By John McHale
ORLANDO, Fla.—Officials at AgustaWestland in Reston, Va., selected STAGE Scenario from Presagis in Montreal to drive the interactive simulation capabilities of its new helicopter demonstrator.
The demonstrator, which was showcased in November at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando, Fla., combines simulations of AgustaWestland’s two new helicopter designs. AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company with a main office in Reston, Va., offers helicopters, training, and support solutions to satisfy the requirements of civil and military customers.
“STAGE Scenario is an agile, interoperable solution that enables us to quickly set up interactive scenarios for our training simulations,” says Nigel Osborne, technology development manager, AgustaWestland. “By creating rich, stimulating environments we are able to demonstrate the latest generation of aircrew interfaces and the potential to repurpose existing helicopter simulations to support procedural and tactical training in a reconfigurable and transportable package.”
The use of STAGE Scenario in the demonstrator extends a 12-year relationship between Presagis (formerly Engenuity) and AgustaWestland to deliver interactive environments for human/machine interface evaluation and training. The demonstrator combines two simulators used to support the development of Future Lynx and AW101 helicopters.
AgustaWestland is designing the next generation of both air vehicles, which are used by the United Kingdom armed forces and royal navy. STAGE Scenario delivers air, ground, and sea vehicle simulations for the pilots to interact with during training, enabling AgustaWestland to develop interfaces, and procedures, and assess the vehicle’s various systems. These key attributes were included in the demonstrator showcased at I/ITSEC.
“Interoperable, out-of-the-box solutions enable organizations to set up simulations quickly and with great flexibility,” says Patrice Commune, president of Presagis, a provider of commercial off-the shelf (COTS) modeling, simulation, and embedded display graphics software for the aerospace and defense industry.
This past summer, officials at simulation giant CAE combined its acquisitions of Engenuity Technologies, MultiGen-Paradigm, and Terrex, as well as an existing CAE COTS software team, to create an independent company specializing in COTS modeling and simulation software.
“Presagis is in line with CAE’s long-term strategy to create a single, unified, COTS simulation software business,” says Marc Parent, CAE’s group president, Simulation Products and Military Training & Services. “The technology depth and international reach of this COTS business further extends CAE’s position in the global modeling and simulation market.
The Presagis portfolio of technologies includes S-Mission, STAGE Scenario, and AI.implant, its comprehensive Artificial Intelligence solution; visualization tools, such as Vega Prime and Lyra; Terra Vista and Creator, a terrain and 3D content software; and the VAPS product family of human-machine interface development tools. In addition, existing standards developed by Presagis, such as OpenFlight and TerraPage, will continue to be part of the new company’s technology portfolio.
By offering a unified product portfolio, Presagis will simplify the procurement and support of COTS modeling and simulation software for the aerospace and defense industry.
COTS is more pervasive in the simulation market than elsewhere, with many widely accepted standards, says Robert Kopersiewich, vice president, product management and business development at Presagis. As these standards mature, COTS use will only grow, he adds.
Obsolescence in the software systems themselves—specifically the data that is used—does not lose its quality over time, Kopersiewich says. The lifespan of these systems is much longer than in the gaming industry, but the behavior of computer-generated forces in these models and simulations is built on what was created before, he explains. It is rarely thrown away, Kopersiewich adds.
Presagis customers—such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, CAE, etc.—remain the same as when they were three different entities, but now the company provides those customers with one place to meet their COTS simulation needs, Kopersiewich says.
The Presagis executive team, led by Commune, former president and chief executive officer of Engenuity Technologies, is comprised of top executives from CAE and its recently acquired companies. Presagis will operate as three entities: Presagis Canada, Presagis USA, and Presagis Europe. The U.S. headquarters for Presagis are in Dallas—where Multi-Gen Paradigm was based.
The name “Presagis” (Pre - say - gis) is derived from the word “presage,” which means to forecast or predict, company officials say. For more information, visit www.presagis.com.
