Case Study: artificial displays
Background
Even in well resourced research team there are occasions where tight deadlines or highly specialised problems require the use of external technologists.This display is a component of a complex wider system. Our clients had a firm deadline for its integration, and wanted to concentrate internal resources on other components of the system. Therefore the emphasis was on 'arm's length' working. The client needed a partner they could trust completely.
The opportunity
Developing an immersive computer generated display system is an intensive and highly complex exercise. In this case, the complexity was increased by the requirement for a very wide range of inputs to the system and a high degree of reliability (ultimately this development would lead to work in a safety critical area).
The requirements were demanding against a tight deadline:
- Real time synthetic video (60 frames/sec)
- Low latency (30 milliseconds)
- Graphic display standard equivalent to professional video systems (SXGA 1280 x1024 in 24 bit colour)
Our approach
- Developed full system specification in partnership with client
- Agreed acceptance test specification with client
- Developed internal system design to break down specification into appropriate hardware, software and firmware activities
- Develop software tools for input data
- Two functional units with displays: A hardware (FPGA) based moving map, and a software based synthetic display using OpenGL with hardware acceleration to achieve full frame rate
- Integration support for client to include system in their own product
Results
Sentec delivered a fully functioning prototype to the client earlier than expected.Regular milestone meetings throughout the project facilitated knowledge transfer, which was supported by a full technical reference manual and continuing support of the client's engineering staff after the project finished.
