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U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) submitted a challenge to SOFWERX, USSOCOM’s collaboration workshop, to research the possibilities of effectively equipping partner forces using only commercially-available items or open source software.
“Rapid prototyping is starting with a base set of materials or capabilities and then mixing them together to produce a new capability in a way that is very quick and in some cases very iterative,” said SOFWERX RPE Lead Systems Engineer, Cameron Hunt.
SOFWERX researched ways to streamline that process using unconventional methods and commercial off-the-shelf products in order to get items in the hands of special operators and their partners quickly and efficiently. The event was open to USSOCOM government civilians, contractors and service members to see various proofs of concept and prototypes and share their ideas with other rodeo innovators. The rodeo was part of USSOCOM’s continued approach to solving problems with bottom-up, operator-driven innovation.
“We brought in operators, industry partners, engineers and technicians, and we spent a couple of weeks exploring a problem to see how we could leverage what is available in the commercial market place,” said James Geurts, USSOCOM Acquisition Executive.
The rodeo is a byproduct of SOFWERX’s heavy investment in collaboration as a driver of innovation. That thread could be found in every product featured at the event from the high-tech to the mundane.
When seeking out solutions to the common problem of freeing vehicles stuck in austere environments, SOFWERX innovators looked to the experiences of operators in the field for input and off-road industry experts before sourcing commercially available materials to outfit a vehicle recovery kit that would meet the needs of some of the most demanding environments.
“This was an example of an operator having a problem, bringing it here, and us all working on it together to find a solution,” Geurts explained. “When we looked at this problem we found there were a lot of products available in industry that could help us recover a vehicle so we used those products to quickly solve an operator’s problem.”
A highlight of the rodeo was SOFWERX’s collaboration with the online retailer Amazon and its Amazon Marketplace. Similar to its publicly accessible Amazon.com website, SOFWERX and Amazon created a secure site specifically for Special Operations Forces operators to acquire and leave reviews detailing their experiences with products in the field. The idea behind the marketplace concept was to provide opportunities to directly inject operator feedback into the supply and acquisition process and allow operators to share their insights about specific products with each other.
“The strength of our ability to network together, work together and create solutions collaboratively is really what is going to help us equip and support those operators down range,” said Geurts.
The RPE Rodeo was the first of its kind for USSOCOM, but SOFWERX is exploring the potential for future events to help continue to push the boundaries of innovation while supporting SOF operators in the field.
| Date Taken: | 10.21.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2016 15:15 |
| Story ID: | 212601 |
| Location: | TAMPA , FL, US |
| Web Views: | 233 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, USSOCOM Rapid Prototype Event Rodeo, by MSgt Angelita Lawrence, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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