FOG HORN

2015
Twobirds Flying Publication

Personal Eye System

By
MIL Sistemika
Copyright 2015, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

Personal Eye System (PES) blue force tracking and situational awareness for your
Android device.

2015

Personal Eye System (PES) blue force tracking and situational awareness for
your Android device.
By: Sal Palma
Ive been working on this review (on and off)
for just about a year so its long overdue, but
its hard to deliver a credible review for the
reader with only a cursory understanding of the
subject; ergo, throughout the year, Ive spent
hours interacting with Mil Sistemika engineers
learning all of PES nuances and on a couple of
occasions doing a little debugging. That
experience has resulted in a thorough
understanding of this apps impressive
capabilities along with a genuine appreciation
the work MIL Sistemika has put into PES. A brief
background is appropriate.
MIL Sistemika is based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The company offers a number of C.O.T.S.
software products focused on Command &
Control applications, covering all relevant levels
that range from the individual soldier to top
(planning) levels of the military command
structure. Their software supports sensor &
weapon integration, GIS navigation and
mapping systems, communications suits, and
integrated training tools.
Personal Eye System (PES) is part of the
companys C4I products marketed as a
Dismounted Soldier System. PES is a personal
tracking, navigation and data sharing
application aimed at soldiers, police, security
forces, emergency services and others that
need topographic navigation, tracking, blue
force tracking and common operational picture
sharing. The application is designed to run on
popular Android platforms that can be used as a

PDA (Personal Data Assistant) or fully integrated

in a future soldiers kit.
PES is an Android client that interacts with PES
Server via Wi-Fi, 3G/4G or via networked r.f. like
wave relay. The server provides real-time data
and messaging among unit members and
multiple units1 can be connected to provide a
comprehensive blue force tracking and
situational awareness information fabric.
Standalone, PES functionality is impressive but
what adds to its value is its real-time
information exchange.
For example, operators
conducting reconnaissance
can easily identify points
of interest (POI) along
their track on their
Android device. Instantly,
the POI and its associated
data, which includes geo
references,
operator
comments and POI details
like street address, elevation and even an image
taken with a camera app, are shared with all
unit members and C2 real-time.
In this review, Ill walk through PES many
features at a non-technical level.
1

As of this writing, iter-unit messaging and data

exchange is not supported by PES Server but its on
the horizon and subject to reprioritization given
customer orders. The work around is to create a
single unit adding members from all units. Then
member names can be prefixed with the
corresponding unit I.D.
Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Personal Eye System (PES) blue force tracking and situational awareness for your
Android device.
The PES display provides a wealth of
information. Along the top border, the operator
sees his or her position, which can be displayed
in MGRS, Lat & Log or UTM formats, terrain
elevation, heading, speed and fix precision
which throughout my review was consistently
at or better than 8 meters. Obviously, that level
of precision is capable of degradation in dense
forest or urban centers.
PES is configurable to present position
information in primary, secondary or tertiary
forms consisting of MGRS, which is the military
grid system, at up to 5 digit precision, Lat and
Long, in decimal format or minutes and
seconds, and UTM or Universal Transverse
Mercator system. The system I used throughout
this review is MGRS with Easting and Northing
properly displayed in 5 digit precision.

2015

crosshair to that point. Even if the desired

location is occluded from the operators line of
sight, he or she can still determine range and
direction to the point marked by the crosshairs.
There are numerous applications for this
feature and one that comes to mind is in a
sniper role; for example, determining range and
direction of fire to any point designated by the
PES crosshair.
Along the left edge of the display youll see a
+ and -sign, they allow the operator to
zoom in or out on the map. The map also
responds to swipes and pinches and map scale
adjusts correspondingly.
Along the right side of the display the operator
will find a menu tab providing access to PES
massive array of features and functions.

The screen also features a

compass rose with varying
degrees of opacity. Unique
to
MIL
Sistemikas
approach is that the
compass needle points to
device orientation rather
than magnetic north. This
is a feature that Ive come
to appreciate because it
does away with the need
for a rotating bezel. If you need to maintain a
specific heading of 78 magnetic, orient your
tablet or phone until the needle indicates the
desired bearing.
Along the bottom of the screen the operator
sees his present position, displayed in the
primary format, on the bottom left hand corner
of his display. At the bottom right hand corner,
he or she can determine distance and heading
to any point on the map by simply sliding the

Pressing the menu tab opens a menu that

allows adding a Point of Interest (POI), creating
an event, updates the common operating
picture, manages unit track, creates routes and

Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Personal Eye System (PES) blue force tracking and situational awareness for your
Android device.
in the professional version operates a laser
range finder.
As a commander or squad leader, I can identify
a point on the map as a point of interest. That
designation is distributed to all unit members
via PES server. The recipient can then touch the
POI icon opening a menu that provides access
to relevant information about the POI including
a Quick Nav function which provides the direct
route including distance and heading
information from the unit members current
position to the POI.

