RAVE Computer, a leader in the development of purpose-built computer solutions, today shared its successful innovation journey of research and development that resulted in two whitepaper presentations during I/ITSEC, the world’s largest modeling, simulation and training event in Orlando, FL Nov 28 – Dec 1, 2022. In coordination with their whitepaper presentations, RAVE showcased technology innovations featured in each whitepaper for live user demonstration and interaction at their Booth 2200 during the conference.

“RAVE was honored to have two papers accepted for publication and presentation to the I/ITSEC community. Our team has worked diligently this year to leverage state-of-the-art technology that supports innovative, real-world solutions that disrupt and challenge traditional methods used for training and simulation. Translating the technology from whitepaper to live user experience at I/ITSEC exemplifies the integrity and determination of our team to provide optimized, purpose-built compute solutions. I’m excited about what the future holds and the innovations to come,” said Stacey Ferguson, President, RAVE Computer. “We’ve already been approached with possible use cases and future research that will continue to move the industry forward.”

RAVE WHITEPAPERS

Reducing Image Generator Footprint with Virtualization – Authors: Matt Moy (presenting) and Devin Fowler. Today’s high-fidelity training systems are unable to be efficiently deployed at the point of need due to the size, weight, and power of the equipment that is required. A new approach is necessary to reduce the footprint of these compute resources. RAVE successfully reduced the footprint of their image generator (IG) systems by 50% using virtualization, which required overcoming challenges relating to rendering performance, hardware support, user perception, and network latency to ensure the same quality of delivery with virtualization. The paper outlined an approach to optimize virtual machines for real-time rendering and provide a testing methodology to verify that they can provide the same experience as their physical counterparts. During I/ITSEC, users were able to participate in the same testing methodology used in the whitepaper without knowing whether they were participating on the virtual or physical image generator. The overwhelming majority of users could not correctly identify which system powered their demo.

Hardware Optimization for Immersive Simulation & Photogrammetric Environment Generation – Authors: Jonathan Hawes (presenting) and Karl Rosenberger. Civilian and Department of Defense (DoD) organizations are leveraging immersive simulation to bring the furthest reaches of globe to the front lines in training and preparedness. This effort to maximize training, and thus the capabilities that come with it, invokes difficulties when used in the field due to the size, weight, and power (SWAP) needed to rapidly reconstruct photogrammetric environments at the fidelities needed for soldiers or civilians to make real world decisions. Edge processing, like that done as part of a mobile operations center, typically overlooks purpose-built solutions in favor of a broader platform that may function adequately on a broad spectrum but doesn’t excel at any one task. With research and optimization in the hardware configuration used during processing, RAVE significantly decreased processing time while also decreasing the SWAP consumption of the system. The result is a Tower/4U (T4U) system employed directly with the user for training and operational use. The paper outlined issues, hardware and software processing benchmarks, and data aggregation into a new system topology which offers server-grade reconstruction speeds in a workstation form factor. During I/ITSEC, both systems were on display with a screen comparing processing data configurations. Users were able to wear an HMD and virtually experience the real-world scenario data that was processed in a fraction of the time of traditional methods. This demonstration illustrated the mission-critical system performance and its potential infusion into the One World Terrain ecosystem.

USE CASES – On the first day of I/ITSEC, RAVE hosted Congressmen Jack Berman (MI) and Darren Soto (FL) for personal demonstrations of whitepaper technologies. Congressman Berman expressed interest in photogrammetry technology as it relates to One World Terrain and Michigan’s current involvement with Lower Earth Orbit (LEO). RAVE’s technology has applicability to LEO as well as to Florida’s Osceola County NeoCity Digital Twin grant project, to which RAVE is honored to be a collaborating partner with the University of Central Florida’s School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training.

ADDITIONAL TECHNOLOGY – RAVE showcased its exclusive and custom-designed 2U and 4U chassis which are designed and built in the USA to meet the increasing demand of TAA compliant systems. In their RenderBEAST Zone, RAVE featured their branded product, the RenderBEAST™ combines the newest and best from NVIDIA and Intel with optimized, whisper-quiet compute powerful enough to power the most GPU and CPU-intensive experiences. The RenderBEAST is a Varjo-ready PC powerful enough to capture the detail featured in Varjo’s new XR-3 Focal Edition. Also in the RenderBEAST Zone, RAVE integrated a 3 DOF F-35 fighter cockpit with kneeboard courtesy of Talon Simulations and powered by RAVE’s RenderBEAST. RAVE’s RenderBEAST and other purpose-built compute solutions were featured in over 25 demo areas on the I/ITSEC Exhibition Hall.