The Norwegian projector manufacturer has supplied 21 F82 series 3-chip DLP projectors to FORCE Technology’s Division for Maritime Industry. Five F32 series DLP projectors have also been provided for what is described as “without question, one of the world’s largest roll-outs of full-mission video simulation technology”.
The customer’s own engineers undertook the installation at the Division for Maritime Industry’s simulation centre, which is located in the Danish city of Lyngby. Providing immersive training for ship owners, operators and maritime organisations, the DMI was lately the subject of a major technological upgrade entailing the specification of visual systems for the marine simulators.
Jimmy Bernard, MD of projectiondesign’s Danish distributor, Netkom, introduced FORCE Technology’s Peter K Sørensen to an early prototype of the F82 series during the early stage of the project. Impressed by their ability to deal with simulated night-time environments, Bernard moved to specify the F82 devices, equipped with custom-made lenses.
“The largest full-mission simulator at the DMI is 18m in diameter and requires multiple projectors to throw a 360º image onto an angled, curved screen,” explained Espen Olsen, projectiondesign’s regional manager, Nordic and Baltics. “There are also three further simulators that use cylindrical screens of varying diameters. All these required custom lenses to be manufactured. We then used our RealColor and ACOP technologies to ensure that all the projectors were properly colour-matched and aligned before they left our factory for delivery to the customer, and also worked on-site alongside FORCE Technology’s own integration team.”
The centrepiece of DMI’s simulation centre is a full-mission simulator offering 360-degree viewing from full-sized bridge consoles for control and monitoring. Two further full-mission simulators offer 210º viewing, while a 130º part-task simulator is configured in theatre style and is designed primarily for engineering studies. FORCE Technology’s SimFlex systems enables all of the simulators to be integrated with real-world radar, navigation and control data, allowing trainees to react to simulated situations exactly as they would in real life.
Drawing attention to the F82’s ability to “provide a very sharp picture” even during night-time scenarios, Sørensen paid fulsome tribute to projectiondesign. “We are very grateful to [the company] not just for listening to our needs and tailoring their products to match our requirements, but also for providing so much help during the installation itself,” he said. “The company provided a very dedicated and experienced team and that was of huge value to us, because we have a system worth 50 million Danish kroner and were working to tough deadlines with absolutely no room for maneouvre.”
Anders Løkke, international marketing and communications manager at projectiondesign, told IE: “This is one of many larger simulation, training and education specific installations we have been involved in lately. It perfectly demonstrates our ability to work with integrators and end-users to ensure [the] products in question are perfect for their specific use and needs. It comes at a time where we are setting the industry standard with several new products, including the new F35 WQXGA and FR12 RLS Remote Light Source projectors, that are even better tailored towards demanding specialist market requirements.”
