|
Where does Sextant fit in?
With so many excellent and specialized tools out there,
we thought it was worth answering that question.
Sextant is
the
street-level view for high resolution urban
mission planning and rehearsal. Put simply, it
meets the needs of the folks who need to walk the ground
rather than fly over it. As a result, it is a
complement to "big map" C2
tools like C2PC, FBCB2 and Falconview,
as well as to GIS applications from ESRI, Leica and
others.
Below are two examples of Sextant
interaction and interoperability with two great
tools - Google EarthTM and NASA's World Wind.
In the
image below, a link & layer
to a high resolution model of a research park served
from the Object Raku website
has been added to
World Wind. This type of
work is very easy to do right off the shelf with the
existing World Wind interface and any Sextant V2 export.
The next tool
collaboration we'll discuss is with Google EarthTM. The following are new
capabilities in the Sextant Export module, compatible
with any Sextant suite above version 5.2:
-
Export complex 3D
buildings including non-flat roof tops
and buildings broken into floors with
interior details. The
roofs and storeys can be toggled on and off in
Google EarthTM
(see picture below). If the
geospatial data includes built-up terrain zone
designations, each roof-top can be exported with
a color matching the zone - for example, brown
for commercial and orange for residential.
In addition, each buildings' meta-data is
transferred as a convenient label description
from Sextant.
-
Export Line-of-Sight and Range fans in
3D polygon format. These products can be
used in
Google EarthTM
with or without exporting the buildings used in
the original analysis.
-
Export military symbology (MIL-STD 2525B)
including warrior symbols and tactical graphics.
-
Export a kml link for Sextant V2 scenes - launch
high-resolution 3D worlds and view side by side
with the "big picture" in
Google EarthTM.
Email
components@objectraku.com to request a sample
Sextant
kml
export
to view in your copy of Google EarthTM.
The scene (shown below) depicts a research park with
complex roof and interior details as well as
military symbology.
Watch
the website for more interoperability between Sextant
and
Google EarthTM
, World Wind and other leading edge capabilities.
Sextant is the urban creation and planning tool designed
for use at battalion & below. Use Sextant to get
the real picture from the "tip of the spear" in your
common ground picture.
Question: Are there any
special preparations I need to make to my Sextant
mission before I output to Mission Rehearsal Central?
Jamie: The biggest thing to
think about is the purpose of the scene in MRC.
If you are going to use the scene in MRC for mission
rehearsal, you'll want to keep all of the hot-linked
documents, floor-plans, reconnaissance jpegs, etc in the
exported version. That way, your fire team gets
the fullest picture of the mission environment.
If you built the scene for a training exercise, however,
you probably don't want to export all of your hotlinks -
it may defeat the purpose of the exercise if the players
can pull up the link to the other team's op plan!
To adjust whether your hot-links get exported or not,
you'll need to open up the Hotlink Manager and adjust
the settings for the hot-links you're concerned with.
First,
to
open the Hotlink Manager, select a hot-link on the
digital map and then right-click on an open 2D space and
select "Modify hotlinks". Then, check or uncheck
in the Export column.
***
Question: Can I change the
3D model for a range fan coverage?
Jamie: Yes.
Right-click on the coverage in 2D and choose "Select
Model Type". The default is pincushion and you can
switch to Vertical Radial, Horizontal Radial and Volume.
If that still doesn't meet your requirement in 3D, try
adjusting the maximum and minimum weapon elevation and
depression - the representation of the overhead firing
arc can be distracting. Another thing you can do
is to try adjusting the # of degrees between
calculations.
Sextant Workshop dates & locations:
February 7 - 9,
2006.....................................Vancouver, BC
February 21 - 23,
2006...................................St. Louis, MO
March 14 - 16,
2006.....................................Vancouver, BC
April 11 - 13,
2006.......................................San Diego, CA
May 16 - 18,
2006..........................................Quantico, VA
For more information
see
Workshop Details. To register, please email
sales@objectraku.com.
To
remove yourself or add a different email address to the
Object Raku News Group, please email to:
info@objectraku.com
*****
Object Raku Technology Inc is focused on the fusion of
geospatial data and 3D visualization for the benefit of
our civilian, government and military customers.
Through the company’s object-oriented solutions
to complex GIS challenges, remarkable
breakthroughs have been achieved in the field of rapid
3D terrain generation and mission rehearsal with a
special emphasis on urban operations. From the
auto-generation of 3D buildings (with interiors) using
NGA data to subterranean visualization to multi-user
on-line 3D rehearsal, customer-focused innovations are
at the core of what makes Object Raku’s products the
leading edge of applied 3D technology.
Object Raku’s clients
include US & Canadian government agencies as well as
operational units within the US Army, Marine Corps, and
Navy.
Copyright Object Raku Technology Inc. 2006 |
| |
|
|
What they're saying about Object Raku software:
“The Raku Symbol Server allowed us to go to
market quickly with a high-quality, out-of-the box solution for
2525b symbology. Object Raku’s support has been excellent.”
Kevin Flood
Director
Product Management
Analytical Graphics, Inc.
"The Raku system (Sextant VWT) allowed me the ability to plan which buildings,
windows and floors would be used as support by fire positions
and what likely could be seen from each window firing position."
Capt T. S. Tomko
II MEF, USMC
|
High-lighted Component: New Line-of-Sight server
The Line of Sight (LOS) Server is a component in the new
Sextant Component SDK. The LOS Server provides a way for
users to query the mission geometry for objects located between
a specified 3D eyepoint and a specified 3D source location.
The server takes into account all buildings and objects
in the mission as well as the ground terrain. The call
returns:
· the number of surfaces found between the
eyepoint and source point as well as
· a file containing the distance along the ray to
each intersected object and the object identifier.
An example of a typical LOS return is below:
The file also allows the user to determine if the
terrain has been intersected. The LOS Server is useful for
algorithms needing to know how many objects or buildings are in
the path, for determining if terrain is intersected along a
path, as well as for finding particular objects along a path
To get more information on the LOS Server, please email
components@objectraku.com
|
Raku Symbol Server 3.0
ported to Unix:
Raku Symbol Server (RSS) is Object Raku's embeddable component for
generating MIL-STD-2525B symbology in your application. RSS is ideal for
geospatial digital display as the component creates any and all of the
symbols on-the-fly as needed and either draws them on your window or returns
them in various image formats for your convenience. RSS, first developed for
use in Object Raku’s Sextant suite of geospatial visualization and mission
planning tools, includes a user interface as well as the symbol generation
back end.
With the release of RSS version 3.0.2, RSS now provides the ability to draw
Tactical Graphic lines, areas and multipoint graphics on your application's
window, complete with full text annotation. Also new, RSS supports Solaris
and Linux platforms - giving these developers access to the symbols either
as an image handle or written to a file. The RSS installer includes several
Windows developer examples in VB, .NET and C. Download RSS and check it out
for yourself:
Try RSS.
 |
|
