Visual simulator manual

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.

Only standard computer parts are required. It is recommended to use a PC with Pentium IV and memory not less than 1Gbyte, running Win 2000, XP, Vista, or 7; no special requirements for disk space, but a video card should be good enough (if only you are going to run visuals), better to have an NVidia GeForce 8 or better. However, a "basic" visual quality can be selected in exercise manager "Options", and then GeForce 4 would be OK. The simulator objects emit sounds, and radios transfer voice over network in networking versions, so headphones or loudspeakers are needed.

Simulator objects emit sounds, simulator radios produce and tranfer voice over network in networking versions. So it is recommended to equip your computer with headphones (loudspeakers) and a microphone.

Loudspeaker check

VHF radios should issue noise in loudspeaker or headphones, once a radio is on.
Switch a radio. You should hear noise after. If not, check computer volume level

by the switch on the headphone wire, if any

in Start->Settings->Control panel->Sounds and Audio Devices->Audio-> Sound playback->Volume. The panel should look like this :

Microphone check

Radio should be able to record voice from the microphone or headphones.
Go to Start->Settings->Control panel->Sounds and Audio Devices->Audio-> Sound recording->Volume.The panel appeared should look like this :



- microphone volume should be high enough and "Microphone" should be checked.

Check if microphone is really working by using Windows Sound recorder. Go to Start->Programs->Accessories->Entertainment->Sound Recorder. Click on the button marked by a red point (recording) and speak something the the microphone. The screen should show voice samples like that :

Succession of steps to install a networked version of the simulator :

Step 1 : preparation of local area network

Consists of connecting computers through a switch and setting IP addresses for all connected computers.

Hardware needed

No special hardware is required, only standard computer components. The list is as follows :

Local area network

Computers are connected to each other via a switch



by network cables RJ45

Each computer in the network is identified by its network name and/or its IP address which can be specified.
Go to "Start"->"Settings"->"Control panel"->"Network Connections"-> "LAN or High-Speed Internet"->"Local Area Connection"->"General"-> "Properties"->"Internet Protocol(TCP/IP)"->"Properties" to specify each computer IP address. For local area network it is usually set like
192.168.1.XXX, where XXX is computer number unique for your LAN. Click on Subnet mask, it will be set to proper values.

IP address information can be obtained at any time by going to Start->Run->cmd and then

>ipconfig

from command line.

Test that network exchange is OK. It can be tested with (run from command line - use "Start"->"Run"->cmd.exe)

>ping IP_or_network_name_of_other_computer

If replies are present, network is OK, but firewalls may silently block creation of network sockets.

Firewalls

It may be necessary to turn firewalls off to let network exchange work. Each Windows version and its updates produce new and hardly explainable behaviour of its firewalls. Earlier Windows firewall gracefully asked if to allow creation of network sockets for a specific application, but at some moment it stopped. With Windows 7 firewall seems to work well again.
So, if network is not working, it is most likely due to a firewall. You can enable/disable Windows firewall in "Start"->"Settings"->"Control panel"->"Security center", the on/off button is at the very bottom.
Other firewalls normally block network exchange without saying a word. Look for them in "Start"->"Settings"->"Control panel"->"Administrative tools"-> "Services". Click the right mouse button to set its properties ("Stop" or "Start manually").

Step 2 : installing the simulator on computers

Install sofware on a single master computer. Insert the installation CD in its CD drive and run setupmaster.exe.

Install software on one or several slave computers. Run setupslave.exe on all of them. Specify master computer name correctly!



You will be asked to reboot every slave computer. Do it to run the simulator server.

Step 3 : is it all working?

What we will get after installation?

On master computer, the icon "Visual simulator"



which will run the exercise manager.
On slave computers, small taskbar icons



If you click it once, you will get a list of connected simulator components:



from which you can make impression of the current state of simulator modules. Initially, the master computer is not in this list. It is started manually as the whole simulator by clicking the desktop icon on master computer.



The server has a set of network tests modelling typical network operations used by the simulator. Show server window by clicking its icon on the taskbar:



The server window appears:



To make a test, select a computer from the above list - and the [Test] button becomes enabled. Click this button. The server connects to the selected computer ("pings") - sends some random data and awaits for a reply. The three checks are the following.
UDP exchange is the basic mechanism to broadcast commands and maintain a distributed database of attributes over network. If it fails, nothing will work. This is a very strong failure. It may happen if there is no cable connection or server is not running on target computer (see the above pictures - it should display the server icon on the taskbar). Or a firewall blocks everything.
The second test is TCP/IP test. This type of network exchange is used to transfer large amounts of data between computers, like digitized voice between radio stations. The possible reasons for it not working are the same as for the UDP failure - most likely a firewall.
A failure of the third test means that the program is unable to write (or rewrite) a file onto the hard disk. The reason may be insufficient logon rights (try to logon as administrator) or file sharing or access to a folder.

Running exercises on network version

Click the desktop icon on master computer to run the simulator.
Design new or load existing exercises with the exercise manager. In the network version, you may have a number of active ships with equipment distributed over slave computers like that:

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.

Mouse

Usage of the mouse conforms to the standard rule : left mouse button is used to select or drag an object, right mouse button - to set its properties. Mouse cursor shape depends on current mouse operations available. If the cursor shows two rectangles in the cursor's lower right corner, each corresponding to a mouse button, a filled rectangle designates active state of a button, i.e. if the right rectangle is filled, it means that the right mouse button can be pressed to perform an operation.

This shape of cursor implies that there is no special object under cursor. Start dragging the mouse cursor with the left mouse button pressed to select a chart area to fill the screen.

Such shape of cursor says that the object under cursor may be dragged and both mouse buttons are active. For example, if this object is a ship, you can drag it with the left mouse button pressed, or set its properties by a right-click.

This shape of cursor offers the user to click the right mouse button to set object properties but not to move it.

Such cursor appears when you press keyboard [CTRL] key. It marks starting range/bearing measurement operation. If you drag the mouse cursor from this point, the varying range/bearing circle and line will display range and bearing values to the current mouse cursor position.

The [SHIFT] keyboard key is used to pan the chart after the mouse cursor. Such cursor shape marks the beginning of this operation. Start dragging the mouse to pan the chart.

Mouse wheel is used to zoom in/out the chart.

Scrollbars of the window can also be used to pan the chart.

Keyboard

The most common use of keyboard is to hit its [+] and [-] keys to zoom the chart in and out.
To get help for a simulator window, click on its caption to get focus, and then press F1.

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 :

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

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 the "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

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.