Simulator defence platforms that are saving lives

During an important visit to our headquarters by a highly regarded company, one of the customers remarked a phrase that we at Novatech have heard many a time before…

‘I didn’t know you did that'

The same customers were amazed when they looked around and realised what we're capable of in-house and from some of the many projects we have worked on in the past.

The retail website is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Novatech’s projects, making up only 50% of what we do. For nearly a decade, we’ve been working hard to diversify our offering. It's particularly hard to vaunt due to non-disclosure agreements, confidentiality clauses, proprietary hardware, and such. We also take our security and data protection extremely seriously. But it never hurts to be proud of what we are achieving.

Novatech are no longer just 'builders' or 'suppliers', we are trusted technology partners. And we work with some amazing companies. We offer consultation advice, complete project management, plus support - of course.  

So, we’ve decided to take you 'behind the scenes', show you what our dedicated and specialist teams get up to (as much as we're allowed to, anyway…) 

Saving lives with virtual reality

A House of Commons enquiry found that between 2000 and 2016, 139 British military personnel had died while participating in training exercises. That accounts for 1 in 20 of the UK’s military fatalities in those years, despite being involved with various wars.

However, with the rise of technological advancement and the very way that we train our troops evolving, that may all be about to change.

Members of the Royal Navy visited Novatech’ headquarters to experience using one of our Atomic A3 Simulator chairs. The Royal Navy currently utilise advanced Level D simulators that cost millions of pounds to run; colossal machinery that allows personnel to safely practice real-world combat scenarios under controlled conditions. Practicing in virtual reality is cost-effective, reliable, and, soon, it may very well be preventing risk to our troops.

Unlike Level D simulators, Novatech’s Atomic A3 simulator chairs cost a fraction of the price, maintaining the same reliable and safe philosophy’ that Level D simulators provide. These motion simulator chairs are designed to test and demonstrate simulator training technology that blends live-action exercises with virtual technology.

Simulators allow personnel to better critique one another in more detail, with real-world variables added to the evaluation that gives a reflective assessment and detailed critiques from the training teams. This is the future of training our troops.  

The simulator platforms use reusable software combined with gaming technology that builds on an individual’s strategic thinking and combat experience, realistically replicating situations involving aircraft and land-based scenario’s. A soldier could practice fighting on land and sea in a single day without ever leaving their base.  

And the location isn’t an issue for the simulator chairs. Novatech has designed and built steady rugged server racks with advanced technology that could power the simulator chairs in the most confined of environment’s, with vibration testing meaning they could survive portability on an aircraft carrier far from lands’ resources. This means that Navy personnel could continue their training while still out at sea.

Simulator platforms are significantly less expensive than their Level D counterparts or physical training environment’s, an advantage that saves time and budget constraints. Simulator chairs could be a fantastic training exercise for personnel waiting for the much more expensive platforms.

The future of training our troops is very promising, with many interested in the possibilities and practicalities that they could provide to our armed forces and the defence industry.

Simulators are more than just virtual. They have very real-world possibilities that provide a safe haven for training exercises and detailed assessment (and they’re very cool to try out).

Below is a fantastic example of a simulator platform in use from the Royal Navy and the University of Portsmouth for damage repair of damaged ships.

Bet you didn’t know we could do all that?

Please follow Novatech’s social media and blog posts for updates on more informative articles from our upcoming ‘I didn’t know you could do that’ series.

Novatech’s A3 simulator chairs can be found here