Simulator Information

Environnmental models include:

Wind (where appropriate):
• Direction
• Turbulence
• Speed
Tide:
• Direction
• Speed
Sea state (from the Bretschneider Spectrum)
Wave direction

The navaids available as standard within the simulators include:

GPS (position and ground velocity),
Electromagnetic water-speed log,
Gyrocompass,
Fluxgate compass,
Rate gyro (measuring yaw rate for ship motion and pitch, roll and yaw rate for AUV simulation)
Doppler Velocity Log,
Depth sounder,
Anemometer.

Each of these instruments exhibits errors, latency and finite update rates which may be adjusted to reflect various systems. All navaids may be set to perfect accuracy if desired. The main ship control console displays are derived from the navaids and the navaid data is used by the autopilot controllers. The sensors can also output NMEA sentences (see NMEA).

Other navaids are available on request.

The Monitor item provides access to a data logging facility which enables any simulation parameters to be logged to file. The time increment between logged data points is user-selectable. At the end of the simulation run, the data is available in two formats:

'.MAT' files which can be read directly by Matlab for analysis or display,
'.TXT' files, which are tab-delimited columns of text, readable by a standard spreadsheet.

As well as logging the data to file, any parameters can be displayed on a simple scope screen. Several scope screens may be set up, and each provides up to four traces (color-coded) to examine various parameters in real time. Originally this was written as a debugging tool but it was found so useful that it was decided to leave it in the simulator as a permanent feature.

An annotated Record and Playback facility allows the user to record a simulation sequence and then play it back, to aid identification of the vessel motion in the Data Log file, or for presentation. An annotation facility allows the user to insert comments which pop up at appropriate moments during playback. Comments may be added or edited at any time using the Replay Setup Dialog shown opposite.

NMEA - A wide range of instrument sentances are supported and a fully flexible NMEA port management facility is used.

SSSCP - RS232 communication with external autopilot and between simulation sessions - providing:

The remote control operator interface during operation,
Testing,
Multiple vehicle simulation.

Analog and Digital I/O - The analog and digital input / output to the PC is performed using a ADC interface card, allowing:

The simulation to control machinery, using standard protocols (e.g. PWM),
The simulation to be controlled via an external console,
The simulation to be driven in response to an external controller. The machinery positions are taken from the demanded values from the external controller or by directly measuring the position of the controlled machinery.

For more information, send a request using the Inquiries form.