DiSTI successfully delivers Counter – Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM), Land-Based Phalanx Weapon System (LPWS) Operator/Maintainer Trainer (OMT) powered by VE Studio, the leading Virtual Maintenance Training (VMT) development platform.
Orlando, FL (September 26, 2018) – The DiSTI Corporation announces their successful completion of their $2.8M contract award from the U.S. Army’s PEO STRI for the development of the C-RAM LPWS OMT developed on the VE Studio platform.
C-RAM was developed to protect ground forces and forward operating bases from the threat of rockets, artillery and mortars. Live operational training with the C-RAM LPWS system can be dangerous and expensive with the various physical aspects involved like missile engagement, extreme weather conditions, ammunition cost, and safety restrictions.
The C-RAM virtual training solution enables air defense artillery teams to practice procedures for operating and maintaining one of the Army’s most complex weapons systems in a safe and controlled environment; including clearing ammo feed jams – a task difficult to repeatedly replicate during live training.
Student safety and lowering the cost of training were key considerations for the development of the training solution. The OMT assists students with training on the C-RAM LPWS by simulating scenarios in a virtual environment that includes over 105 operator and maintainer procedures and instructional modes that support free play, tutorial, practice and assessment. The OMT’s Instructor Operator Station (IOS) provides instructors within the classroom the ability to remotely demonstrate procedures, assign lessons to students, and evaluate student performance.
A key feature is animation of C-RAM’s gun belt feed system in action while the weapons is firing and the simulation of seven different feed jams soldiers could encounter in the field. The OMT provides operators and maintainers with an in-depth view of the inner workings of the weapons system with see-through views – unlike anything they would be able to replicate with physical training without risking the soldier’s safety.
The C-RAM LPWS OMT program used the latest release of DiSTI’s commercially available VE Studio development platform that provides a proven, patented process to efficiently create interactive 3D content rendered using the Unity game engine. Unlike using Unity by itself, VE Studio offers a database-centric production pipeline to efficiently manage 3D virtual environment development; reducing program development cost and risk while enabling the Army to issue future procedural updates, system variants or integrate AR/VR capabilities at a considerable reduction in production cost.
“This is by far, one of the most complex examples of how a state-of-the-art OMT solution can deliver an immersive, life-like simulation capable of training students on very complex and dangerous procedures that they could not easily perform in the real-world. It will pay dividends in maintenance and operational practice when lives are on the line in the field,” says Steve Jackson, VP of Business Development of the DiSTI Corporation.
The U.S. Army estimates 2,000 students per year will pass through the five electronic classrooms. Thirty-nine Unit configurations consisting of ruggedized laptops will also be distributed to actively deployed units – offering remote training and variant upgrade modules in the field for the life of the program.
About DiSTI
The DiSTI Corporation is the world’s leading provider of 3D virtual training solutions and graphical user interface software.
Our flagship product, GL Studio, delivers advanced high-performance 3D user interfaces to the aerospace, automotive, medical, and training industries. Leading global manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin choose GL Studio for its performance, fidelity, and reliability in interface development and deployment. Whether for avionics, instrument clusters, infotainment systems, medical devices, or flight simulators, GL Studio exceeds the developer’s interface demands.
DiSTI’s user interface technology also expands into 3D virtual maintenance training solutions. DiSTI’s VE Studio is the world’s leading platform for managing the development of complex 3D virtual environments for use on desktop, mobile, and virtual and mixed reality training applications. VE Studio manages the entire development process including requirements analysis, content development, and automated software builds and regression testing.