Night Vision Labs Upgrade - Flexible Projection System Configurations

Introduction

"We were really challenged when John Pope, Project Leader and Manager for the facility, asked us to build some sort of 'rail system' for the projection systems in the two Situation Awareness Rooms - the rooms where most of the immersive simulation display takes place." opens Drake Wayson, president of General Projection.

These rooms also act in the completely different role of video conferencing! In order to successfully perform both tasks and still take advantage of the newer, brighter display technologies, a way to easily move the projectors back and forth (from center to side-by-side configurations) was required.

Mr. Pope's vision for this allowed General Projection's creative engineers to devise a method that would provide all the flexibility the facility required.

This was an upgrade to a project which General Projection has built in phases over the past several years. To read more about the original project, click here!

Design

First, the older Electrohome CRT-based projectors would have to be removed. Selecting the right projector to replace them was simple: the incredible Sony VPL-PX series of projection systems. Offered in both 1,400 and 2,400 lumen brightness, this projector provides compatibility with the computer resolutions produced by the high-end Silicon Graphics and other computer systems installed to simulate battlefield conditions.

The "bank" of Silicon Graphics Onyx Monster Reality computer systems which generate the sinulation graphics in the facility.

Further, the Sony offers tremendous edge sharpness allowing our engineers to provide very bright LCD projection along with the matching techniques usually reserved for CRT projectors.

The Sony VPL-PX series projection system.

Then came the research. How to mount the projectors in such a way that they will stay in place reliably and yet move easily. This meant not only coming up with a rail-based system (something that has been used in the theatrical industry for years to move large light sets) but also methods for insuring cable quality, aesthetics and other considerations.

We settled on the Progressive rail system which can be used with a variety of products. Special cable jacketing was devised to allow the cables to be moved and retracted as the projector was moved away or toward the cable outlet.

The new system in action!

A close-up view of the Sony mounted on the rail system..

While the projectors can be moved to any position along the rail, specific locations were engineered to allow for the two primary modes: a) side-by-side "wide screen" immersive simulation or b) center screen video conferencing and AV presentation.

Video Conference Cameras
The Canon camera, co-located with the plasma monitor also mounted directly behind the retractable screen (for details on this unusual setup, see our other article regarding the design of this facility) first had to be moved to a position above the "top" of the screen image when the screens are down. In this way, both the plasma display can be used when the screen are up as well as the center-positioned projector when the screen is down in each room.

Side Benefit
An unexpected side benefit of the design is redundancy. In the unlikely scenario that one of the Sony's was to go down, the client can simply slide the other projector into place!

Control System updated as well...
Control system changes were also made to allow the client to easily select which mode of operation they were in and where the various signals should appear (now that there are more choices and more configurations). System automation is a critical element of every General Projection design and upgrade but particularly important when the complexity of a system increases at the same time.

Night Vision's control room determines what is fed to the four projection systems depending on the "mode" of the projector (i.e. what position on the rail it has been placed).

Success

After some creative "sweating" General Projection was able to create exactly what the customer wanted. Not only does the rail system allow the customer some additional redundancy and the flexibility to perform a wider variety of functions in each of their rooms but its also very cool!

For more information regarding the completion of the CECOM NVESD job or General Projection Systems, please fill in our Information Request form or email Solutions@genproj.com