Over the past 6 months i have done so much work on my simulator that it made me think about writing this post on the compelling possibilities that arise from a networked simulator and a network of simulators.
Just over the past two weeks, in helping out our friends at PilotEdge, I was part of a team that generated traffic for testing avionics equipment and the TCAS system for a design team. Before that, i was part of a team that was itself testing a newly designed simulator. back in February of 2018, as part of study worm at Embry Riddle University, there were many discussions around the use of distributed remote ops concepts that could help build safety scenarios in the use of drones. While all or most of these are concepts, it is very apparent that the combinatorial power of a simulation appliance and the network is phenomenal.
The internet of things is here. Pretty much any device can be provisioned with an IP address. As such, it can participate in a network. The simulator was an extraordinarily useful safety and proficiency device. Combining it into a network has brought out a series of new possibilities. Real-time weather generation, traffic scenario generation, communications testing are just a few of those advantages.
The ability for a piece of simulation hardware to talk to learning management systems and learning content management systems is a valuable opportunity. Taking it a step further. if the learning management system was adaptive, this would add a new dimension to pacing learning based on learner assimilation and learner type. Now with the use of ML, the generation of scenarios based on measures of central tendency have become easier. Content packaging using SCORM and/or IMS makes for standard scenario packages. A learning record store provides for persistence in student progress tracking. Progress dashboards and giving the learner a unified experience becomes very possible. There are many other such benefits.
Aggregation has been the sought after path for several years. Simulators have arrived at that point now.
CJ
