Barco delivers 360-degree visual display system for National Air Traffic Services tower simulator (UK)
London, England – Barco, leader in visualization for air traffic management, is pleased to announce that the new 3D Tower Simulator installed at London's Heathrow Airport will feature a Barco visual display system. The system, supplied through Micro Nav Ltd, U.K., will be used to train tower controllers and related personnel for familiarization practice and conversion training.
The 3D Tower Simulator incorporates a revolutionary design with an extended "look-down" capability, which required the 10 Barco projectors to be positioned in a circular arrangement above the center of the screen, fixed onto a specific ceiling-mounted support structure. The Barco front projection cylindrical screen has 5 m radius and 3.15 m height, whereas the screen surface has been treated with special coating to improve reflective characteristics of the sheet.“The display system structure is designed by Barco’s systems engineering team, who are experienced in creating custom tailored solutions for demanding markets", says Jonathan Cooper, Managing Director Barco UK. "Our engineers enjoyed resolving the technical challenges in this innovative design and found a perfect match between the layout of the tower simulator (operator desks), the operational tasks to be performed, the building constraints, and the maintenance of the projection system."
The multi-channel display system at NATS will be powered by BARCOREALITY SIM 6 Ultra II LCD projectors. This technology offers outstanding optical performance and reduced cost of ownership by 40%. With a native UXGA resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels, Barco’s SIM 6 Ultra II can project more data on-screen making it perfectly suited for high-resolution applications such as the one at Heathrow. Moreover, thanks to Barco’s proprietary blending technology, a seamless image with invisible blends, also in night sceneries, with complete control of the full dynamic range, is generated.
Barco’s complete system solution consists of a 10-channel projection system with spare projector; 360-degree front-projection screen with automatic door and emergency hatch; sophisticated alignment and control tools; Polaris (Barco’s pattern generating software program which generates the test patterns needed to match the geometry of the cylindrical screen); and dedicated peripheral devices. Barco is also supplying its MAGIK II, an easy-to-use high-bandwidth interface that enables IG connection to the multi-channel projection system.
Tom Howard-Jones, the New Business Director at Micro Nav said: “ We have worked with Barco over many years and projects. We have great respect for their technology and capabilities. We are pleased to be working together on this prestigious programme that will play a key role in NATS plans at Heathrow Airport. We hope that we will enjoy more successes together as we deliver the new generation of ATC simulators.”
About Micro Nav
Micro Nav are leading specialist suppliers of ATC simulators for both civil and military training. The Micro Nav BEST range of simulators covers all types and levels of training. Recent projects include tower and radar simulators for Ireland; Korea; Dubai; Abu Dhabi; Denmark; Switzerland and the UK.
www.micronav.co.uk
About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, provides visualization and display solutions for professional markets. Barco designs and develops solutions for large screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual inspection. Barco is active worldwide and has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco is quoted on Euronext Brussels and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company (Euronext: BAR; Reuters: BARBt.BR; Bloomberg: BAR BB).
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