In this issue

The Vortex team recently signed a three-year collaborative agreement with McGill University and the Canadian Space Agency to develop the Mobile Robotics Development and Validation Platform. The project aims at the development of a lunar robotics software platform with a particular focus on design for and operations in unstructured environments. Key areas of simulation include energy expenditure, rover mobility, and lunar regolith / vehicle interaction.

The Vortex team was recently awarded a contract by OETIO to upgrade its VxMaster crane simulators. The upgrade adds substantial new functionality to the OETIO crane simulators. OETIO now has six operator-training VxMaster simulators and they have become a key tool in training hundreds of operators in skilled and safe procedures. The updates include important new functionality developed by the Vortex simulator team:

• Ability to perform tandem lifts using two simulators working together in the same virtual worksite.
• New scenarios for tower crane erection and disassembly using a mobile crane.
• Signaler training using a second display (signalers view of the crane) and a picture-in-picture display of the signaler in the crane simulator display from a remote camera.
• New operator skills evaluation tools with skills level development and scoring.
• Scenario to perform crane worksite setup, positioning/leveling, and routine checks.
• Capability for record and playback of student exercises for after-action review by student and instructor.

Vortex 4.1 provides the visual simulation market with significant new features and time-saving enhancements. Building on major Vortex 4 module extensions, the latest version offers developers an XML-based file format to simplify how they define, save and reload a Vortex universe, while saving the simulation state. Vortex 4.1 includes and fully supports OpenSceneGraph (OSG) 2.6.1, leveraging the open-source 3D scenegraph for Vortex simulations. New Vortex enhancements provide up to 50% faster assembly construction during simulation, and a wide variety of new and improved Vortex properties and physics behaviour equip users with substantial functionality to create, extend and fine-tune real-time simulations.

"The launch of Vortex 4.1 signifies a major step for Vortex and the Vortex simulation community," said Arnold Free, VP Business Development at CMLabs. "As well as providing developers with key new technology, workflow-enhancing tools, and important physics updates, it is a substantial building-block on the way to our 2009 rollout of a desktop Vortex mechanism editor. Through our commitment to cutting-edge R&D and high-performance software, the feature-rich Vortex continues to set the visual simulation standard for usability, accurate behaviour and state-of-the-art realism."

For more information, see the Vortex 4.1 Press Release.

Vortex is the world's leading real-time vehicle simulation solution – putting engineering-level motion and behaviour into virtual vehicles and synthetic environments for hundreds of commercial, military, training and research applications. Its physics-driven realism powers wheeled and tracked vehicles for mission rehearsals, virtual prototyping, and vehicle operator training functions.

Highly realistic operator-vehicle and vehicle-environment interactions are crucial for accurate vehicle prototyping, testing, and training. Vortex puts you in the driver's seat to create and operate high-fidelity vehicles that achieve these goals, providing developers, engineers, trainers and OEMs with vehicles that comprise the right balance of speed, accuracy, and robust operation in wide-ranging scenarios.

Click on topics below for more information about using Vortex for vehicle simulation:

• Vehicle applications with Vortex.
• Video of vehicle simulation.
• VxVehicles for vehicle simulation.
• Heavy equipment applications with Vortex.

The Vortex Academic Partners continue to grow with many exciting projects in the works. Zhejiang University, China is the latest university to acquire Vortex through the academic program. Zhejiang University is using Vortex in virtual reality and virtual prototypes which includes modeling and simulation of product behavior in a virtual environment. Vortex will be integrated with Zhejiang's in-house virtual reality software to build simulations of mechanical products, simulate vehicle dynamics behavior and detection and response of collisions in virtual assembly in real-time.

The Vortex team is sponsoring The University of Ottawa's AUSVI team, ARISE. The group from the University of Ottawa was founded to foster competitive interest in robotics and autonomous vehicles. They are using Vortex for simulation and testing of their machine vision, control and systems and mission logic. Through this cooperation, Vortex will make it possible for the ARISE team to further their success in the AUSVI ROV competition.

Vortex is participating in a joint effort between Aberdeen and Robert Gordon Universities – the Astron ROV team. Formed under the initiative of students, the team will participate in the MATE International ROV Competition. The aim is to develop a vehicle with advanced technologies and abilities. The competition theme focuses on hydrothermal vents found at mid-ocean ridges and the technologies used to study these deep-sea environments. "Working in a different environment involves new factors and rules that need to be considered. Our research requires thorough and precise work. Vortex is the simulation framework that matches our high requirements and expectations," said team leader Stavros Polymenis.

Click here for more information on the Vortex Academic Program or contact the Academic Program Manager at +1-514-287-1166 x223 or email academic@vxsim.com