2015

Before being consumed with all of PES

features, its important to note that when PES is
used in conjunction with PES server: position,
track, route and COP details are updated realtime and available to all unit members including
HQ and C2. In absence of a viable server
connection, sharing can also be performed near
real-time via e-mail or SMS messaging.

Selecting the Track option, allows the operator

to map and record his or her track with further
track related options.

Common Operating Picture is typically an HQ

and Command and Control function. Using COP,
planners and senior commanders can generate
maps and using standard symbology indicate
numbers, location and composition of friendly
forces, enemy forces and other battlefield
components. These georeferenced COP maps
are electronically pushed to the field and when
integrated with blue force tracking and
navigation functions can greatly enhance
situational awareness for remote senior level
command.

He can select a new track, start a track, pause a

track, add an event along his track and list all
tracks active or inactive. Many of these
selections have submenus that provide other
features; for example document an event.

PES includes COP functionality where the

operator can identify friendly units, enemy
units, neutral forces or designate targets. As of
this writing, MIL Sistemika has yet to implement
the full APP6 NATO symbol sets but that is work
in progress. In the PRO version of PES, the user
can also create a custom symbol set to suite
their specific application.

Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Personal Eye System (PES) blue force tracking and situational awareness for your
Android device.
To illustrate the power of COP, Ive directed an
assault on an air strip. The objective was to
clear and secure the airfield and deny enemy
access.

2015

also add MEDEVAC, Primary and Backup

Extraction Routes.
Its beyond the scope of this review to discuss
every feature so Id like to wrap-up my
assessment with a brief discussion of the two
PES versions.
The commercial version of PES has seen great
acceptance in the European airsoft space. In
this market PES works to coordinate and
simulate military operations. Commercial PES
users are able to subscribe to PES server, for a
fee, accessing real-time messaging and data
exchange. The PES commercial application is
only modestly different from its professional
counterpart.
The professional version adds support for
strong data encryption, custom COP symbols
and features that support integration with radio
communications.

To conduct this operation, Im using three

rotary assets which also served to infiltrate two
infantry elements. I have directed Eagle 1, 2 and
3 to take up positions at the end of the runways
blocking departures or arrivals. I have directed
Alpha Team to set up a perimeter and road
block to prevent all road access to the airfield
and Bravo Team will move, clear and secure the
airfield. Using the PES COP feature, I can
disseminate the plan in real-time to all
elements and with short notice to mitigate the
risk of compromising OPSEC. All COP symbols
can be edited with notes specifically detailing
actions required, or any other relevant
information. Using the PES Nav features I can

Before getting into the technical details, I made

the assumption that PES is bandwidth intensive.
That assumption was completely unfounded
and PES is extremely tight. Bandwidth
requirements are surprisingly frugal
For applications that require tagging and
tracking and remote sensor monitoring, PES
Server also supports the use of a number of
popular and reasonably priced GPS trackers
using the Coban protocol such as:
- Coban GPS 102, GPS 102-B, GPS 103-A, GPS
103-B, GPS 104, GPS 106-A, GPS 106-B, GPS 107
- Xexun TK 101, TK 102, TK 102-2, TK 103, TK
103-2, TK 201, TK 201-2, TK 202, TK 203, TK 206,
XT 008, XT 009, XT 107
PES is a powerful tool that usable by military,
government agencies, law enforcement,
Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Personal Eye System (PES) blue force tracking and situational awareness for your
Android device.
training facilities or any organization that
benefits from blue force tracking and real-time
coordination of remotely deployed units. PES
can utilize Wi-Fi, 3G/4G as well as any satellite
hub like Iridiums GO.

Organizations requiring a private and dedicated

installation should contact MIL Sistemika for
customization and integration options. MIL
Sistemika is positioned to provide a turnkey
system to meet your agencies specific needs.

The commercial version of PES can be

downloaded directly from the Android App
Store. Without an in-app purchase of a PES
license, the application is limited to 1 route, 30
minutes of track recording, 10 map objects, and
no server connection. You can purchase the full
unrestricted version directly from the "Buy
Features" section in the application Settings, or
from the application menu. A PES Server
subscription can be purchased directly from the
PES web portal.
To say that I was extremely impressed with PES
is an understatement. Throughout my
evaluation I received amazing support from the
companys engineering resources. PES is a
C.O.T.S. application thats ready for prime time.
Three areas that Id like to see addressed are
inter-unit messaging and data sharing,
implementation of the full APP6 NATO symbol
library and the ability to display a grid, of
variable opacity, over the display. The later
serves the sniper operator by displaying range
information along grid lines from the operators
position.
I want to encourage readers to visit the Google
App store and download the free but restricted
version of PES to familiarize yourself with this
impressive tool.

2015

-SP

Brussels Office

MIL SISTEMIKA Brussels

Quai aux Briques 22
1000 Brussels
Belgium
email: bxl_office (at) milsistemika.com
phone: +32-488-383-244

Ljubljana Office

MIL SISTEMIKA d.o.o.

Zemljemerska 10
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
email: lju_office (at) milsistemika.com
phone:+386-1-438-2445
fax:+386-1-438-2445

Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved