ZYDAVILLE
`
`
`
`22
`
`NPSNET: A 3D Visual Simulator for Virtual World
`
`Exploration and Experience
`Submitted as virtual reality.
`
`
`
`_—_______—__——_——————
`
`NPSNET is a multi-player, real-
`time, 3D visual simulation system
`capable of displaying vehicle move-
`ment over the ground or in the air.
`Displays show on-ground cultural
`features such as roads, buildings,
`soil types and elevations. The sys-
`tem supports a full complement of
`vehicles, houses, trees, signs,
`watertowers, cows, and attack to-
`matoes, and it generates environ-
`mental effects such as Monterey-
`like fog or LosAngeles brown haze.
`Wlth a mouse, the user selects a
`vehicle to drive on a command-
`and-control screen. Vehicle move-
`ment is controlled by a six—degree-
`of-freedom spaceball or button/
`dialbox. Up to 500 vehicles can be
`in interactive motion at any one
`time. They are controlled by a
`prewritten script or driven interac-
`tively from other workstations com-
`municating through Ethernet. Au-
`tonomous players can be intro-
`duced into the system via a pro-
`grammable network “harness” pro-
`cess.
`
`For the last six years, the
`Graphics and Video Laboratory of
`the Naval Postgraduate School has
`been developing low-cost, three-
`dimensional visual simulation sys-
`tems on Silicon Graphics IRIS
`variations. A number of visual
`Minors have been developed at
`the laboratory. including the FOG-
`)! missile simulator, the VEH vehi-
`cle simulator. the airborne re-
`
`motely operated device (AROD),
`the filming Platform Simulator
`series CUPS-1, MPS-2 and MPS-3),
`the High Resolution Digital Terrain
`, ,rrn_:_~_
`Model (HRDTM) system the For-
`
`
`
`NPSNET is a multi-year project
`that began in early 1990. It in-
`cludes integration of databases de-
`veloped for a low-cost tank
`simulator (SIMNET), hierarchical
`data structures for real-time
`
`display generation, software
`structures for world modeling and
`interaction, SIMNET network inte-
`gration, semi-automated forces via
`a network harness process, physi-
`cally-based modeling for display-
`ing the results of interaction, 3D
`icon production, representation
`and abstraction, and aural cues for
`3D visual simulation.
`The current NPSNET system
`runs on a variety of platforms The
`1aboratory’s‘highestperfomnnoe
`system is the Silicon Graphics IRIS
`4D/240 VGX with 64MB CPU mem-
`
`ory, which is capable of some one
`million triangles per second,
`z~buffered and Gouraud-shaded.
`On that system, NPSNET shows
`two to three frames per second
`with texturing on and many trees
`in the display. When there are no
`trees visible, the system runs from
`seven to nine frames per second
`with texturing on. The system has
`a switch to turn off texturing of the
`terrain, and the comparable num-
`bers are 10-12 frames per second
`with many trees in the display and
`15-17 frames per second with no
`trees in the display. Current efforts
`to improve this performance are
`focused on modifications to the
`hierarchical data structures
`employed.
`
`There is a broad range of po-
`tential applications for NPSNET.
`training, planning, gaming, and
`other purposes, especially those in
`which actual participation may be
`too hazardous, expensive, or frivol-
`ous. It is an ideal system for visuali-
`zation of 3D environments, such as
`housing or commercial develop-
`ments, and its high degree of in-
`teraction and low cost provide an
`efficient method for small unit
`leadership and coordination train-
`ing, and mission and route plan-
`ning.
`
`Ds‘UiR P'JL:I~L':.L¥' 3m;
`
`MWHWMW
`mm‘mfld
`ence,Muslim“
`
`Thesis Students
`
`Carl Cecil, Joe Cook. Randy
`Mackey, Greg Monahan. Bil]
`Osborne, Hyun Park Jane Pol-
`crack, Phil West, and Kalin “
`
`Hardware
`
`Silicon Graphics IRIS worm
`in all its incarnations (Person
`IRIS, GT, GTX, VGX), Silicon
`Graphics SpaceBall and Butter
`Dial Box
`
`Sarina re
`C ustom
`
`
`
`Type of System
`Player, multi-user
`
`Interaction Class
`Desktop/vehicle
`
`Contact:
`
`Michael J. Zyda and David R. E
`Naval Postgraduate School
`Code CS/ZK
`
`Department of Computer Sti
`Monterey, CA 93943
`408-646-2305
`e-mail: zyda@ troublecsnpu
`mil
`
`MS 1015
`
`1
`
`MS 1015
`
`

`

`LL
`
`NPSNET: A 30 Visual Simulator for Virtual World
`
`Exploration and Experience
`Submitted as virtual reality.
