MetaVR Visuals in FAA Simulator

MetaVR’s Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG) forms part of a new Piper Malibu M350 flight simulator delivered to the FAA’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) by ZedaSoft.

The specially-designed flight simulator is a Technically Advanced General Aviation Research Simulator (TAGARS), which will be used by CAMI for research into civil human factors and flight safety.

MetaVR is part of a team selected by systems integrator ZedaSoft to provide a solution specially designed to meet the FAA’s needs. Precision Flight Controls provided the cockpit, flight controls, and simulated Garmin G1000 hardware. With assistance from Garmin, ZedaSoft developed a G1000 software simulator and integrated it with the Precision Flight Controls G1000 hardware. Bihrle Applied Research provided the pilot-validated flight model and aircraft systems models derived from test data. When combined with ZedaSoft’s patented Container Based Architecture for Simulation (CBA), these models are what make the aircraft fly like a Piper Malibu M350.

For the 3D real time visual suite, ZedaSoft integrated MetaVR’s VRSG as part of the TAGARS’ projector-dome configuration to provide the visual system for both the out-the-window and sensor views. VRSG simulates the onboard sensor system by streaming real-time HD-quality H.264 video with KLV metadata. This enables operators to train using the same hardware that they use while flying actual, real-world missions. Out-the window views of MetaVR’s round-earth geospecific 3D terrain of Continental US (CONUS) are projected on to the dome displays, enabling training to take place immersed in a virtual world that replicates real-world terrain. The terrain can also serve as a baseline to which higher-fidelity information can be added, such as LIDAR elevation data, GPS point surveys, or 3D point features such as buildings, trees, targets, and runway models, to refine the database in a given area of interest. ZedaSoft’s patented Container Based Architecture framework serves as the runtime engine in the TAGARS simulator.