The Illumination System simulates the sun behavior and sun rays incidence during a flight permitting to dazzle the pilots when the sun appears in their visual field. A total number of 8 LED spotlights will be installed in the lighting system. This devices will be surrounding the projection domo, supported by a aluminum structure based on commercial truss modules.
SerTec has finished the design phase of the simulator cockpit and its systems. This cockpit represents with a high level of fidelity the distribution and dimensions of all the support structures allocated inside a representative cabin.
Structures have been modified in order to receive the multitouch panels instead the real flight instrumentation, but always respecting its position and dimensions.
All the monitors installed are 4K monitors, that will deliver ultra-high-definition for graphics representations.
Regarding the virtual panels software development, all the virtual panels located in the consoles have been developed by SerTec staff during this Reporting Period.
The results of this work are virtual panels displayed in a 4K multitouch monitor you can interact with their elements (knobs, dials,...) just touching the screen surface sending a command to the simulator host and the feedback in a similar way as the real aircraft panels.
The measurement of the psychological parameters is implemented by the development works during this period of an Eye Tracker and Face analysis system capable to senses the interior of the cabin and in particular the Pilots. The resulting information will feed the Pilot Status Analysis software which generates a personalised model about the current state of the Pilot in terms of distraction, fatigue, stress and abnormal behavior. The system is able to calculate the gaze direction and determine the panel the pilot is looking at in real time.
The measurement of the physiological parameters will be done through the Smart Seats system developed by Nottingham Trent University. The pilot and copilot seats are cover by a special textile layer with embedded sensors in the yarns that in contact with the body can extract data as heart rate, moisture and temperature.
The communication protocol selected to transmit the signals coming from the Smart Seats is LiFi Technology. From the initial steps of the project, several studies of this technology have been carried out, investigating the different development kit of the markets, and selecting the most appropriate to be used inside ASCENT cockpit.
SerTec has carried out several connectivity test to check the feasibility of the LiFi communication and the results obtained have been quite promising.
WP4 will develop, implement and validate a 3D sound environment for the active cockpit simulation that is representative of a regional aircraft. Paragon’s Artificial Intelligence Sound Active Control system identifies and generates the optimal cancellation signal from pilot perception, which is almost identical to the real signal but with opposite phase, and will in turn be used in the active cockpit simulator.
The works performed by Paragon during this period are:
-The definition and design of the sound system
-Sound system hardware components & architecture
-Sound system software components & architecture
The Digital Audio Workstation software, a main component of the overall sound system application, has been installed and successfully tested at Paragon on audio server with all hardware.
