Gizmodo Australia » simulation

Volunteers Wanted For 520-Day Pretend Trip To Mars

Rosa Golijan — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0000

The European Space Agency is looking for volunteers to spend 520 days isolated in a Moscow facility where they’d simulate travelling to, living on and coming back from Mars. Not bad, except the pretend travel lasts 250 days each way.

There are plenty of necessary qualifications to meet including fluency in Russian, background in medicine, various engineering, and for whatever reason you may not be taller than 185cm. Interested? Apply on the ESA website. [ESA via PhysOrg]

Soyuz Chair Transforms Lay-Z-Boys Into Cosmonauts

Mark Wilson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:20:00 +0000

Sitting in the typical recliner has become the weeknight sex of the furniture world—a comfortable task for your body while your mind focuses on TV. The Soyuz Chair hopes to break the mundanity with vintage Soviet space craft design.

Intended to “accurately reproduce” the three stages of a Soyuz rock launch, the you recline, put on eyewear/headphones and input your requested ride into the control panel (should they prefer a single stage or full-out rocket launch). The chair then rattles its way from a mundane home to…well, it doesn’t go anywhere. But maybe you won’t realise that until you take off the mask and return to Everybody Loves Raymond reruns. [Design Interactions via Core77 via OhGizmo!]

Volvo Wind Tunnel Has Road Simulator Minus Annoying Backseat Kids

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:20:00 +0000

Here’s the new Volvo in-house wind tunnel simulator, a 28 million dollar facility that is the first in its class to have a road simulator. In theory, it will allow the Swedish manufacturer to precisely test the effect of road changes and airflows all around the car to make cars more fuel efficient. Strangely enough, Tim Walker, the aerodynamics expert at Volvo Cars, doesn’t mention other possible uses, like drying the hair and bodies of a multitude of lusty valkyries and/or vikings just out of the shower:

It’s a bit like measuring the aerodynamic properties of a car that is standing still in a car park during a powerful storm. Our new wind tunnel, on the other hand, has been designed to exactly replicate the flow of air around and underneath the car when driving on a real road at speeds of up to 155kph. Our wind tunnel uses sophisticated techniques at the forefront of aerodynamic technology

This means that they have been able to reduce the air resistance in their new Volvo C30 DRIVe by 10%. That’s 45 litres of petrol per 15,000km, an average driving year. Not too shabby. [Gizmag]

24 Hour Air Traffic Around the World Blows Minds, Eyeballs

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:30:00 +0000

Here’s a video displaying all commercial air traffic in the world during a 24-hour period. Seriously, I’m moving to New York City tomorrow and seeing the flight density in this computer simulation scares me a bit. Thankfully, it’s a big planet with plenty of space to fly. But then, pilot friends tell me that sometimes they get close enough to wave at each other, so maybe it’s not as big as to accommodate the 7.4 billion passengers that will travel by air in 2020. [Zhaw via Dark Roasted Blend]

iBird Avian Flight Simulator Makes You Feel Like Icarus

Adrian Covert — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:00:00 +0000

The iBird Flight Simulator was easily the most creative demo at Microsoft’s Research Summit yesterday. Also developed in conjunction with NYU (like the UnMouse Pad), it uses a USB controller with dual retractable, pulley-style cords, the iBird tracks your movement in 3D space.. The iBird then relays that information back to the computer and offers visual feedback in the form of a projected 3D world where you become a bird that flaps, leans and speeds up.

The coolest part though, are the connected fans, which speed up and slow down in relation to how fast you’re flying. You definitely get a sense of wind resistance with this rudimentary setup, so I’d be curious to see what they could do with more resources. Ilia Rosenberg, one of the main NYU students behind the project, said they tried using Wiimotes, but it didn’t offer the same sense of feedback that the USB controller did. [Microsoft Research]

Fight Hurricanes with Gigantic Hurricane Simulators

Mark Wilson — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:30:00 +0000

It’s the sort of thing you’d expect ordered by Wile E. Coyote from an ACME catalog. But instead, it’s a product for the Hurricane Research Centre to prepare for the devastating natural disasters. Six giant gasoline-powered fans drive winds at well over 160kph in a wall of moving air that’s large enough to engulf an entire single-story building. Read on for a shot of the quarantined destruction:

Their next project, however, is even bigger. Funded by a Florida grant of US$2 million, the research centre is building an all-electric 12-fan “Wall of Wind” hurricane hanger designed to simulate the complete experience of Class 4 and 5 hurricanes. Now a completely internally-based system, the fans will propel air and water accompanied by cannons that fire objects like coconuts.

Because, sadly, someone in history has legitimately died from high speed coconut impact. [Pop Mech]

SimSail Land Sailing Simulator Offers Full-Sized Boats For Landlubbing Wannabes

Jack Loftus — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:00:00 +0000

Philippe Kahn and his ambitious Pacific Cup sailing trip from San Francisco to Hawai’i got me all inspired this week to go sailing, but there’s one problem: I suck at sailing. In fact, the last time I went sailing was in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where I almost got smashed on the reef that protects the beach there. So you’ll excuse my excitement today over the SimSail, a full sized “land yachting” simulator for two. It’s not quite the same thing as sailing on the water, and it’s certainly not even remotely close to what Kahn’s up to these days, but for me, at least, it’s a start.

