Simlat Delivers UAS Simulation Lab to Drexel University

By Mike Ball / 19 Jun 2017
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Simlat C-STAR software

Simlat has announced that it has delivered a Full Crew solution for UAS (unmanned aircraft system) training and simulation to Drexel University. As part of Drexel’s membership in the FAA UAS Center of Excellence, the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE), the university has been utilizing Simlat’s C-STAR system to study human factors in UAS operation.

The delivered C-STAR system consists of Simlat’s Performance Analysis & Evaluation module (PANEL) to support this research. Simlat PANEL collects and processes simulation data to produce comprehensive reports of trainees’ performance in various tasks, malfunctions, and missions throughout a training session.

Drexel’s CONQUER Collaborative, an interdisciplinary effort to study brain function, previously performed an experiment that focused on monitoring performance of the UAS payload operator during training by a wearable brain monitoring technology, namely functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). In this experiment, subjects with no previous experience with UAS were tasked with sensor and payload operation, requiring skills such as systematic approach, situational awareness and spatial orientation. Performance was measured using an fNIRS system and Simlat’s PANEL. The experiment demonstrated increased proficiency and reduced cognitive effort as subjects gained more experience.

“This study has been one of the early attempts in the UAS training to develop advanced performance assessment technologies as well as personalized and adaptive training methods,” said Kurtulus Izzetoglu, PhD, an associate research professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems who is one of the Drexel’s institutional leads for the FAA ASSURE COE. The Drexel team hosts two of SIMLAT’s C-STAR systems to use as a UAS training simulator platform for their research. “We are very grateful and appreciative of Simlat’s support and close collaboration on our research,” added Izzetoglu.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact