. The methods used to determine motion requirements for the AAAV Driver Simulator can be applied to any ground vehicle or waterborne craft, and similar results can be expected. The results of the research conducted were not the only factors considered in determining the requirement for motion, but helped to reinforce many assumptions about the need for motion cuing.