Barco’s Rear Projection Dome: RP-360
As close to real fast jet flying as you can get
Barco Training & Simulation
Mar-2013
Page 1
©2013 Barco – T&S
Barco’s Rear-Projection Dome System
 As close to real fast jet flying as you can get
 Performance for eye-limit effective training
 Designed for easy and ergonomic visual systems
 Fully supported by Barco
The rear projection dome system
Main components of the RPD system
 The rear projection dome system is a visual system
with four main components
 The screen:
– Spherical shape rear projection screen with 1700mm radius
– 360° horizontal by +90° and -40° vertical field of view
– Pilot’s eye point located in sphere center
 The projectors:
– Barco’s simulation dedicated projectors
– 13—14 SIM10 or SIM7, depending on resolution & brightness requirements
 The mechanical structure:
– Easy & safe access to all projectors during installation & maintenance
– Barco design from ground up
 The tools:
– Barco’s SIMCAD is used to design the system
– Barco’s XDS Racu and AutoAlignment suite for easy control and maintenance
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Main characteristics of the RP dome
 Large field of view
– 360° horizontal x 130° vertical
 Close to eye limiting resolution
– Up to 2.9 arcmin/OLP
 Uniform resolution across complete FOV
– Maximum variation of only 1 arcmin/OLP:
2.9 best  3.3 average  3.9 worst
 Stunning contrast and brightness
– System contrast of more than 25:1
– System brightness up to 10 ftL
 Superb image quality
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Continuous picture across multiple channels
Crisp fast moving targets through smearing reduction
Clear night scenes through NVG option
Supporting all times of day through high dynamic range
 In short …
as close to real fast jet flying as you can get
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Benefits of the RPD system
Performance
Increased use of Ground Based Training systems
Training more aligned with the real operations
Practice of more training tasks more effectively
Improved ergonomics of pilot training
Design
Increased up-time of the total system
Easier system control through unique system tools
Products and concepts designed for systems
Low risk to end-users and system integrators
Barco
Long-term service and maintenance contracts
Product training for end-user and system integrators
Independent visual solution provider
Local in more than 90 countries around the world
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Increased use of Ground Based Training systems
Performance
 Increased cost savings
through increased simulator training time
– Reduction of “real flying” training
– De-risking “real flying”
– Reduction of “real flying” mission tasks training cost
 Reduced negative training risks
through unique system characteristics
– High resolution
– Uniform resolution
– High system contrast
– High system brightness
– Large field of view
– Multi-channel consistent quality through simulation dedicated projectors
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Training in line with the real operations
Characteristics identified by pilots flying on the dome system:
Performance
 Exploring the area
– Large field of view of 360° horizontal by 130° vertical
 Detection – orientation – recognition – identification
of crucial objects/targets
– High system contrast – the high resolution – the high brightness
– Reduction of visual artifacts – unrestricted head movement
 Helmet mounted cueing system compatibility
– Design characteristics of the dome screen
 Night vision goggles compatibility
– Sim10 / Sim7 projector NVG option and dome system design
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Improved pilot ergonomics
Design
Clear head movement
Pilot can move the head
without creating a shadow
thanks to rear projection.
Constant eye relief
HMC integration
Pilot is sitting
in the center of the sphere
with equal distance
to any point on the screen.
Pilot can see simultaneously
the HMC data and the OTW display
without blurring or defocus artifacts,
designed future-proof
up to eye limiting resolution.
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Improve the up time of the total system
SIM10 Simulation dedicated projector
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Design
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SIM10 = 10M pixels per projector = less projectors required =
only 13 projectors used = increased up time
SIM10 design = easy accessible consumable parts = fast swap
possible = increased up time
SIM10 multi channel features = easy readjustment and
automated readjustment (CLO) = increased up time
Dedicated mechanical structure
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SIM10 in projector frame on wheels = easy to remove the
projector = easy to maneuver the spare projector = possible
to swap projectors and continue the training in less than one
hour
Projectors on upper level in structure attached to concrete
floor = walking on the platform on the upper level will not
move the structure on the upper level = engineers can service
projectors on upper level without influence = improved up
time
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Easy system control
Design
XDS Racu
AutoAlignment
Laser tile
Save set-up time :
control all projectors
from one single point
Shorten service time
Screen marking
Automated
readjustment of the
main display settings
Easy to set-up
Shorten service time :
Extra backup of the
system settings
Stable marking
independent of screen
painting
