A. Gallagher, A. J. Gonzalez, and R. F. DeMara, "Modeling Platform Behaviors Under Degraded States Using Context-Based Reasoning," in Proceedings of the 2000 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC-2000), Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., November 27 - 30, 2000. Abstract: Current simulators model platform degradation with very simplistic models that do not do justice to the vast variation of degradation conditions that can occur during combat. For instance, the mobility of a tank can be affected by several factors that can undergo degradation, such as the state of the track, the state of the engine, etc. Most of these factors, in turn, can undergo continuous levels of degradation. Both the state of the track and the state of the engine could be described by quantities that range from the minimum state (catastrophic loss) to the maximum state (fully functional.) Modeling the mobility of a platform as either mobile or not, as many simulators do, is a huge oversimplification of reality that can no longer be justified, given the increasing demands for realism placed on training simulators. Recent efforts conducted by researchers from several fields have tackled several aspects of modeling platform degradation. These researchers attempt to produce more realistic models through which to categorize the damage sustained by a military platform. These new degradation models can then be used to give computer-generated forces (CGFs) more realistic behaviors given their degraded state. Two major communities that have addressed two large parts of the degradation-modeling problem are the Vulnerability/Lethality (V/L) community, and Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychologists. V/L community researchers have created several V/L models throughout the years. These models are specific for every platform, and attempt to model the degradation on a military platform caused by enemy fire. Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychologists, on the other hand, have developed models to approximate the influence of human factors in platform behavior. A third area that has not been thoroughly addressed is the degradation induced by normal platform use. It is evident, however that such factors (e.g. state of fuel or ammunition), influence crew decision-making. In this context, these factors can also be viewed as creating a degraded state that can influence the behavior. Kill (PKs) to model degradation. These metrics were produced by the Vulnerability/Lethality (V/L) community, beginning with World War II. Although they are the best-known metrics, many bear no direct relationship to observable field occurrences, and they don't address other factors not related to combat damage. Recent efforts by the V/L community have developed more realistic metrics to assess platform damage. AMSAA researchers, in particular, have led the field by developing a V/L Taxonomy that attempts to bring greater rigor and clarity to the discipline (Deitz et al., 1997). Other researchers, principally Industrial /Organizational (I/O) psychologists, have made progress in incorporating stress and fatigue as factors that produce degraded platform performance.