Sextant version 6.0 arrives 

Object Raku Technology is pleased to release version 6.0 of its flagship Sextant software.  Sextant is used primarily in military environments for urban mission planning.  Specifically, it assists the rapid creation & visualization of complex urban databases from geospatial and sensor data for small-unit operations.  Sextant's geometry engine can track & display street scenes, building interiors, and subterranean terrain.  In coming up with version 6, the Object Raku team listened closely to user feedback that led to a host of new features and improvements. 

Chief among those improvements is the new model editor.  In version 6, operators can amend the size, shape, color, and textures of any of the 3,000 existing models in the point model library.  For background, Sextant creates terrain & buildings from raw data but scene culture like cars, furniture, and equipment was selected from a library of point object models.  If the model was the wrong color or had the wrong texture, users needed to go to outside tools to correct them.  For the majority of Sextant users, deployed with demanding operational tempos, this was simply not possible due to time restraints.  Sextant vers 6.0 allows the operator to quickly alter the model directly inside their Sextant project.

The Model Editor allows the user to:

• Merge multiple models into a single model
• Change the color or texture of a model or any section of a model
• Precisely adjust the dimensions of the model
• Rotate the model on 4 different planes
• Permanently link the model to audio or video files
• Add text to the model

Check out the new movie of the Model Editor. 

Sextant version 6 also improves upon the popular Image Editor by incorporating a full suite of imagery manipulation tools to the suite.

Sextant expands ABACUS geo-capabilities 

Object Raku recently completed the second phase of a two-year project under the direction of Raytheon Company of Dallas, Texas.  The focus of the effort was Raytheon's ABACUS system.  ABACUS stands for Advanced Battlefield Computer Simulation and is also referred to the Higher Formation Trainer and as the Command And Staff Trainer (CAST) in Canada.  The system is a PC-based, high-fidelity, command and staff training tool used to simulate conflicts from full scale, force-on-force battles, to localized asymmetric conflicts in support of land force operations and training. Today, variants of the simulation are being used by armies in the U.K., Canada, and NATO to train commanders and their staffs within a Battalion through Corps level operational environment.

The joint project for the UK Ministry of Defence and Canadian Department of Defence is explained here by Charlie Griffin, Program Manager at Raytheon:

"When our team set out to broaden the geospatial scope and sophistication of our ABACUS mapping capability, we turned to Object Raku Technology.  Object Raku had been trusted partners on several projects in previous years and they were a natural fit for our aggressive mapping goals."

Object Raku used their Sextant Geospatial software suite as the foundation for the effort and worked closely with our team in Dallas to define & enable a wide array of complex geospatial imagery, vector and elevation data for use in our command and staff simulation engine. The completed project delivered a custom tool capable of producing large area visual maps (imagery, raster, and contour), as well as the logical terrain information used in the simulation's movement and line-of-sight calculations.

Our team successfully met these very challenging requirements and Object Raku's involvement and proactive input were a significant contribution to that result."