`
`
`
`Thesis Students
`
`Carl Cecil, Joe Cook, Randy
`Mackey, Greg Monahan. Bill
`Osborne, Hyun Park, Jane Pol-
`crack, Phil West, and Kalin “1151.
`
`Hardware
`
`Silicon Graphics IRIS workstati-
`in all its incarnations (Personal
`IRIS, GT, GTX, VGX), Silicon
`Graphics SpaceBall and Buttch
`Dial Box
`
`Software
`Custom
`
`Ethernet
`
`
`
`,
`.
`.
`Application
`Engineering simulation, aerospau
`
`Rape ofSystem
`Player, multi-user
`
`Interaction Class
`Desktop/vehicle
`
`Contact:
`
`Michael J. Zyda and Daxid R. Pm
`Naval Postgraduate School
`Code CS/ZK
`
`Department of Computer Science
`Monterey, CA 93943
`408-646-2305
`
`e-mail: zyda@ troublecsnpsrmg
`mil
`
`There is a broad range of po-
`tential applications for NPSNET.
`training, planning, gaming, and
`other purposes, especially those in
`which actual participation may be
`too hazardous, expensive, or frivol-
`ous. It is an ideal system for visuali-
`zation of 3D environments, such as
`housing or commercial develop
`ments, and its high degree of in-
`teraction and low cost provide an
`efficient method for small unit
`
`leadership and coordination train-
`ing, and mission and route plan-
`ning.
`
`Daw'd R. Pratt and Michael J. Zyda
`The Graphics and Video laborato—
`ry, Department of Computer Sci
`ence, Naval Postgraduate School
`
`NPSNET is a multi-year project
`that began in early 1990. It in-
`cludes integration of databases de-
`veloped for a low-cost tank
`-
`simulator (SIMNET), hierarchical
`data structures for real-time
`
`display generation, software
`structures for world modeling and
`interaction, SIMNET network inte-
`gration, semi-automated forces via
`a network harness process, physi-
`cally-based modeling for display-
`ing the results of interaction, 3D
`icon production, representation
`and abstraction, and aural cues for
`3D visual simulation.
`
`The current NPSNET system
`runs on a variety of platforms. The
`laboratory’s highest-performance
`system is the Silicon Graphics IRIS
`4D/240 VGX with 64MB CPU mem-
`
`ory, which is capable of some one
`million triangles per second,
`z-buffered and Gouraud-shaded.
`
`On that system, NPSNET shows
`two to three frames per second
`with texturing on and many trees
`in the display. When there are no
`trees visible, the system runs from
`seven to nine frames per second
`with texturing on. The system has
`a switch to turn off texturing of the
`terrain, and the comparable num-
`bers are 10-12 frames per second
`with many trees in the display and
`15-17 frames per second with no
`trees in the display. Current efforts
`to improve this performance are
`focused on modifications to the
`hierarchical data structures
`
`employed.
`
`NPSNET is a multi—player, real
`time, 3D visual simulation system
`capable of displaying vehicle move-
`ment over the ground or in the air.
`Displays show on-ground cultural
`features such as roads, buildings,
`soil types and elevations. The sys-
`tem supports a full complement of
`vehicles, houses, trees, signs,
`watertowers, cows, and attack to-
`matoes, and it generates environ-
`mental effects such as Monterey-
`like fog or LosAngeles brown haze.
`With a mouse, the user selects a
`vehicle to drive on a command-
`and-control screen. Vehicle move-
`
`ment is controlled by a six-degree-
`of-freedom spaceball or button/
`dialbox. Up to 500 vehicles can be
`in interactive motion at any one
`time. They are controlled by a
`prewritten script or driven interac-
`tively from other workstations com-
`municating through Ethernet. Au-
`tonomous players can be intro-
`duced into the system via a pro-
`grammable network “harness” pro-
`cess.
`
`For the last six years, the
`Graphics and Video Laboratory of
`the Naval Postgraduate School has
`been developing low-cost, three-
`dimensional visual simulation sys-
`tems on Silicon Graphics IRIS
`workstations. A number of visual
`
`simulators have been developed at
`the laboratory, including the FOG-
`M missile simulator, the VEH vehi-
`cle simulator, the airborne re-
`motely operated device (AROD),
`the Moving Platform Simulator
`series (MPS-l, MPS-2 and MPS-3),
`the High Resolution Digital Terrain
`Model (HRDTM) system, the For-
`ward Observer Simulator Trainer
`
`(FOST), the NPS Autonomous Un-
`derwater Vehicle simulator
`
`(NPSAUV), and the Command and
`Control Workstation of the Future
`
`system (CCWF).
`
`2
`
`