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Products and concepts designed for systems
Barco’s SimCAD visual system design tool
 Aitoff plot:
– Screen area seen from DEP & shadow analysis
 Brightness plot:
Barco
– Expected brightness in DEP
including all brightness influences
 Resolution plot:
– Expected resolution and resolution uniformity
including system kell factor and system influences
 Contrast plot:
– Expected system contrast
including screen gain and all system contrast influences
 Optical blending pattern:
– Generates the optical filter for each projector
to apply optical blending (night scenes and NVG)
 Test pattern generation:
– Generates test grid of vertical and horizontal lines
according to applied camera settings
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Products and concepts designed for systems
Barco’s Sim10 & Sim7 multi-channel benefits
 Same color perception across the system
– Dynacolor: inter-channel projector color matching
 Smooth lines across the system
Barco
– Bi-cubic interpolation of the IG signal matches geometry consistently
within & across projectors
 Smooth brightness across the system
– Changes of brightness are monitored and adjusted
amongst projectors in order to maintain a uniform system brightness
 Seamless transition across the system
– Electronic blending inside projectors hides the edges in day scenes
– Optical blending filters hide the edges for night scenes
 Crisp fast-moving images
– Target objects remain clearly visible even when moving fast
through projector smearing reduction technology
 Smooth transition across times of day
– Multiple brightness intervals from full day to non-visible IR night scenes
through projector filter activations and dimmer settings
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Low risk to end-users and system integrators
 We have this system going out in the field
– 8 systems installed in one facility
Barco
 Great experience in different system components
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Picture courtesy of Elbit
building projectors : since 1978
rear screen projection technologies : since 1980
providing visual systems for simulation : since 1998
coating screens : since 2000
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Independent visual solution provider
 Our visual solutions are image generator independent
– Designed according to most common industry standards
for image generators
– Basic image generator requirements available
to verify the compatibility image generator and visual system
Barco
 The customer has the choice of image generator
to interface with the Barco visual system
– Image generator products are not part of Barco’s product portfolio
– Services related to setting up and fine tuning the image generators
are not part of Barco’s scope of work
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Technical specifications
RP-360 – 13-channel Sim10
Screen details :
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Hard Spherical screen
Radius: 1.7m (5.57743 ft)
Rear Projection
Seamless
Screen coating optimized for contrast and
brightness
- Dome is non-tilted
- Self-standing support structures
Eye point location:
- At centre of the dome screen
Image parameters:
- HFOV: +180°/-180°
- VFOV: +90°/-40°
System Resolution:
Resolution up to 2.9 arcmin/OLP
– average 3.3 arcmin/OLP
– worse 3.9 arcmin/OLP
System Brightness:
Average > 10 ft Lamberts (Average over 9 points –
all channels on – smearing reduction enabled)
System Contrast:
> 25:1 (28:1 measured and verified by AFRL)
Number of OTW channels:
13 SIM10 projectors
Optional HUD projector:
1 SIM7Q projector
Others:
 Auto Calibration for automated color and
brightness re-alignment
 NVG compatible
Footprint:
Will fit in 11,6m (W) x 11,6m (L) x 5,8m (H)
Will fit in 39ft (W) x 39ft (W) x 19ft(H)
RP-360 – 14-channel Sim10
Screen details :
-
Hard Spherical screen
Radius: 1.7m (5.57743 ft)
Rear Projection
Seamless
Screen coating optimized for contrast and
brightness
- Dome is non-tilted
- Self-standing support structures
Eye point location:
- At centre of the dome screen
Image parameters:
- HFOV: +180°/-180°
- VFOV: +90°/-40°
System Resolution:
Resolution up to 2.9 arcmin/OLP
– average 3.3 arcmin/OLP
– worse 3.9 arcmin/OLP
System Brightness:
Average > 10 ft Lamberts (Average over 9 points
– all channels on – smearing reduction
enabled)
System Contrast:
> 25:1 (28:1 measured and verified by AFRL)
Number of OTW channels:
14 SIM10 projectors
Optional HUD projector:
1 SIM7Q projector
Others:
 Auto Calibration for automated color and
brightness re-alignment
 NVG compatible
Footprint:
Will fit in 11,6m (W) x 11,6m (L) x 4,5m (H)
Will fit in 39ft (W) x 39ft (L) x 14ft (H)
RP-360 – 13-channel Sim7
Screen details :
- Hard Spherical screen
- Radius: 1.7m (5.57743 ft)
- Rear Projection
- Seamless
- Screen coating optimized for contrast and
brightness
- Dome is non-tilted
- Self-standing support structures
Eye point location:
- At centre of the dome screen
Image parameters:
- HFOV: +180°/-180°
- VFOV: +90°/-40°
System Resolution:
Average resolution of 6 arcmin/OLP
varying between 5 and 7 arcmin/OLP
(assuming Kell factor 0,85)
HUD resolution : Average of 2,4 arcmin/OLP
(assuming Kell factor 0,85)
System Brightness:
Average between 6 and 8 Ft Lamberts (Average
over 9 points – all channels on – smearing
reduction disabled – lamp life time < 100h)
System Contrast:
> 25:1 (28:1 measured and verified by AFRL)
Number of OTW channels:
13 SIM7Q projectors
HUD projector:
1 SIM7Q projector
Footprint:
Will fit in 11,6m (W) x 11,6m (L) x 5,8m (H)
Will fit in 39ft (W) x 39ft (W) x 19ft(H)
Thank You