Case Study: Cortona3D in Action
Cortona3D Enables Simulation Developer
to Close USA’s Fourth Largest Company
CUSTOMER PROFILE
RTI designs, creates, and markets a
wide range of sophisticated modeling
and simulation tools, consulting and
services.
THE CHALLENGES
Virtual Reality Modeling Language was
the necessary technical environment,
but its depth and scope limited the
number of compatible software tools.
THE CORTONA3D SOLUTION
RapidSimulation worked with every
VRML file, gave RTI engineers a fast,
intuitive interface, and put RTI on the
map for large companies like Ford.
BENEFITS
RTI developed and delivered a
sophisticated driving simulation
environment rapidly, economically.
RTI’s customers at Ford no longer
wait for expensive consultants
Intuitive RapidSimulation interfaces
ended the need for RTI or Ford to
learn new computer languages.
Ford now tests new systems in safe,
accurate simulation environments;
makes fewer physical mockups, and
safely streamlines development.
Ford customers benefit from added
safety and economy.
Cortona3D enables capabilities of a core product
Products arrive faster, users are more efficient
Time savings “thrill and amaze” huge customer
Since its 1998 founding, Realtime Technologies, Inc. (RTI)
had provided its customers bespoke animated, interactive,
three-dimensional simulation environments, services and
consulting. When large contracts loomed, RTI needed a
development toolset that would interoperate smoothly with
VRML’s complexities, yet greatly accelerate development
time and flexibility.
Only Cortona3D’s RapidSimulation toolset could handle
RTI’s demands. It imported every VRML file type, then sped
RTI’s development of content and sophisticated simulation
environments.
Today, RapidSimulation is a foundation of RTI’s deliverables.
It enables simulations that were once impossible, speeds
development, cuts costs, yet reliably delivers scientifically
accurate simulations of evolving vehicle systems under
complex, real-world driving conditions.
“Every other technique
and tool we reviewed
was far more laborintensive.Some crashed
when we loaded odd
VRML formats. Some
didn’t give us features
and functions that
customers needed.”
Richard Romano, Founder and
President, Realtime Technologies, Inc.
RapidSimulation’s GUI enables RTI
users to arrange “tiles” that define
real-world factors to test evolving
systems.
Customer Description
Realtime Technologies Inc. (RTI),
founded in 1998, is an industry beacon
in providing leading-edge simulation
software, consulting, engineering
solutions, and software/hardware
development. RTI has offices in
Michigan, Colorado, and Utah, and the
growing company prides itself on a
highly communicative, give-and-take
atmosphere among all personnel.
Since 2001, RTI has created software
and engineering solutions for clients
who need robust ground-vehicle
simulation environments. SimCreator™
is RTI’s leading product. RTI markets to
corporations, universities, international
organizations, and government groups,
such as United States Army TACOM.
A key product line is vehicle driving
simulators that help customers research
their design concepts, vehicle-handling
configurations, stability control, antilock, and other systems. RTI solutions
drastically reduce customers’ time and
costs to develop interactive simulation,
testing, and data acquisition systems.
In 2006, RTI announced the licensing
of its SimVista™ and SimLights™ to
Ford Motor Company for use in Ford’s
Virtual Test Track Experiment
(VIRTTEX) system.
Ford’s VIRTTEX is a full-motion-based
driving simulator with a 360° field of
vision. It gives researchers a safe and
controllable environment for testing
various product features under
different driver behaviors. SimVista
reduces customers’ development time
to create realistic driving scenarios and
collect experimental data. SimLights
improves realism of simulated scenes
by adding pre-rendered shadows.
Ford’s computer-aided engineering
(CAE) and simulation programs
describe the physical dynamics of new
and evolving vehicle systems. Cortona
RapidSimulation enables SimVista to
interact in real time with the output of
CAE programs. Ford engineers create
and save diverse virtual driving
environments using SimVista’s intuitive
“tiles” to describe hills, curves and
texture of roads. They use SimVista
“scenario objects” to insert vehicles,
pedestrians, buildings, rainfall and
other factors. RTI’s SimLights recreates
lighting conditions from desert sun in
the driver’s eyes to night fog.
RTI products run in Microsoft Windows
environments or under RedHawk Linux,
in use at Ford.
The Challenges
Richard Romano, Founder and
President of RTI, describes his team’s
search for the software underpinnings
they needed to help them rapidly
deliver reliable and intuitive systems to
important customers like Ford. “Vehicle
driving simulators must realistically lay
out the driver’s world—with all its
unpredictable scenarios—just as
everything would happen in real time,”
he explains.
“We needed easy-to-use software that
would capture and retain in one
simulation tool all that data—very large
amounts of it. We wanted to enable
customers to just sit down and start
simulating their systems, without
delays or special training. Customers
typically had to describe interactions of
evolving experimental systems with
various drivers and changing road
conditions. Then they had to simulate
engineering changes they made to
“The RapidSimulation
tools and services are a
cornerstone at RTI, a
fundamental enabler of
the entire simulation
environment capability
that we sell.…We could
not make the products
that keep customers
coming back if we had
chosen anything else.”
