|
Home
> News
> Press Releases
SAABTECH Selects
laserBIRD Head Tracker for
New Combat Simulator
BURLINGTON, VERMONT; FEBRUARY
27, 2004: SaabTech
has chosen Ascension
Technology’s
laserBIRD™ for head tracking
in the Within Visual Range
(WVR) air combat simulator.
Pilots in the WVR trainer’s
two cabins will each have
a laserBIRD tracker mounted
on their helmet-mounted displays.
laserBIRD synchs the pilot’s
field of view with out-the-window
viewing presented on the display
overlay. This will allow student
pilots to fly against each
other or against simulated
targets.
The WVR air combat trainer
will begin service with a
Viggen (Saab JA37) cockpit.
The Viggen fighter is the
predecessor to Sweden’s current
generation Gripen fighter.
The simulator may be upgraded
in the future. According to
Tomas Stenarson, SaabTech’s
systems developer, the WVR
training system will be able
to populate the scenario with
other types of targets, but
at the first stage, only air-to-air
weaponry will be available
to the pilots.
laserBIRD, an infra-red optical
tracker, delivers highly accurate
position and orientation tracking
without environmental interference
or distortion. Its miniaturized
scanner reflects low-level
laser beams throughout the
simulator cockpit. Sensors
attached to the training pilot’s
helmet instantly detect those
scanning beams. The sensors’
signals are then directed
back to the scanner’s DSP
electronics for measurement
computation.
SaabTech chose Ascension’s
laserBIRD because of its clean,
highly accurate data. “We
selected laserBIRD for an
environmental reason and based
on recommendation. The environment
will be electromagnetically
noisy, so an optical tracker
will not be as affected as
an electromagnetic system,”
explains Stenarson.
The WVR simulator is developed
by the IGJAS industrial group
consisting of a number of
Swedish defense contractor
companies including Saab Aerospace,
Aerotech Telub, Ericsson Microwave
and SaabTech. SaabTech develops
flight simulators based on
the Training and Tactical/Technical
Development Simulation System
(T3SIM) software package which
enables real-time simulation
for multiple users. The Swedish
Air Force Combat Simulation
Center, where the WVR simulator
will most likely be placed,
currently bases its Beyond
Visual Range air combat trainer
on T3SIM.
Greg Erdmann, Ascension’s
New Sales Development Manager,
notes, “This is another exciting
application for laserBIRD
which is fast becoming the
standard head tracker for
high-end flight simulators.
The abundance of metal and
noise typically in this environment
are no factor for laserBIRD.”
Ascension Technology Corporation
(Burlington, Vermont USA)
develops magnetic, optical
and inertial motion-tracking
solutions for 3D computer-graphics
applications in military targeting
systems, simulation, virtual
reality, biomechanics, animation
and medicine. For more information,
visit www.ascension-tech.com.
--END--
Back to Top
|
