Rockwell Collins Launches New High-Fidelity Image Generator

April 29, 2015

Jean L.

This image, created by Rockwell Collins' new EP-8100, demonstrates the high level of realism the system offers for military and commercial aviation simulation and training requirements.

In the launch of its EP-8100 image generating system for commercial and military simulation and training, Rockwell Collins said that the system addresses the key issues facing its customers today, namely how to bring new levels of realism and performance to their training environments while preserving the investments they’ve already made. It is fully backward compatible with the EP-8000 image generator.

One of the key differentiators of the EP-8100 is the system’s ability to use customers’ existing databases. The Database Generation System (DBGS) features conversion software that allows existing Rockwell Collins synthetic environments, as well as many industry standard synthetic environments, to run on the EP-8100.

The Rockwell Collins EP-8100 Scene Processor 2 (SP2) graphics boards are based on FPGA technologies. The FPGA is loaded at system boot with the EP2 rendering firmware, which can be customized based on training requirements. The SP2 is available in a single- and dual-node configuration in a 2U rack footprint and includes embedded sensor capability, which eliminates the additional hardware previously required for sensor rendering.

These converted environments can be executed in their original form or may be enhanced to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the EP-8100. It contains system support, including edge blend, image warping, symbology overlay, and auto alignment native to the EP-8100 with no additional third-party hardware or software required.

In a market where all other image generators are based on video-game graphics cards, Rockwell Collins emphasizes that the EP-8100 is driven by real-time, simulation-specific graphics cards and software designed for real missions. It provides procurement cycles of five to eight years and life-cycle support in excess of 15 years.

While leveraging game-like concepts, the real-time software is specifically designed for simulation and training applications. Updates of the software for program-specific requirements concurrency updates require no hardware changes and can be performed in the field.

Other new capabilities that are highlighted in the EP-8100 include a WholeEarth environment, allowing large-area training with small inset development; a large catalog of high-resolution airport models, as well as automatic generation of secondary airfields capable of supporting many training tasks; regional weather, allowing up to eight simultaneous, unique weather patterns with smooth and continuous transition from one to another; adaptive architecture, providing efficient volumetric rendering (patent pending) for more realistic clouds, smoke, and dust; high-fidelity sensor simulation, addressing IR, NVG, EO, and LLTV requirements; and "industry-leading" anti-aliasing algorithms, yielding a much improved moving image quality. It also includes real-world lighting with advanced, physics-based atmospheric light scattering and particle effects.