Richard Romano, Founder and
President, Realtime Technologies, Inc.
their systems based on the results of
different simulated users ‘driving’
different systems under varying
conditions. It was a very complex
needs analysis.
tool we reviewed was far more laborintensive. Some crashed when we
loaded odd VRML formats. Some didn’t
give us features and functions that
customers needed.
“We chose VRML (Virtual Reality
Modeling Language) as our technical
foundation because of its scope and
versatility. VRML file formats support a
wide variety of simulation factors, so
we knew it would meet our needs yet
retain one common file format.
“Only RapidSimulation met all our
needs for speed, functionality and file
content. We could load whatever we
needed, display it, and make it work.
Its user interface made intuitive sense,
like a dashboard. It does what you
expect, and no one has to learn a
programming language.”
“But VRML is laborious and time-costly
to do complex work in. It’s an excellent
launching pad, but we needed ways to
deliver turn-key VRML products that ran
faster, were less error-prone, not fussy,
and completely transparent to the user.”
Why Select Cortona3D
The easy interface in RTI’s
SimCreator shows the factors
while building any simulation.
“When we compared products and
services, Cortona3D’s RapidSimulation
tools and support were the only viable
solution. Every other technique and
Benefits In Hand
“The RapidSimulation tools and
services are a cornerstone at RTI, a
fundamental enabler of the entire
simulation environment capability that
we sell. It enables us to make our
products. We could not deliver the
products that keep customers coming
back if we had chosen anything else.
“Then there’s the time we save our
technologists. In VRML, they’d need
days to do what we do with Cortona3D
in minutes. RapidSimulation is the
factor that lets us present the highly
intuitive customer interface that
customers like. Then that interface
helps customers rapidly and accurately
implement their testing parameters
and commands. That saves them time
and money.
“Cortona3D empowers RTI customers
reduce the number of physical mockups they build—and a mock-up can
cost up to six figures. We cut down
their number of test drives. When they
do start real-world tests, they’re much
farther down the development road
and need fewer iterations. They’ve
narrowed their variables way down.”
“Ford engineers are
thrilled and amazed
that now they can start
with their ‘OpenFlight’
model, use RTI tools to
import it into VRML,
then use our commonsense interfaces to
work with it and create
mathematically correct,
real-world simulations.”
Heather Stoner, Human Factors
Engineer, Realtime Technologies, Inc.
Cortona3D provides 3D visual
knowledge software to streamline the
authoring of technical communications
Cortona3D open standards authoring
tools give subject matter experts the
power to rapidly create interactive,
animated 3D product documentation
such as maintenance manuals, parts
catalogs and interactive training from
existing CAD assets.
Proven benefits are three times faster
production, 60 percent cost savings,
and improved quality. Customers
include Boeing, Ford, GE, Bosch, and
Airbus.
RTI’s Heather Stoner, Human Factors
Engineer, interfaces directly with Ford’s
human factors professionals and
simulation engineers. She says, “Ford
engineers are thrilled and amazed that
they can now start with their
“OpenFlight” model, use RTI tools to
import it into VRML, then use our
common-sense interfaces to work with
it and create mathematically correct,
real-world simulations.
“Previously, they used expensive and
time-consuming consultants, then had
to wait their turn in the service queue.
Now Ford uses RTI tools to do what
they want, when they need it. Most
important, we can now give them
flexibilities and functionalities they
previously couldn’t get at any price.
“Now Ford engineers can test and
design a series of virtual systems,
without building each one. They
simulate multiple design approaches,
then build and test more-accurate
prototypes.
“In the end,” points out Stoner, “Ford’s
consumers benefit by safer and betterengineered systems in Ford vehicles.
These systems have been developed
more efficiently, economically, and
perform better under a variety of
conditions. RapidSimulation makes it
possible for us to provide Ford that
capability.”
Cortona3D
Cortona3D transforms product
maintenance and training by enabling
organizations to use their existing
CAD, PDM and ERP data to create
animated 3D simulations for
documentation and learning.
Integrated Visual Know-How
accelerates time-to-market, increases
revenue and competitive edge, and
lowers product lifecycle costs, while
enabling unprecedented levels of
feedback from users in the field.
For more information about
Cortona3D products and services in
the USA, call: +1 800 971 2812. In
Europe, call: +353 1 214 3380
On the Internet, visit:
www.cortona3D.com or e-mail
sales@cortona3d.com
For more information about Realtime
Technologies, Inc., please call (801)
647-4672. On the Internet, visit:
www.simcreator.com or e-mail
cwoodbury@simcreator.com.
Cortona3D Solutions
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