SimSail offers custom locations, weather and, yes, those land yachts are full-size. A roughly 7′x5′ screen displays the virtual course for the two “sailors” and the two or three people gathered to watch. [SimSail via Born Rich]

REMY Biometric Blanket Wakes You with News on Your Snooze

Gizmodo US Edition — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:25:00 +0000

Designer Dasha Anokhina has created a concept that takes Glo pillow’s design to a new level: REMY is a whole dawn-simulating alarm blanket. The system monitors your sleeping movements with a bedside camera. Then, near your chosen alarm time, the blanket begins to light up with an image representing your sleep pattern, waking you as if the sun was rising. And if you’re really into self-analysis, it even saves your sleep data to a USB stick so you can review it later. Could make for interesting viewing, if you’re as much of a nighttime revolver as I am. [Yanko Design]

Motion Pro II Racing Simulator in Action, Still Cause for Divorce

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:50:00 +0000

Remember yesterday’s drooltastic Motion Pro II racing simulator? Here’s how it works and how much it costs. We talked with Chris Considine—CXC Simulations head honcho—who tells us that yes, people actually buy these things even if they cost more than a car: the Motion Pro II starts at US$25,995, but he said that a client spent US$45,000 on one, after add-ons. See the complete shopping list—and high definition pictures from a real system—after the jump.

Base model: US$25,995 (one screen)

Add-ons

Panoramic display system: US$12,995
Six-speed gated shifter and progressive clutch upgrade: US$1,049.95
Sequential shifter and hand brake: US$1,049.95
Mobility System: US$529.95
Carbon fibre bodywork kit: US$1,799.95
Advanced on-site setup and training: US$2,995

The other options, like the custom paint for the bodywork, are listed as “Call.” And then you have to add the software, like Rfactor for US$450 or Race for US$195. Too expensive to buy? You can rent one: six hours for US$1,400 or a week for US$12,200, plus two operators at US$750 for half a day. And shipping. [CXC Simulations—full video at Inside Sim Racing]

Motion-Pro II Racing Simulator Blows Minds, Budgets (Verdict: Must Have, Prepare Divorce Papers)

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:01:00 +0000

We have seen other cool racing simulators before, but the hand-made, individually-configured, and probably mindblowingly-expensive Motion Pro II by CXC Simulations is by far the most impressive of them all, with three 46-inch 1080p LCD displays, 505-watt 5.1 surround sound system—1,010 watts peak power—synchronized with four vibration transducers, and full motion simulation using electro-mechanical actuators to move your seat. And the tech-porn spec list doesn’t stop there.

The combination of the actuators and the sound system vibration transducers are supposed to get you really close to actual racing simulation—minus the G-forces and the spinal cord injuries—but you can add even more details as an option, like a six-speed gated shifter and progressive clutch upgrade—just like the real thing, or a sequential shifter, handbrake, a full carbon fibre external, with high-gloss finish custom paint. The thing even supports networking playing with optional radio kits to taunt opponents from all over the world.

Motion System:
Drive motors and amplifiers: CE & UL compliant
Degrees of freedom: 2
Pitch / Roll angle: +/- 20 deg
Pitch & Roll velocity, maximum per second: 80 deg/sec (1.7 g’s)

Display System
Display Type: Flat-panel LCD
Screen Size: 46″
Maximum Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (1080p)
Contrast Ratio: 10000:1
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Height: 28-43/64″
Width: 44-3/8″
Depth: 4-57/64″
Mounting: Integrated Frame Mount

Sound System
Type: 5.1
Total RMS power: 505 watts RMS
Total Peak power: 1010 watts
Maximum SPL: 115 dB
Frequency response: 33 Hz — 20 kHz
Amplifier: Ultra-linear, high-capacity analog
Signal to noise ratio: 93.5 dB, typical 100
Drivers:Satellites: 3″ polished aluminium phase plug drivers, subwoofer: 10″ high-excursion ported driver
Surround sound effects: Hardware decoding for Dolby® Digital, DTS®, and DTS®, Dolby Pro Logic II
Supported digital formats: Dolby Digital, DTS and DTS 96/24, PCM: 44.1 kHz / 16 bit through 96 kHz / 24 bit
Tactile Transducers: 2 (250 watt max)

Steering Wheel
Wheel: Sparco 270 LN/SN Racing Wheel
Force Feedback Engine: Exclusive Active Driving Technology®
Motors: 2 motors for powerful effects
Hardware FF Adjustments: 2 switches adjust each motor
Software FF Adjustments: Easy to use Graphical User Interface
Buttons: 12 User Definable Buttons

Pedals Throttle: Linear
Brake: Pressure Sensative
Clutch (optional): Fully Progressive
Spring-tension: Adjustable Preload
Pedal: Adjustable Travel and Rake
Pedal Plate: Adjustable Positioning
Potentiometers:Industrial Grade
Materials: Billet Machined Aluminum/Steel

Shifter
Sequential Shifter: Formula 1 Style Steering Wheel Paddles
Gated Shifter (optional): 6 Speed Gated Shifter w/ Reverse

Physical
Height: 59 in / 150 cm
Length: 74 in / 188 cm
Width (single screen): 44 in / 112 cm
Width (triple screen): 114 in / 290 cm
Machine weight (single screen): 375 lb / 170 kg
Machine weight (triple screen): 535 lb / 243 kg
Player Weight maximum: 250 lb / 113 kg
Player height minimum: 59 in / 150 cm
Player height maximum: 79 in / 200 cm
Power: 120VAC, 50-60 Hz, 600 Watts

If you want more, go join a NASCAR team. [CXC Simulations via BornRich]