Exercise manager

Visual simulator is a simulator of navigation. Its distinctive feature is flexibility based on its modular structure. It means that different simulation modules (e.g. simulators of various electronic equipment) can be freely added to the Visual simulator. It is like a buying a new electronic equipment and installing it on a ship.
All the simulation modules are interconnected, e.g. radars "know" about existing compasses and GPSes.
The common base for the simulation is full-screen visuals bringing the user closer to reality.
The simulator comes in two versions : standalone for a single computer and networked. The networked version enables to stage complex navigation exercises and distribute all simulator components over different computers in a local area network in any combination. For example, the exercise manager runs on one computer (instructor workplace); other computers run radars allocated to different active ships (student workplaces), probably with visuals, or visuals on separate computers. Only the networked version provides real practice in, e.g. radio exchange, as at least two parties are necessary.
The exercise manager is the central component of the simulator intended to create new, save and load exercises, previously created or included in the installation pack.

An exercise is

To create a new exercise, select "File/New exercise". The selection dialog shows a list of currently available areas (terrains). Select one.

There is a number of ways to pan and zoom the chart :

You can specify many parameters related to weather, including time of exercise. In addition, the dependency of wave height on wind can be specified. Use the "Wave height vs wind speed" tab. Drag curve control points to provide this graph with the desired shape.

Now, we can add different types of objects to the terrain to make an exercise. Figure to the right shows how they look in the exercise view window. You can see different types of objects : Gipsy Moth 1 is an active ship Stockholm 1 is an inactive ship (target) moving along the Route 1 Stockholm 2 is a target moving at a specified heading Buoys, beacons and lights are navigation signs

First of all, we need at least one or more active (own, controlled) ships which will be equipped with different navigation equipment and controlled by student(s). Click Objects/New ship menu item. Select a desired ship type from a list and provide the new ship with a name. If you click OK, there appears a set of property pages, which, in addition to usual ship parmeters, like MMSI numbers, include a set of changeable functions representing ship dynamics, like function of maximum speed on throttle and many others. At the creation, the functions are default for this type of selected vehicle. Adjust the vehicle dynamics to your needs, if necessary. If you click OK, there appears a cursor shaped like a ship. You should move the mouse pointer to the desired location on the map and click the left mouse button. The new ship will appear at this place. A right-click will cancel adding the new ship.

Target ships are not controlled by students, they move either along straight lines with constant heading and speed specified or along smooth curved lines at constant speed. Such lines are mathematically represented by Bezier curves, which makes them easily editable. We shall refer to these curves as routes. To set a new route, select "Objects/New route" in the main menu. A message box displayed will tell you to mark waypoints of the route by clicking the left mouse button and end the route by clicking the right mouse button. At the end of the route, if a route is closed, it is normal to move target ships along this route with "start from the beginning" option in the target dialogue or set them to "move back", if it is not. Figure to the right shows a typical route - a target will move around the island with constant speed. Now, if needed, you can edit the shape of the curve, thanks to its Bezier representation, by simply dragging its control points. In case you wish to smooth the curve, click the right mouse button with mouse pointer over a curve node and select an appropriate action. Targets can start moving not only from the very beginning of the route, but at some distance from its beginning; also, they can move with a specified distance from the route curve. The last two features are used to let multiple ships move along a single route without collisions. It is now possible to specify route point height over sea level for aircrafts (Z-coordinate). This coordinate should be set to zero for routes for ships.

Now we can introduce target ships into exercise. Target ships are not controllable by student(s) (simulators of steering controls) and they do not carry simulators of navigation equipment. However, their motion can be controlled by the exercise manager by right-click over it and setting its properties when the exercise is running. Targets move initially at a constant course or along a route. . Select "Objects/New target" and select a desirable vehicle type from a list. Target properties window is similar to that of active ships.

At the moment, these objects include Buoys Beacons, may be racons Lights, may be lighthouses Radar transponders (SART) Every type of navigation sign or radar transponder has a set properties to define its shape, dimensions, color pattern, top mark, light, and even list amplitudes and periods for floating objects.

You can add clouds to the exercise which produce rain clutter on radar displays. Select "New cloud" and specify its shape by successive clicks on the chart. Complete cloud contour by a right click. Specify cloud height and whether it is raining or not in the dialog. The cloud will move with the speed and direction of wind specified in "Weather" menu.

Some object properties can be changed after objects have been created. You should place mouse cursor over an object or over the text with its name and click the right mouse button. Select "Properties" from the menu appeared. The property dialog type depends on the current state of the exercise. If the exercise is stopped, it looks like a set of pages representing ship parameters.

Positions of objects can be changed, both before exercise started and even during exercise running. To implement this, click the left mouse button over an object and drag it to a new place.
Sometimes scale of the map is so small that object contours are also very small and it is hard to spot an object with the mouse. In this case, you can first find the object, use the mouse wheel or [-] keyboard key to zoom the map out and then drag the object to a desired place.

Object copies can be easily created. With an exercise stopped, right-click over an object to copy, select "Copy" from the menu, move mouse cursor to a new position and right-click over this place.

Any object can be deleted the same way : click the right mouse button over an object and select "Delete" from the menu appeared. Sometimes scale of the map is so small that object contours are also very small and it is hard to place mouse cursor over it. In this case, you can first find the object and then click the right mouse button to delete it.

After modifications, object states can be restored by "Edit/Undo".

Any object on the map can be found through "Objects/Find object". Select an object and double click over it or click "Find". The object will be placed at the center of the window and the view zoomed in. Zoom is chosen that you could easily mark the object to set its properties.
You can set object properties or delete an object right from this dialogue box using corresponding buttons.

Select "File/Save exercise".

To load a previously saved exercise, select "File/Open exercise". In the dialogue box displayed, you should select an exercise. Also, the list of recently used exercises is in the last lines of the "File" menu. Just select one.

The next operation after setting an exercise is to Equip active ships with simulators Specify which simulator will run on which computer (if network is used) This is accomplished by using the "Equipment" menu item. Select an active ship in the tree view (click on its name), select an equipment type from the upper combo box, specify on wihich computer it will run (lower combo box) and click "Add" button. Every equipment contains a set of its properties, such as rotation speed or beam width, which can be specified by clicking the "Properties" button. Use the "Delete" button to remove an equipment from a ship.

Before an exercise is started, you should have at least one own (controlled) ship in it. When exercise is running, ships and targets show their speed and heading and the Exercise manager program window shows the exercise time in the upper right corner.
Running exercise can be paused, resumed and stopped. During exercise, you can forcibly move objects (click the left mouse button and drag) or change their properties (click the right mouse button over an object).

"Exercise/Run" is used to start exercise. The window shows exercise time at the upper right corner, ships and targets show current values of their speed and heading.

Active ships can be (and should be) controlled by steering controls. Equip active ships with steering controls to implement this. Targets are controllable by clicking right mouse button over a target (exactly like setting its properties before exercise). You will get steering controls attached to this target.

"Exercise/Stop" is used to stop exercise. On stop, ships do not return to their initial positions, use "Reset" to implement it.

Under initial state we shall mean parameters of objects before exercise was run (opposite to those changed during exercise). Use "Exercise/Reset" to return exercise to its initial state, e.g. to move ships to their initial positions.