Simulator networking for helicopter deck landings

The Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) Protocol is used to implement a network simulation between a Sea King Simulator and a Canadian Patrol Frigate Landing Safety Officer Simulator. Due to the sensitivity of the helicopter to relative position errors once it had landed on the deck of the ship, extensive use of position smoothing algorithms was required. An investigation into the optimal values for the dead reckoning thresholds and the smoothing algorithm parameters was conducted. The results showed that smoothness of the simulation could be maintained with an acceptable trajectory error. The interaction between network bandwidth and the smoothing algorithm is described. It is shown that a modest bandwidth is sufficient for the present simulation.