Redbird Flight has been testing a prototype of its desktop Redbird TD Basic Aviation Training Device (BATD) equipped with a software-driven mixed reality headset that gives users a more realistic and immersive flight experience. Many companies are developing mixed reality systems, but Redbird promises to cost tens of thousands of dollars versus hundreds of thousands of systems from traditional simulator makers.
On display at the Redbird exhibit this week at the EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the Redbird setup consists of a desktop BATD, a Varjo mixed reality headset, and a Quantum 3D-powered imaging system. Redbird encourages visitors to its exhibit to try out the mixed reality simulator.
Mixed reality (MR) combines a virtual reality (VR) view of the outside world with the user’s ability to see and interact with physical hardware. A pilot wearing the Redbird MR system while wearing the Varjo headset sees a 360-degree view of the outside world simply by looking in any direction. But unlike VR headsets, where users have to manipulate a simulator’s buttons and controls with some kind of cursor control device, MR headsets have cameras on the outside that point in the direction the user is looking. .
These cameras show the user a part of the physical world, in this case the instrument panel of the simulated Cessna 172, so that the user can see their own hands moving the yoke, turning a knob or pressing a button. The result is a much more realistic virtual reality experience and a better positive transfer in the training environment.
Running an MR system requires a lot of computing power, and the Redbird system uses two powerful graphics processing units, one for each eye. The images of the outside world that the user sees are not just those of the underlying simulator software (Redbird uses Prepar3d, but Quantum3D also works with X-Plane), but the imaging software platform based on Quantum3D’s Mantis module.
Mantis is already being used for some military applications, and Virgin Galactic used a Quantum3D system to train pilots for its suborbital flights, according to Quantum3D CEO Murat Kose. An air ambulance operator in Germany uses Quantum3D MR for their Airbus H145 helicopter pilot training, and there is also an app for firefighting flight operations.
The Mantis system offers high resolution graphics at 60 frames per second. Some of Mantis’ capabilities include a variety of weather phenomena, ocean effects, rotor wash, global terrain, over 30,000 airports, and night vision goggles and infrared sensor replication. “We have a bunch of airports and D-level weather,” Kose said.
During a demonstration of the MR system, I flew the simulated Cessna 172 in a traffic pattern at San Francisco International Airport. Being able to look in any direction and see the plane as if you were sitting in it was a huge improvement over a regular desktop sim. Yet at the same time, I could look directly at the instrument panel and see my hands on the yoke and throttle and pressing the G1000 avionics buttons and turning the knobs.
The images kept pace when I moved my head quickly from side to side with no latency. The instrument panel was pretty sharp, although there were some parts of the view that were slightly blurred.
In any case, I was able to fly the simulation immersed in the view of the outside world and was able to easily judge when to turn from leeward to base leg by looking back over my shoulder, something that is difficult to do on a regular desktop. simulator. The only thing missing was a sense of control, although Redbird could easily add the MR system to one of their motion-based sims and add feedback to the yoke.
Redbird hopes to gain FAA approval for use of the MR simulator as a BATD, allowing credit for some instrument flights and monetary training. The aviation programs at the college and aviation high school “are very excited about this,” said Josh Harnagel, Redbird’s vice president of marketing.
Redbird is also developing an Advanced Aviation Training Device (AATD) that replicates the Air Force T-1A Jayhawk (Beechjet). The Air Force has ordered 25 of the Redbird AATDs and will use them for jet transition training, replacing the T-1As after they are decommissioned. AATDs will have the current Redbird visual display, but harnagel said could be equipped with the MR system if the Air Force wanted to add MR capability.
“The new proof-of-concept device is a promising step forward in improving the human-computer interface of simulated flight,” said Redbird CEO Todd Willinger. “In our years of research and development of virtual, augmented and mixed reality systems, we found that creating a more immersive visual environment came at the expense of impeding the pilot’s ability to accurately interact with the physical elements required in the devices. certified training. This device allows pilots to see and adapt to everything inside and outside the flight deck, both virtually and physically, showing that it could become an effective solution for professional flight training.”