Serious Simulations’ Innovative Sim Grenades and Mines contracted for the Army’s Live Training System
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SERIOUS SIMULATIONS’ TECHNOLOGY EVALUATED IN 2020 SYNTHETIC TRAINING ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT, ADDITIONAL WORK PLANNED IN 2022
Orlando, FL (20 June 2021) – Orlando-based Serious Simulations, as a teammate and key technology provider to General Dynamics Mission Systems, successfully demonstrated all requirements for the Indirect Fire prototype during assessments at Fort Benning, Georgia in the Fall of 2020. The project was part of the U.S. Army’s Synthetic Training Environment Live Training System (STE LTS) program for upgrading live training systems. The program was executed under the first STE LTS contract vehicle as an Other Transaction Authority (OTA).
The U.S. Army awarded the Short-Range Indirect Fires contract to General Dynamics in 2020 to provide a workable solution for the M320 Grenade Launcher in live force-on-force training. The M320 is an important dismounted infantry weapon that is not part of the current MILES laser-based training systems.
Serious Simulations developed its technology to integrate a M320 Grenade Launcher with a sensor package that detects and reports fire events, weapon loading, round type, orientation, and other data. Integrated with General Dynamics tracking system, soldier worn processor, and augmented reality headset, the system detects, reports, and flies out virtual indirect fire projectiles. The virtual projectiles impact the live training battlefield by communicating the appropriate battle damage to personnel and vehicles within the blast radius of the 40mm munition.
The M320 instrumentation package is a simple-to-attach barrel insert (left). A soldier fires the M320 with an augmented reality display. The detonation emits smoke and sound similar to the real 40mm fire event.
Serious Simulations’ unique approach allows the M320 Grenade Launcher to be readied by the soldiers in seconds, with no tools, thus enabling the soldiers to use their operational weapons in live training. The system adds no net weight, and gives audio, tactile, and visual feedback to the user when outfitted with Augmented Reality Headsets such as the IVAS system. Other players without AR headsets will only be able to see and hear the physical firing effects of the real weapon. The package accommodates different types of realistic 40mm ammunition with disposable/reusable simulated rounds.
Serious Simulations is a pioneer in the integration of patented instrumentation systems for direct fire weapons systems for the U.S. Army and foreign military forces. Most notably, the company’s “Weapon Skin” holds a host of tracking, sensing, and communications embedded in it, with the latest versions embedding a tiny edge computer.
General Dynamics was the prime contractor for the Short-Range Indirect Fire OTA 1, and developed the overall system architecture, integration with the Augmented Reality solution, integration of the Serious Simulations instrumentation package, and management of the effort. The mutual effort was a great success, and future work is planned together under OTA 2.
“We worked very closely with Serious Simulations in the Indirect Fire OTA, as well as in some prior internal undertakings. Their team really contributed to an entirely new approach to providing realistic live training with real weapons.,” said Jorge Rivera-Moner of General Dynamics Mission Systems. “We achieved all our goals and look forward to working together to develop innovative live training solutions to our customers.”
“We were extremely grateful to work with General Dynamics to help deliver a great prototype capability to the Army. Together we are offering mature effective solutions that fill current gaps in the way the Army trains, such as exercising the grenade launcher in live training. We have many more solutions to offer for other live training gaps too, such as the Mk 19 auto grenade launcher, the M240 Machine Gun, the M67 Hand Grenade, and Claymore Mines. They are a world-class company with terrific people, so working with them has been a great pleasure,” said Christopher Chambers, CEO of Serious Simulations and retired U.S. Army officer.
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For more information media should contact –
Christopher Chambers, Serious Simulations, 407-538-1927, cchambers@serioussimulations.com
About Serious Simulations, LLC: Serious Simulations LLC, an Orlando based Veteran Owned simulation business, designs immersive training systems using custom made hardware and software components for specific skill training needs, combined with motion tracking systems, wireless communications devices, wireless display technologies and commercial game engines. We have unique approaches to integrate real devices and weapons into simulators. We produce wireless video technology and wireless head/helmet mounted displays (HMDs) with very high resolutions and wide fields of view. Serious Simulations’ professional grade VR training systems focus on military, police, emergency responders, and professional grade sports and entertainment experiences. For more information, visit our web site at www.serioussimulations.com . Inquiries: info@serioussimulations.com.
THE ITALIAN ARMY ACCEPTS THE SERIOUS SIMULATIONS’ ready2train™ SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL REALITY INFANTRY TRAINING
(December 2020) Serious Simulations was notified that the Italian Army has officially accepted a custom version of Serious Simulations’ ready2train™ virtual reality Infantry training system as a certified training system for the Italian Army. Serious Simulations’ solution is the chosen technology for all of the hardware sets and is running custom game software written by Bohemia Interactive Simulations and Interconsulting DbA (Rome, Italy). The program is managed by Leonardo DbA (Rome, Italy).
Various quantities of two types of ready2train™ systems were delivered by Serious Simulations for the Italian Army:
– a completely untethered version with a custom made wireless helmet mounted HMD and wireless instrumented weapon
– a wired version of the system with a robust but unobtrusive overhead trolley system for carrying wired data without introducing tripping hazards to the trainee
The industry unique middleware for stimulating the animations of VBS4 avatars with realtime tracking data was written and provided by Serious Simulations in a plugin brand-named Serious ArtIKulations™.
Serious Simulations, in partnership with Interconsulting, is looking forward to increased sales of its unique hardware, and the provision of technology upgrades to the Italian Army for virtual reality Infantry training in 2021 and beyond.
SERIOUS SIMULATIONS PARTICIPATES IN A TOP 5 FINALIST TEAM IN THE vIITSEC IRON DEV COMPETITION
For 2020, National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA) created a new virtual event called vIITSEC that took place November 30 – December 4, 2020. The conference theme, “The Future is Now,” could not be more appropriate.
Click on the link below to see the Iron Dev video
SERIOUS SIMULATIONS INCLUDED IN ORLANDO’S REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY VIDEO FOCUSED ON THE SIMULATION SECTOR
2020 FLORIDA SIMULATION SUMMIT
For the first time, the 2020 Florida Simulation Summit was a fully digital event, where keynote speakers and industry experts from around the world discussed how Central Florida can harness the region’s MS&T expertise to tackle present and future challenges.
Click on the link below to see the video.
SERIOUS SIMULATIONS WINS PROJECT TO BUILD REAL WEAPON INSTRUMENTATION FOR STE LIVE FORCE ON FORCE TRAINING
Serious Simulations Wins Projects to Build Real Weapon Instrumentation for STE Live Force on Force Training
Orlando, FL (28 July 2020) – Orlando-based Serious Simulations has engaged in three projects for General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) that contribute to the U.S. Army’s Synthetic Training Environment Live (STE Live) Force on Force training initiative. Under the Army’s new program, it intends to revamp live training and fill gaps currently existing in live training using laser-based systems (aka MILES).
Of particular note, the Army awarded a contract to GDMS to provide a workable solution for short range indirect fire systems, such as the M320 Grenade Launcher, which is not exercised at all in the current MILES laser-based systems.
Serious Simulations was chosen as the provider of an M320 Grenade Launcher hardware system to enable soldiers to use their real weapons in training. Serious Simulations has accumulated much experience in this area of weapon instrumentation for training. The current project contains electronics that fit the weapon unobtrusively, and report shot events to the networked system of training entities. The GDMS architecture applies correct physics to the shot event, and adjudicates hits or misses on opposing force entities, and stimulates their feedback devices.
Serious Simulations has also won additional work for two other real weapon systems to be integrated into live force on force training.
Importantly, the new weapon instrumentation systems for real weapons also integrate with MILES, until the STE Live Force on Force program can be fully developed for all weapons. So, these new systems will provide an immediate fill to the gaps left in laser-based training systems.
Gary Hall, Chief Engineer for Disruptive Technologies at GDMS stated “We were glad to continue work we started with Serious Simulations under previous efforts, and apply it to solutions needed for the STE Live Force on Force program. The team at Serious Simulations had unique weapon instrumentation capabilities to rapidly achieve our near-term goals, as well as capabilities that will help us meet additional weapon system training gaps for the US Army.”
“Our team is grateful for the opportunity to work with a world class defense corporation to create a positive impact and improve Soldier combat training. We have been developing instrumentation packages for weapons with no playable counterparts in the MILES laser-based training suite. So, we hope that adoption products will help U.S. Army combat units conduct much more realistic and complete training”, said Christopher Chambers, CEO of Serious Simulations and retired U.S. Army officer.
# # #
For more information media should contact –
Christopher Chambers, Serious Simulations, 407-538-1927, cchambers@serioussimulations.com
About Serious Simulations, LLC: Serious Simulations LLC, an Orlando based Veteran Owned simulation business, designs immersive training systems using custom made hardware and software components for specific skill training needs, combined with motion tracking systems, wireless communications devices, wireless display technologies and commercial game engines. It has unique approaches to integrate real devices and weapons into simulators. It produces wireless video technology and wireless head/helmet mounted displays (HMDs) with very high resolutions and wide fields of view. Serious Simulations’ professional grade VR training systems center on military, police, emergency responders, and professional grade sports and entertainment experiences. For more information, visit our web site at www.serioussimulations.com . Inquiries: info@serioussimulations.com.
About General Dynamics Mission Systems: General Dynamics Mission Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), provides mission critical solutions to those who lead, serve and protect the world we live in. We are a technology integrator and original equipment manufacturer with deep domain expertise in ground, sea, air, space and cyberspace. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, General Dynamics Mission Systems employs more than 13,000 people worldwide. For more information about General Dynamics Mission Systems’ broad portfolio of capabilities, visit gdmissionsystems.com and follow @GDMS on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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